Vote for Hillary or not at all?
At Spero News Clinton Gillespie has an interesting report which appears to be getting little or no coverage. Donald Trump has released his healthcare plans. From a man who is almost as short on specifics as Ross Perot, they’re surprising.
After dominating Republicans in Super Tuesday, Trump’s campaign pivots to the general election and released specific policy plans on healthcare.For months, Trump told supporters and the media that he will abolish Obamacare while providing healthcare for those who cannot afford insurance. Despite questions about his alternative, Trump remained tight-lipped about his plans until now. Even last week during the Republican debate on CNN, Marco Rubio accused Trump for not having an alternative to Obamacare. (see video below)
In Trump’s healthcare plan, which he said is just a start to reforming healthcare, he said he aims to eliminate the individual mandate and lower costs. “No person should be required to buy insurance unless he or she wants to,” Trump wrote. His plan would look familiar to most Republicans who have tried to reform healthcare over the past several decades, including allowing tax-free health savings accounts for individuals that can be passed onto their heirs, allowing insurance companies to sell across state lines, and allowing individuals to deduct health premiums from their taxes.
Eliminate the individual mandate, create tax-free health savings accounts, deduction of premiums, and insurance deregulation: these are conservative proposals, the most striking being an end to the Obamacare ‘tax.’
Trump’s plan differs from previous reforms in two ways. First, he wants to allow cheap prescription drugs into the country and called on Congress to “step away from the special interests and do what is right for America,” he wrote. To accomplish this goal, the patent laws would need changed that afford innovators to have a monopoly on their discovery for a certain number of years. Trump said that although the pharmaceutical industry is in the private sector, drug companies provide a public service.
That may help drugs become more affordable but also discourage innovation.
Trump believes enforcement of current immigration laws would save $11 billion annually by relieving pressure on governments to care for illegal immigrants. “If we were to simply enforce the current immigration laws and restrict the unbridled granting of visas to this country,” Trump wrote, “we could relieve healthcare cost pressures on state and local governments.”
Here Trump doubles down on the rule of law and his strong pro-border position. (It even pops up under healthcare.)
Making price transparency is also one of Trump’s goals to reform the healthcare market. Currently, prices for exams are opaque for consumers while prices vary wildly from doctor to doctor, even in the same hospital. For example, last September, clearhealthcosts.com discovered a mammogram in Queens, New York costs $50. But it costs $607 for the same procedure at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. “Individuals should be able to shop to find the best prices for procedures, exams or any other medical-related procedure,” Trump wrote.
Letting people shop. Too capitalistic? Restoring the free healthcare market destroyed by mandated insurance coverages is key, and conservative, so why all the Trump-hate? Aren’t these recommendations specific enough for politics? He’s a vulgar boor and an ignorant lawsuit-happy liar but he is communicating some concrete policy, no? Why are we so sure that he doesn’t mean anything he says at all?
Is it so bad to challenge Paul Ryan or Pope Francis the way Trump has? Aren’t they both sources of a lot of trouble?
Put simply, the Trump phenomena is a preference for fight over talk. Trump confronts. He may emit as much empty bluster as the next politician, but his fight itself is tangible and in a contest between something forceful and more helpless words people appear to be choosing the fight.
You may ask, “Isn’t this the essence of a strong-man government rather than a functioning democracy?” Yes, it is. A democratic republic requires a Christian society comprised of honorable men. Those people are dead. That’s why we have Obama and his GOP enablers now who pretend to represent us in some constitutional system.
The conservative movement itself is split. In Ted Cruz many see a man with proven character, a Christian faith, and a conservative track record – but is it one of success? Yes, Cruz may be the best the Senate has, and he’s resisted his opposition boldly, but as a lone voice what has he gained? Why is he defensively reacting in this primary while Trump plays offense and stays strategically two steps ahead? Attacks rain down on Trump from the press, from the Democrats, from the GOP establishment, from Mexico, from China, from CAIR, from the bishops, from Pope Francis. He is certainly hated from all the right places. How is it he still stands?
Maybe because he’s got something, somewhere that’s real.
Which brings me to what’s left of the Catholic conservative movement. Those with media voices appear to fall between condemning Trump on his past, his character and his persona, and those bent on making their audience believe it would be a sin to vote for him at all, even in the general election.
Both camps are doing a grave injustice to the planet and the Church. A radical left-wing tyrant in the Whitehouse and a pliant Congress is an evil reality with live with every day. It should end.
There is a leftist strategy for the Catholic vote. It has two fronts.
