Monday - October 15, 2007

Catholic Organization Runs Ads Against Rep. Chabot

A Catholic organization called "Catholics United" is running ads against members of Congress who recently voted against the bloated SCHIP program. Steve Chabot, representative for Ohio's 1st district was one of those to vote against SCHIP because it was expanding beyond its original purpose, to provide medical care for needy children.

The Cincinnati Enquirer provides this report:

Rep. Steve Chabot is under attack from members of his own religion – Catholics.

Chabot, a Republican from Westwood, is among 10 Catholic members of Congress who are being targeted in a radio ad sponsored by Catholics United for voting against legislation to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP.

The ad was unveiled today. Listen to it HERE.

It will air primarily on Christian and talk radio stations from Monday to Wednesday, and feature a mother urging Chabot to support SCHIP, saying that voting against health care for poor children is not a "pro-life" or "pro-family" vote.

“Building a true culture of life requires public policies that promote the welfare of the most vulnerable,” said Chris Korzen, executive director of the group, said in a release. “Pro-life Christians who serve in Congress should honor this commitment by supporting health care for poor children.”

Chabot's spokesman Todd Lindgren said the ad fails to tell the whole story.

Chabot did vote against the bill to expand SCHIP, but he did so because the bill expands the SCHIP program at a huge cost without finding ways to pay for the expansion.

First, you need to listen to the ad itself. 

As a Catholic myself, two things came to mind. First, Chabot is about as pro-life as you can get. Not only is he a fiscal conservative, he is a social conservative. So right there, the sincerity of this ad comes into question. Second, as a Catholic, not only is life an important value, I'm pretty sure that lying isn't held in high regard by the Church.

In this ad, Catholics United, is definitely "misrepresenting the truth." Chabot didn't vote against SCHIP to take health care away from hungry children, he voted against this bill because:

• It redefines poverty upwards by 300 percent. 

• It provides coverage for "children" up to age 21 (*and for those keeping score, this is a change in the legislation-a reduction from age 25). 

• It only requires a declaration of income to meet eligibility standards (in other words, no verification).

• Healthcare provided to ineligible children will still be paid for by the state (fraud ignored).

• Legal residents and immigrants can now be covered.

• of the elimination of caps on Federal SCHIP payments to the states.

• SCHIP can now be used as a form of secondary insurance for those already covered by health care plans.

Funny how Catholics United failed to mention these points.

You can read the bill here for yourself. It is no longer a program that serves poor children. It is a program that serves the middle class and adults and residents and non-citizens. It is a national socialized health care plan just waiting to grow up.

So what kind of a group is "Catholics United"? Well, on their front page, they say:

Catholics United is a national online community of Catholics who believe strongly in our faith's call to build a society for justice and the common good.

We take seriously all our Church's social and political teachings {my highlight}, and refuse to water down our faith in service of partisan politics.

I noticed that they didn't mention the Church's moral teachings. I guess that is a good thing since they are "misrepresenting" the truth when it comes to the SCHIP program. But if you really, really want to know what kind of a group they are, a picture is worth a thousand words:

Then there is of course a screed on immigration:

Then of course more on Iraq:

And this just speaks volumes:

Catholics United is entitled to their opinion, but I'd have much more respect for them if their ads were forthcoming in presenting their leftist political bias.

Author: The Machiavellian
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