It Must Be Good. It Has Upset Left, Right, and Center.

A bill for health care reform has passed the House of Representatives. The most surprising turn of events was Speaker Pelosi's agreement to remove federal funding for abortion from the House version. Three newspapers, the liberal New York Times, the conservative Wall Street Journal, and the centrist Philadelphia Inquirer, all complained about it for different reasons.

The Times was incensed about the eleventh-hour agreement between Pelosi and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to exclude federal funding for abortion altogether from the bill. It editorialized that the action of the USCCB led to the rejection of a compromise that would prevent federal funds for paying for abortion. The USCCB has argued precisely the opposite and claimed that the proposed compromise would have been a mere dodge. (As I write this blog, I still don't quite understand the financing differences.) The Times continues to argue that a woman has a right to abortion services, as does the left. As I wrote three weeks ago, that a woman has a right to have an abortion (current law) does not mean that she has a claim on the government to pay for the procedure. The Times also rejected the idea of independent riders on insurance policies and argued that no one would buy them since "nobody plans to have an unplanned pregnancy." The logical circle (planning the unplanned) notwithstanding, no one plans on getting sick, period.

The Journal ranted along the far right's talking points and argued that this was part "of temporary liberal majorities that are intent on fulfilling their dreams of a cradle-to-grave entitlement state." I wondered when the once-noble Journal began sounding like Fox News and then looked at the masthead and was reminded that Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox, has purchased the paper. Shame on you, Rupert. You are ruining one of America's great journalistic voices.

The Inquirer rejected the bill on the grounds that it will be too costly, especially for small business and the middle class. Interestingly, freshman Democratic representative John Adler from Philadelphia's New Jersey suburbs, voted against the bill on the same grounds. Adler, however, won a seat that had been Republican for more than a quarter-century, and the governor's seat has just switched parties. Costs come in many forms, not the least of which are the drag that current costs place in hidden ways on the economy.

So there they are, complaints from left, right, and center. Perhaps some political sausage is best made when it does not satisfy any constituency completely.

Health Insurance Again

I was all set to write about the exemption of health insurance companies from anti-trust legislation when the Associated Press published a story stating that health insurance generates a very low profit margin, rarely 5 percent. Someone had told me that about 20 years ago, and it was one reason I was befuddled by the insurance companies' attempt to defeat President Obama's health care reform bill (and Bill Clinton's before that). Over the weekend, I saw a statement that said we do not have a healthcare problem, we have a healthcare insurance problem. What we need are more facts and debate.

Go Phillies! A Lesson in Positive Leadership

For several weeks now I have been thinking of Phillies manager Charlie Manuel as a model of excellent top management that can truly be called leadership, positive leadership.

Oh, Charlie can make the tough decisions when necessary. This year's Brad Lidge story should find its way into every management and leadership text. For those of you who don't follow sports, Lidge had one of the best year's in baseball history for a man at his position last year, and this year he had one of the worst. Manuel removed him from the most critical moments, but never lost confidence in him and now Lidge is nearly his old self. There are many more examples.

So I was surprised and pleased to see a front-page article on Charlie's leadership style in Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer in which a Wharton professor and an important Philadelphia-area CEO talked about what exceptional leadership and management skills Manuel has. Leaders who stay positive can accomplish much. Charlie's team is the current world champion that now is the first National League team in more than 30 years to return to the World Series the following year to defend the title.

That Anglican Thing

By now you have gotten a basic understanding of Pope Benedict's most recent apostolic constitution inviting traditional Anglicans into the Roman Catholic Church through an expedited process. Anglicans opposed to the ordination of women and to same-sex Christian marriage will have their own jurisdiction within the Roman Catholic church. Married Anglican priests will be able to continue priestly duties within the new jurisdiction.

There have been many different reactions to the decision. An op-ed in today's New York Times suggested that Benedict may be looking to strengthen European Christianity against Islam. Some Catholics have called for the ability of all Catholic priests to marry. Some have wondered if Benedict is trying to shore up a conservative constituency by adding these Anglicans and also reconciling with the Society of St. Pius X. It seems leaders of the Church of England were caught somewhat unaware.

The story has gotten press for a few weeks now, and that is unusual for news in religion. I look at this cautiously as a good thing, but it does raise questions.

Bishops Revise Statement on Jewish-Christian Dialogue

Last June, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a correction to the existing statement on Catholic-Jewish dialogue that angered Jews in the dialogue. (See my September 16 blog entry.) Last week, they issued a new statement. The bishops said explicitly that Jewish-Catholic dialogue was neither intended to convert Jews, nor to invite them to baptism. The clarification is welcome, since the bishops themselves realized that the previous document had resulted both in misunderstanding and hurt feelings.

Franciscan Cardinal Backs Women Religious

Sean Cardinal O'Malley, Cardinal Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston, used the opening of an exhibit sponsored by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) to praise them and all sisters for the work they do and have done over the years. LCWR currently represents about 95 percent of religious sisters on the United States.

The cardinal's remarks are significant since LCWR is currently under investigation by the Vatican for questioning controversial church issues such as the ordination of women. LCWR is a more liberal coalition of sisters that has drawn criticism from conservative Catholics over the years. The group's leaders met with the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith in 2001. LCWR also has seen itself as progressive in interpreting Vatican II and its members are dedicated to working in the world to effect justice. Current leadership of LCWR, both president and president-elect, are Franciscan sisters.

Congratulations, Mr. President

Congratulations to Barack Obama on being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. That's what you say when your president wins something like that. Unfortunately, the right-wing has decided to insult the Nobel committee, even as it celebrated the loss of Chicago's Olympic bid. The Grand Old Party, with no spokespersons other than these, has now become the party of bitterness and spite. And of course some have insisted on bringing race into it negatively.

I did not realize the Nobel Peace Prize had an affirmative action quota for it, but that is the only thing I can think of for this news . . . The Peace Prize reaffirms it s a joke. But now a sad joke.

That's from Erick Erikson of frequently searched conservative blog redstate.com.

Sigh.