William Galston

Recent polls show that Obama’s $100 million worth of unsubstantiated character assaults on Mitt Romney in ads in key toss-up states have had some effect. He leads Romney by one point, 46 to 45,  in the latest Rasmussen poll; by two points, 48 to 46, in the latest McClatchy/Marist poll; and leads in Florida, 46 to 45, in the latest Mason-Dixon poll (though Gallup continues to show the two neck-and-neck, nationally, at 46 all, while Pew has been a consistent outlier on the Obama side, giving him a 7 point advantage, 50 to 43).

Nonetheless, I see this as Mitt Romney’s race to lose. And an article by William Galston in liberal  New Republic Magazine, http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/104955/treading-water-why-the-obama-campaign-doing-worse-it-seems, hits the nail on the head in explaining why.

Galston was a domestic policy advisor to Clinton. Now a contributing editor at New Republic, he also chairs the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies Program. In short, to point out that he’s no conservative mouthpiece is a gross understatement. Yet his article on Friday concludes that unless things change noticeably for Obama, “his presidency will be in jeopardy. And they probably won’t [change]—unless the economy perks up noticeably.” I agree — and here’s why.

Gallup’s job approval ratings for Obama — which have proven accurate in past elections — consistently show Obama at only about 45 percent: a very poor showing for an incumbent. George Bush’s averaged above 50 percent when he ran for re-election in 2004. And almost two-thirds of Americans — 63 percent — see the country on the wrong track, compared to about 55 percent in 2004. Obama’s massive ad assault on Romney in key states in the past month have actually produced little return for the money. Significantly, independents — who favored Obama four years ago — now favor Romney. As Galston points out — there is an “astonishing” 20 percent drop in young voters even being motivated enough to get to the polls this time. And while Obama enjoyed a brief uptick among Hispanics this month following his temporary amnesty for certain young illegal residents, that already shows signs of tapering off as Hispanics show that, like all Americans, jobs are their much greater concern.

And there are more Americans who think that Obama’s handling of jobs and the economy is a reason to vote against him rather than for him. Obama’s support from Catholics and Jews has dropped considerably since 2004 and even his support among African-Americans has dropped from 95% to about 88%, with some showing an inclination not to go to the polls on election day.

People have not warmed up to Mitt Romney, finding him far less likeable than Obama. They also find that he has failed to present a convincing economic plan, though they find him more adept at economic matters than Obama. But the fact that Romney has kept the race close despite this is bad news for Obama because the GOP convention hasn’t been held yet and Romney has months to show that he has a worthwhile plan. A wise vice presidential choice could also give Romney a nice uptick.

In short, though the race is close and Obama has managed to divert attention this month from his own poor performance to make Romney the issue, I see this as Romney’s race to lose. And I’m comforted to see that Galston, a staunch Democrat, agrees — and for much the same reasons.

Governor Luis Fortuño

I’ve said this before but know no one else who agrees. Still, I can’t help mentioning a great GOP vice presidential possibility who is on nobody’s radar screen:  Governor Luis Fortuño, Governor of Puerto Rico. A charismatic, conservative Republican, he has turned around an economic mess in Puerto Rico and restored the island’s credit rating. As a student, he pushed for statehood for Puerto Rico when it wasn’t even popular there… thanks largely to him, it now is. He’s transforming the island’s educational system so that classes throughout the island are held in English. He is great on every GOP issue. He graduated from Georgetown School of Foreign Service and the University of Virginia Law School.  He’s a convincing, knowledgeable and very likable public speaker who’d tie Biden in knots in a VP debate. He and his wife  Lucé have triplets, now all students at mainland universities. He was a strong mainland campaigner for Mitt Romney in the GOP primaries.

And yes — he’s eligible to be President. Those born in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens at birth, exactly the same as on the mainland. 8 U.S.C. 1402.