One: Move an uncatholic political tool into the papacy to skew the faith and turn the hearts of Catholics. Use the hierarchy and the media to validate his new teachings.
Two: Suppress the remaining faithful, and reliably conservative, Catholic voter in the general election.
If and when Trump isn’t muscled out of a primary victory and he doesn’t run as a third party spoiler, all we are going to hear from the media are ‘megalomania’, low-life scandals, and dirt. Why help them do it in advance and hand the Left their Catholic creation like a bunch of programmable lemmings? What does it say about your pride that you would prefer Hillary over a man with some clear conservative ideas who shares your enemies, when you already know how cruel, unjust, and destructive she’ll be?
Francis might even call you a Pharisee.
Good point. Maybe, since he was attacked by Pope Francis, the old adage “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” applies. At least Trump won’t call me an Unreconstructed Ossified Manualist.
He is not the best candidate for a Catholic’s vote (assuming they have a properly and well-formed conscience). Trump is still pandering to Planned parenthood supporters. This is enough. Stop right there since you have other candidates with proven records ready to shut down PP and abortion in general. But there is more. In addition to the fact that his record contradicts his current platform, the 3 time divorcée swindles people out of money and uses loopholes to take more tax money from the government. And he is a hypocrite on the keep jobs in America and close down the border mantra. He employs many illegals and ships production offshore a lot. When it comes to the general election, he is morally better than either of the democrats, but this isn’t the general election. So go ahead and rip the immoral party of death candidates, but do not pretend that Catholics can vote for Trump when every other Republican outshines the guy who need no forgiveness from God.
Jeff: Very well said.
So who are you supporting, Jeff?
This is the best homily that I have ever heard on the topics of why Catholics must vote and how to form our consciences. I hope you will listen to it and pass it around.
“Our house is on Fire!” homily by Fr. Maletta
(www.stjohnparish.org/mp3/2012_10_07_WhatCatholicsBelieve.mp3)
Tell me Jeff, which of the other Conservative candidates actually reject the intrinsic evil of contraception? Answer: None of them do. Well now, that’s also a mortal sin. So that matches and neutralizes your moral objections against Trump’s position on Planned Parenthood. And all of the other candidates have flipflopped or outright lied about their true positions on illegal immigration.
And Cruz is also a former sleazy personal injury attorney who supported some dubious clients (like a Chinese company accused of copyright infringement) and his wife is an investment banker for Goldman Sachs AND she was on an advisory committee for GW Bush that strongly advocated open-borders for immigration and trade production.
So tell me Jeff – WHO exactly is your candidate of choice?
There is a long list of intrinsic evils being perpetrated on our society by our government. Most are not being discussed, including contraception. So, it does not neutralize Trumps position on PP. I would hope that the HHS mandate would be removed immediately by executive order on the 1st day (assuming a republican is elected president). Although, Trump may not since he thinks PP does some much good on other things despite their abortion and selling of baby parts. Unfortunately, 90% of Catholics in their fertile years contracept or sterilize and the vast majority of priests are silent on the topic. Please pray for His priests (ref. Casti Connubii p57).
Top 11 Intrinsic Evils perpetrated by the US Government:
11. Euthanasia / assisted suicide is already legal in some states. It will be the next big push by the evil-doers known as the party of death. SCOTUS will find a right to this in the near future as they did for hormonal contraceptives, abortion, no-fault divorce and so called “same-sex” marriage.
10. In Vitro Fertilization: violates the original commandment by separating the procreative from the unitive and destroys 6x or more human lives for every successful birth.
9. Legalized & Funded Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Human Cloning. And now we are learning that the abortion industry is pedaling the organs of the aborted babies to do “research” and “improve” consumer products. These are insidious forms of cannibalism.
8. Legalized & Promoted Pornography: breeds lust & destroys the ability to properly bond in marriage.
7. Attacks on Freedom of Conscience / Freedom of Religion (e.g., HHS mandate): erodes our ability to live & practice our Faith.
6. Redefinition of Marriage: denies the primacy of God’s Word. Promotes acceptance of disordered sexual behavior, thus encouraging more of the same.
5. Non-Abstinence only Sex Education: Promotes & encourages sexual acts outside of Holy matrimony.
4. No Fault Divorce Laws: destroys the foundation of civilization & breeds selfishness with no regard for children.
3. Legalized & Funded Abortion: 58+ million innocent lives ripped from their mother’s womb. And know that Jesus has watched each and every one.
