However there really is a much larger picture. The Constitution does not authorize the Fed to provide Health Care. Nor can the general welfare clause, by any stretch of the imagination, be thought to cover this either. Therefor as Catholic citizens under a rule of Law, the Constitution, I believe we can not support government health care. Is it not our duty to uphold the Law?

We could change the rules, ammend the Constitution, as allowed by the Constitution, to include health care but Congress has not seen fit to try that road.

We could use the principle of subsidiarity and start at the local level and work our way up to county and state which would make a lot more sense. But that is not being seriously considered either.

It has been pointed out by many that a truly limited government would prosper the Nation over night increasing our personal wealth dramatically. This would allow many of us to afford insurance AND to once again practice the virtue of Charity for those who are truly needy. Catholic/Christian hospitals would thrive once again.

That this approach is not a serious part of the national debate nor a part of a Catholic perspective in this debate is probelmatic to me. It betrays an attitude that has been popularized by the term “Nanny State.” Do we as Catholics join most of our fellow citizens in believing it is the State’s duty to take care of us?

Of course this whole conversation may be irrelevent shortly if the analysis of some very good economists proves correct. We are on the brink of bankruptcy with our foreign lenders calling in their notes or at least unwilling to fund our debt any further.