George Weigel

Weigel thinks Roberts was wrong about the constitutionality of the individual mandate under the federal tax power, but he says that those who merely focused on debating that miss the ”deeper meaning” of the opinion – one that reminds us what we must and can do. At risk of gilding the lily, the following points in the article deserve to be highlighted:

“This is not to suggest that the chief justice got it right in his judgment…. But the chief justice’s opinion contained several dicta that point us to deeper truths about the continuing Obamacare debate, the Congress, the responsibilities of the American people, and the future of our democratic political culture….                  [I]rrespective of its finding, the Roberts opinion can be seen as a welcome call to recover an American constitutional order that has been too often forgotten during decades of judicial supremacy.

The first of these “deeper” truths is that the … ultimate constraint on … power… is not the federal judiciary but the people’s moral and political judgments. The chief justice thereby suggests that if “we, the people of the United States,” do not like the way the Congress taxes and spends, it is not only our prerogative but our responsibility to do something about it by electing new representatives who will tax and spend differently.

So [if I object to] a power grab by the federal government over one-sixth of the U.S. economy, and if I disapprove of that on fiscal grounds, constitutional grounds, public-policy grounds, moral grounds, some of the above, or all of the above, then my duty is to help elect someone else, no matter how good “my member” is at delivering the Social Security check on time or straightening out my IRS problems, and no matter what party my grandparents habitually voted for. Thus the chief justice’s bluntly phrased reminder that “it is not [the Court’s] job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices,” far from being a dodge of judicial responsibility, ought to be read… as a summons to a new national political maturity — a recognition that voting is not a glandular exercise but an exercise in moral and political judgment.

[S]econd…, the] majority opinion underscored … that constitutional approval of the individual mandate was not a judgment on the mandate’s soundness as policy. This implies that the policy might, in fact, be a stupid one — stupid policy the Obama administration made worse by an appeal to the Constitution’s Commerce Clause that, upheld, would have destroyed the notion of the federal government as a government of limited and enumerated powers.

There were several barely disguised smackdowns in the chief justice’s refusal to accede to this Commerce Clause argument and to the lax congressional lawmaking it attempted to justify. They included a blunt lesson in elementary English (“the language of the Constitution reflects the natural understanding that the power to regulate assumes there is already something to be regulated”) and a devastating analogy (“Congress addressed the insurance problem by ordering everyone to buy insurance. Under the Government’s theory, Congress could address the diet problem by ordering everyone to buy vegetables”). Beyond this, however, deeper truths were beckoning: the truth that the Obamacare bill was a legislative dog’s breakfast that reflected badly on the competence, honesty, and public-spiritedness of a Congress whipsawed by various interests; the truth that the constitutional order is jeopardized when the Supreme Court becomes a crutch for irresponsible legislators who imagine that their malfeasance can always be fixed by the federal judiciary. Congress demeans itself when it acts irresponsibly, the majority opinion suggested, and such irresponsibility is one factor in the evolution of an imperial judiciary — an aberration that the chief justice seems to regret, to his credit.”

…

The most important immediate question is, “Where do we go from here?” For those who recognize the grave threat to religious liberty and conscience that is embodied in the HHS mandate that Obamacare made possible, our responsibility is to awake the “sleeping giant” of American horror and disgust at what is happening in Washington. We must unite with others who oppose this Administration’s agenda,  no matter whether the objections are based, as Weigel points out, “on fiscal grounds, constitutional grounds, public-policy grounds, moral grounds, some of the above, or all of the above….”

In the words of  Governor Mitt Romney, Republican presidential candidate:

“I stand with the Catholic bishops and all religious organizations in their strenuous objection to this liberty-and conscience-stifling regulation.” If elected president, the former Massachusetts governor said, he would eliminate the mandate “on day one.”“Such rules don’t belong in the America that I believe in.”

Yes, America, there is a sleeping giant that can rise up and end tyranny– the American people. Since the HHS mandate was an implementing rule and not part of the Obamacare statute itself, it can be ended without approval of Congress. It is our responsibility to get our family, neighbors and friends activated. HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY…. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

Chief Justice John Roberts

It’s a sad fact that Americans have gotten so used to judicial activists on the Supreme Court that we get angry when someone like Chief Justice John Roberts refuses to be one. Don’t get me wrong — I, too, desperately hoped Obamacare would be declared unconstitutional — and I’d vote against any legislator who would support it. But the Court was required to apply a very different standard of review yesterday than it must apply when fundamental freedoms are the issue — as will be the case in the many federal cases seeking to have the HHS anti-religion mandate declared unconstitutional. Here’s why.

