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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=472091315-11082009>This news item states in part:</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=472091315-11082009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=472091315-11082009><FONT color=#000000>"Organized by liberal-leaning
evangelicals, some mainline Protestant clergy, <STRONG>and some Catholic
groups</STRONG>, it will include Obama participating in a call-in program with
religious leaders streamed on the Internet on August 19, prayer meetings, and
nationwide television ads."</FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN class=472091315-11082009><FONT
color=#000000></FONT></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT><SPAN class=472091315-11082009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>I would
like to know <U>exactly which Catholic groups</U> are promoting
the despicable Obama health care plan that would provide federal funding of
elective abortions, ration health care for everyone, and
encourage euthanasia for seniors.</FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=472091315-11082009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN class=472091315-11082009>Maybe they
mean the sham group Catholics for Choice. But if they
mean <U>actual </U>Catholic organizations, I want to know which
ones.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=472091315-11082009><FONT
color=#000000></FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT><SPAN class=472091315-11082009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=4><STRONG>Art Kelly</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
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<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> nrlc@nrlc.org [mailto:nrlc@nrlc.org]
<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, August 11, 2009 10:55 AM<BR><B>To:</B> Art
Kelly<BR><B>Subject:</B> They Really Do Believe We Are
Idiots<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<P> </P>
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<TD vAlign=top align=left width=99><B><I><FONT
face="Bookman Old Style" size=4>National</I><FONT
face="Bookman Old Style" size=4> <FONT face="Bookman Old Style"
size=2><BR>Right to Life</B></FONT></FONT></FONT></TD>
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<P><I><B><FONT face="Garamond Book" color=#000080
size=7> <FONT face=Georgia
color=#000080 size=7>Today's <BR>News &
Views</B></I></FONT></FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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<P align=left><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2><B>Today's News &
Views<BR>August 11, 2009</B></FONT></P><FONT
face="Trebuchet MS" size=2><B><FONT size=4>They Really Do Believe We
Are Idiots</FONT></B>
<P><FONT size=2>"Liberal religious groups announced on Monday they
are teaming up with President Barack Obama in a national campaign to
counter the surprisingly vehement conservative opposition to his
plan for overhaul of the U.S. healthcare industry this year.
Organized by liberal-leaning evangelicals, some mainline Protestant
clergy, and some Catholic groups, it will include Obama
participating in a call-in program with religious leaders streamed
on the Internet on August 19, prayer meetings and nationwide
television ads."<BR> From "U.S. religious
left wades into healthcare fight," which appeared yesterday in
Reuters.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>When a reporter and/or media outlet is behind you,
your vocal support for something or another is "passionate,"
"caring," even "prophetic." When they don't, that same intensity is
"vehement," "fueled by anger," even (to quote Democratic
congressional leaders) "unAmerican."</FONT></P>
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<P align=center><I><B><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=1>Jim
Wallis</FONT></B></I></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P><FONT size=2>Some of the same religious leadership that helped
Obama navigate the political shoals last year are putting the band
back together again, this time in an attempt to blunt massive
grassroots resistance to health care "reform." Let me talk about a
few of the particulars.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>If you believe a lot of the "mainstream" press,
resistance is either synthetic, bought and paid for by those
"opposed to health care reform," ill-informed, and/or stoked in part
(as Reuters put it yesterday) by "Christian and conservative radio,"
and/or leaders of the "religious right."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>As you undoubtedly know from watching television or
reading accounts, President Obama and the Democratic leadership in
Congress are fighting back.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>The two-fold strategy appears to be (yet AGAIN) to
marginalized anyone who wants an explanation of how they are going
to square various circles, and to (yet AGAIN) stop talking about
specifics (which always gets them into loads of trouble) and return
to the kind of sparkling generalities that Obama specializes
in.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>That's where the Religious Left comes in the form of
something called "People of Faith for Health Reform and its "40 Days
for Health Reform." One of the usual suspects is Jim Wallis, who
told Reuters that "his group's mission is to keep universal
health-care coverage alive as a 'moral issue.'" </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>According to NPR, the division of labor goes like