2. Legalized & Funded Hormonal Contraception (despite it being a category 1 carcinogen): separates couples from the Grace of God by separating the unitive from the procreative, causes spontaneous abortions, and leads to the acceptance of all the other top 10 evils.
1. Replacing God with our Government: a clear disregard of the 1st commandment, an attempt at deicide. This includes all of the above intrinsic evils plus the removal of God from our public life. It also includes the massive wealth redistribution & unabated expansion of the National Debt: Theft sold as “social justice.” In reality, it has enslaved generations and quite possibly could collapse our economy one day which would lead to a massive growth in poverty and suffering in the USA and around the world.
There is a long list of intrinsic evils being perpetrated on our society by our government. Most are not being discussed, including contraception. So, it does not neutralize Trumps position on PP as you suggest. I would hope that the HHS mandate would be removed immediately by executive order on the 1st day (assuming a republican is elected president). Although, Trump may not since he thinks PP does some much good on other things despite their abortion and selling of baby parts. Unfortunately, 90% of Catholics in their fertile years contracept or sterilize and the vast majority of priests are silent on the topic. Please pray for His priests (ref. Casti Connubii p57).
You avoided my point: ALL the other candidates perpetrate the intrinsic evils of contraception in their protestant beliefs. So why are you singling out Trump and Planned Parenthood? But more to the point, here’s what Trump actually said about PP:
“Planned Parenthood has done very good work for millions of women,” Trump said. “But we’re not going to allow and we’re not going to fund, as long as you have the abortion going on at Planned Parenthood. We understand that, and I’ve said it loud and clear.”
And:
“I wouldn’t do any funding as long as they’re doing abortions,” Trump stated. “I would be totally opposed to funding.”
So it seems like Trump’s ACTUAL position is to allow Planned Parenthood to practice whatever healthcare services for women they provide, with the exception of abortions. And definitely NOT the marketing of baby parts. But you seem to want a candidate to advance the absolute and exclusive position of all or nothing towards PP.
And Trump’s recently released Healthcare Plan is actually quite reasonable. In fact, it utilizes the full extent of the free-market while sanely regulating the immoral price-fixing and abuse of greedy corporate entities like pharmaceutical companies who immorally capitalize on their exclusive patents for life saving drugs.
So again, Trump is hardly the anti-Catholic ogre you portray him to be. But he is clearly the anti-status-quo in numerous political areas. And that is precisely what we need. And conversely, the OTHER candidates are hardly more conducive to the complete moral doctrines of Catholic teaching.
@JeffB. NOONE is the best candidate for the “Catholic Vote.” ALL candidates support contraception (INCLUDING RICK SANTORUM, who boasted to Greta Van Sustren about supporting Planned Parenthood & Title X), and ALL who claim to be “prolife” have vocalized support of abortion in the “exception,” cases, including Rubio. (See Rebecca Kieslings Tweet from debate 2 weeks ago.). There is NO IDEAL CANDIDATE at the moment, and, even if there were, that “ideal” candidate would not appeal to the general public. (Case in point: Alan Keyes. the ideal candidate & he lost ROYALLY.). WE CONSERVATIVES MUST FACE THE FACT THAT WE ARE THE MINORITY! Then, once we accept this reality (it’s a shame that most haven’t already), we must lazer-beam focus on the ONLY THING THAT MATTERS RIGHT NOW: BEATING HILLARY CLINTON. Now, with regards to Trump’s commentary about Planned Parenthood: There is one thing he’s said LOUD and CLEAR & it befuddles me why the prolife movement isn’t picking up on this: He WILL defund Planned Parenthood as long as they’re doing abortions. Let’s face it: THIS IS HUGE. Why? Because abortion is THEE lifeblood of Planned Parenthood. We should be VERY, VERY happy about this statement. So, he said “PP does wonderful things.” Why did he say that? Because he said he received letters from women telling him such things. So what? We have to stop this pedantic behavior when so much is at stake during this election. Hillary Clinton is an unstoppable machine… no matter her criminal behavior. It simply cannot be any more obvious that Trump is the only person who can stop her. How can he do this? In a way no other candidate can: by getting votes from Dems, Independents, moderates & progressives. Last week, it was reported in the Boston Herald that 20,000 people switched from being Democrat to Republican so they could place their vote for Trump. Now, some will argue this is not a good thing. But how can it NOT be considering our laser-beam focus: BEATING THE DEMOCRATS. Remember, even if Trump only kept 10% of his promises, that is a heck of a lot better than having Hillary in the White House for 4, maybe 8 years. This country is corrupt. It is going down faster than the speed of lightning. Imagine how much faster it would go down if Hillary were President. Trump may not be the perfect candidate, but he will, at the very minimum, slow down the process of U.S. demise.
