"YES WE CAN" v. "Hell No you can't"

This says it all.
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Health Care Passes: An Historic Moment

There are few days in a lifetime that you get to see real change in a moment. The millions who will now be covered, the inability to be categorized as a "re-existing" condition, the recent college grads who will have some breathing room, the maintaining of the Hyde Amendment provisions meaning no federal funds for abortion: this is an historic moment. Even the idiot who called Bart Stupak a "baby killer" could not dim this moment.

E.J. Dionne at the Washington Post captures the moment well (click here for full article).

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"On Nov. 19, 1945, Truman stated facts that are true to this day. "People with low or moderate incomes do not get the same medical attention as those with high incomes," he said. "The poor have more sickness, but they get less medical care. People who live in rural areas do not get the same amount or quality of medical attention as those who live in our cities."

The nation, Truman added, needed to resolve "that financial barriers in the way of attaining health shall be removed" and "that the health of all its citizens deserves the help of all the Nation." Nearly 65 years later, Truman's wish has come to pass.

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For Obama, this struggle was transformative. He began his administration full of hope that his campaign pledge to achieve concord across party lines was a realistic possibility. But when faced with implacable Republican opposition, he jettisoned the happy talk and came out fighting.

If bipartisanship is more fashionable than partisanship, partisanship with a purpose is infinitely preferable to paralysis. Obama has made clear that he will reach out when he can, and do battle when he must.

By temperament, the president is more a consensus builder than a warrior. But he is also a practical man who wants to accomplish big things. On Sunday, he did just that on health care, and he earned a place in history."

Four Lies about Health Care, CBO Numbers and the Nuns

"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." - John Adams

Four Lies About Health care from "St. Louis Today" (click here).

CBO Numbers (click here)

E.J. Dionne, Washington Post, "On Health care, Listen to the Nuns" (click here)

Nobel Prize Winning Economist and Princeton Professor, Paul Krugman
Why We Reform (Click here).
Health Reform myths (Click here).

Palin should apologize (click here)

Truth is a requirement of civil discourse. Too many opposed to health care reform have forgotten the simple commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness."

Jesus wants Social Justice. Glenn Beck is just so wrong!

Yo Mr. Beck. Read the Bible. "The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common" ( Acts 4:32).

Does Beck really think heaven will be a place of social injustice? He must think heaven will be a place where "the rich get rich and the poor they lose, so the bible says and it still is news." That old song preached what the Bible teaches, i.e, that God will work justice for the poor. Read the psalms. Read the Magnificat in Luke: "He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty" (Luke 1:53). Jesus says, "Blessed are you poor... woe to you rich" (Luke 6:20,24)

Here is what Catholics can say to Beck's ludicrous suggestion that people flee churches and preachers who call for social justice: Our Catholic Church preaches Social Justice, and has done so for a very long time. But Beck is no fan of Catholic Social Teaching.

And too many Catholics who do not know well the content of our faith can be misled by bozos like Beck. "Far too many Catholics are not familiar with the basic content of Catholic social teaching. More fundamentally, many Catholics do not adequately understand that the social teaching of the Church is an essential part of Catholic faith. This poses a serious challenge for all Catholics, since it weakens our capacity to be a Church that is true to the demands of the Gospel. We need to do more to share the social mission and message of our Church." - Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions. U.S. Catholic Bishops

Here's a great website on Catholic Social Teaching (click here).

Here are two cogent responses to Beck's latest rant.

Rev. Peg Chemberlin is the President of the National Council of churches (Click here for her article).

Jim Wallis is the well known founder of Sojourners. Here's his comment and a link to his article (For Wallis's article click here).

On Keith Olbermann's show Wallis said: "The God of the Bible is the God of justice. Though the poor are in the center of God's concern... Poverty breaks the heart of God. And it breaks the heart of the church. So, this is about Christians who may disagree on politics. Republicans, Democrats, it doesn't matter. Left or right. We have different views on the role of government. Doesn't matter, But justice is integral to the gospel. And across the spectrum, Christians are saying Glenn Beck got it wrong."