this. The Obama Administration has rolled out a website to contest
"wild rumors" about its health care initiative and to "call out
misinformation." (Gulp! ) So what is the role of this "coalition of
progressive religious leaders"? </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>"Argue morality," or, according to Liz Halloran,
"more specifically, what members characterize as the moral and
religious imperative of providing 'inclusive, accessible' health
care coverage and the need for a civil discourse about the issue,
says Jim Wallis of the progressive Christian group Sojourners, one
of the coalition sponsors." (Keep that "civil discourse" comment in
mind.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>So, let's look at the ad. (<A
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaBq0QeM3-8">www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaBq0QeM3-8</A>)
True, there is one statement that is unobjectionable. A pastor looks
in the camera and says, "God's given us a spirit not of fear but of
love and action."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>But the rest of the ad is the usual us v. the
"special interests" drivel that is the hallmark of those who insist
you either accept the thrust of the Democrats health care "reform"
sight unseen, or you want nothing. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>The first statement in the 30-second ad tells you
all you need to know: "Special interests in Washington are spending
millions to block health insurance reform," followed by "Killing
reform will boost their profits." In case anyone misses the point a
moment later a woman opines, "The special interests are
<B>strong</B>."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>However, thanks to NPR, there can be little doubt of
the campaign's real motivation. "According to Gordon Whitman of the
PICO National Network, a faith-based community organizing group that
is also one of the coalition's sponsors, the group's effort will
focus on moderate, swing districts where 'religion is significant to
public life.'"</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>They really do believe we are idiots, don't
they?</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Switching gears but to a related subject, there's
been an enormous amount written about "Section 1233 of the
health-care bill drafted in the Democratic-led House, which would
pay doctors to give Medicare patients end-of-life counseling every
five years," as the Washington Post described it. How much should we
be worrying about this?</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Let me offer the concluding paragraphs of "Facing
the Challenge of Health Care Rationing," a page one story in the
July/August issue of <B>NRL News</B>, written by NRLC's Burke Balch,
JD. Mr. Balch, director of NRLC's Robert Powell Center for Medical
Ethics wrote the following.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>The House legislation, as reported from the Energy
and Commerce Committee, contains provisions to promote advance
directives like "living wills," including:</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 26px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 26px"><FONT
size=2><B>1)</B> Medicare reimbursement for consultations about
"advance care planning" between health care providers and their
patients when they enter Medicare, every five years thereafter, and
if they become seriously ill;</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 26px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 26px"><FONT
size=2><B>2)</B> requiring private and public health care plans to
give potential enrollees the option to establish advance directives;
and</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 26px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 26px"><FONT
size=2><B>3)</B> a public education campaign, toll-free telephone
hotline, and clearinghouse to promote advance directives and other
advance care planning. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Advocates of such measures frequently cite the cost
savings if, as they expect, this promotion results in more
directives rejecting lifesaving treatment. "We refer to the
end-of-life discussion as the multimillion-dollar conversation
because it is associated with shifting costs away from expensive ...
care like being on a ventilator in an ICU, to less costly comfort
care ...," said Holly Prigerson of Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute. National Right to Life strongly encourages the execution
of a pro-life advance directive, the Will to Live (see <A
href="http://www.nrlc.org/MedEthics/WilltoLiveProject.html">www.nrlc.org/MedEthics/WilltoLiveProject.html</A>).
However, the pro-life fear is that efforts to push patients and
prospective patients to prepare advance directives may in practice
become a means of persuading or pressuring them to agree to less
treatment as a means of saving money. Moreover, governmental
promotion of advance care planning must not include the "option" of
assisted suicide. Especially in the Senate, NRLC is working to
address these concerns through negotiations and, if necessary, by
preparing amendments to be offered in the Senate Finance Committee
and on the Senate floor.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>It is critically important that pro-life citizens
make their voices heard while senators and representatives are at
home during August, and after they return to Washington in
September. The contemplated restructuring of America's health care
system will affect the life--and death--of every American.</FONT>
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