No politician will stop abortion or turn morality around in this country. No politician can save our country spiritually. We put too little faith in Jesus Christ and too much faith in politicians when it comes to restoring Christian values. We put our faith in the Supreme Court, and again, they will not do it either.
“A democratic republic requires a Christian society comprised of honorable men. Those people are dead”. This is dead on, and our government is only a reflection of the populace. Only a return in striving for personal holiness, and fighting for the one truth of Jesus Christ and His Church, will save our nation.
Just as traditional Catholics are sick and tired of leaders within the Church who are unwilling to fight for the truth, traditional Americans are fed up as well with politicians who do not fight for them either.
The immoral and heretical culpability of the clergy in the modern Church is much more blatant than you suggest. The majority of the hierarchy in the Church aren’t just unwilling to fight for the truth – they don’t actually BELIEVE in many of the immutable Truths of Catholic doctrine.
We now live in a secular age of enlightenment where the only “truth” that matters is personal feelings and the outward appearance of “caring and concern”. And as the tolerance of personal immorality (mostly derived from sexual desire) becomes more and more the acceptable norm among the twisted clergy and indoctrinated laity, the more the internal guilt and shame is manifest in the heretics in a counter false virtue of pharisaic “charity”. Which is why the liberal/progressive katholics are such obsessive zealots for the lie of state mandated “charity” at the expense of other people’s wallets.
All that matters is the redistribution of your neighbor’s mammon. Good intentions in the form of physical bread equates to “good katholic” in the “don’t judge” crowd. And the Living words of Our Savior no longer mean what they’ve always meant:
“It is written: ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’” ~ Matthew 4:4
“Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for Me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him the Father, God, has set his seal.” So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” ~ John 6:26-29
Thank you Stumbling Block. Me Too.
In the General, I vote against those who can do the most harm. Reasonably they have a D next to their name. Because every vote counts.
In the Primaries, I vote for who I think is best.
A vomit-inducing baby-killer is much more attuned to Church teaching than Trump.
Oh really? In what way?
I am voting for Ted Cruz in the Florida primary, and I hope he wins the nomination because I believe he is the most principled and capable of the remaining Republican candidates. I would also vote for any of the other Republican candidates in the general election if one of them gets the nomination—including Trump.
Trump offers at least some hope that he is on the conservative and moral side of life issues. There is no hope at all for any Democrat. They have all emphatically embraced a culture of death.
We, the pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, and pro-legal immigration Catholic voters have been locked out of our nation’s house. Inside is filled with filth and the vermin of “women’s right to” abortion, plans for “merciful” euthanasia, “love-filled gay marriage adoption,” and unjust “social justice” for those who break our just immigration law.
Our nation’s house is crumbling and badly needs repair but we could not even point out the damage since we have been silenced by political correctness. I’m sick of voting against abortion if we could not even enter the house to clean it up and decorate it with pro-life and pro-marriage faith and fairness. I’m sick of losing election after election. We need to win.
I’ve been an immigrant myself, but I followed the law in order to get in. I am now a citizen, a tax payer, and a voter. At the legal immigration line, Filipinos [Catholic, pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, educated, English-speakers, hardworking, and easily assimilate into American culture] are routinely made to wait upwards of 10 years of hard questioning before their applications are processed. So why do our bishops think it’s fair to give priority to those who simply walk over the borders illegally while fellow-Christians languished for years in the legal immigration line?
So…Pope Francis or not, Bishop Soto or not – I’m voting Trump. I’m all for building the wall, with a beautiful gate to allow legal immigrants in. Pope Francis’s Vatican walls may be open to all, but you are not allowed to live there.
Only if we are able to enter our nation’s house, only if we are freed of the grip of political correctness to refocus our views to what is right and just can we gain control of our house. And if it needs a vulgar, tacky and amoral billionaire with no moneybags behind him but his own to break open the door, so be it. Pro-life, pro-traditional marriage can wait. But first, we have to enter the house and drive all the vermins out.
I’m so sick of losing. In California, you have no hope of winning, especially since you’re under the thumbs of questionable Catholics like Jerry Brown and Nancy Pelosi. I want to win every once in a while and if it takes Donald Trump to give us the win, let’s have him.
Call me a sucker, I have nothing else to lose.
What’s to question about catholics like that? 🙂