In reviewing the constitutionality of legislation and administrative rules, a Court must apply one of three tests, depending on the kind of issue involved in the case: a rational basis test, an intermediate test or a strict scrutiny test. Regardless of the issues, Justices are never supposed to base their decision on whether they personally favor or oppose the law. That’s the job of the legislators elected by the voters.

The constitutional issues that were argued in yesterday’s Obamacare case involved the commerce clause and the federal government’s taxation power. Those issues are vitally important, but they do not involve our most fundamental constitutional freedoms – in fact, nobody is even arguing that they do. So in that kind of case, the Court is supposed to uphold the statute’s constitutionality if there is any rational basis for doing so. Justice Roberts rejected the Obama Administration’s argument that government can require people to do pretty much anything the government wants under the commerce clause — in fact, for the first time in almost a century, his decision puts significant limits on what the government can do under that clause. But his opinion for the Court found that Obamacare can be rationally upheld under the Constitution’s taxation power. He didn’t invent that theory — it was the alternate argument argued in the Obama Administration’s brief and oral argument. Of course, that means that the individual mandate’s requirement to buy insurance, as a new tax, breaks President Obama’s own oft repeated promise:   “If you earn less than $250,000 per year, you will have no new taxes.” Now his administration admits that was not true, and the Supreme Court has agreed — and voters will have an opportunity to decide if they want to re-elect the President who will continue that tax or if they want to vote against him to demand Obamacare’s repeal.

But the cases brought by religious employers and universities against the HHS mandate are much, much different than yesterday’s case. These upcoming cases address the most fundamental of all First Amendment liberties: our right to conduct our own affairs based on what our consciences and religious beliefs tell us is right, free of oppressive government interference. The HHS mandate imposes a substantial burden on that precious liberty because it forces religious employers either to violate their consciences and beliefs or to violate the law, with staggering adverse consequences in doing so. In deciding whether the government can coerce people to violate their religious beliefs, the assumption that favored the government yesterday will be reversed.

In cases where the government is trying to intrude upon First amendment guaranties of religious liberty, courts must not uphold the government action unless the government can bear a very heavy burden required in such cases, called the strict scrutiny test. The government’s intrusion on religious liberty will be declared unconstitutional unless the government can prove (a) some compelling government need that requires such a great burden on religious liberty and also (b) even if the government could prove such a compelling need, its coercion must still be declared unconstitutional unless the government also proves that there is no other way to meet such a compelling government need that imposes less of a burden on conscience and religious liberty.

In our next post here, we’ll examine the facts to show why the government cannot even come close to justifying its outrageous HHS mandate – coercion that would require employers and universities to violate their consciences and religious beliefs.

1. Today’s decision upheld the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.

2. Far from ending the constitutional challenges against the HHS mandate, today’s decision makes the many federal lawsuits challenging the mandate’s unconstitutionality — by 56 plaintiffs, at a recent count – more important than ever. It also puts the religious freedom issue precisely where it belongs: at the very center of America’s focus. The issue that the HHS mandate continues to pose is the right of citizens to conduct their own lives by doing what their conscience and religious beliefs tell them is right, free of oppressive government intrusion.

Let me repeat: the religious liberty concerns were not part of the challenge to the Obamacare statute and these legal challenges are as alive — and as strong — as ever after today’s decision.

Now is the time to re-double our efforts: praying, staying informed, getting angry and acting decisively to end the HHS mandate’s tragic  and unprecedented government attempt to usurp our most precious rights.  Warn elected leaders that it is also in their own self-interest to rescind the HHS mandate. And if they don’t reverse course, fire them — and replace them in November.

Former Mayor Dinkins of NYC once quipped that the programs of the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Renewal might be the most effective anti-poverty program that city has ever seen. I was privileged to serve with them in New York and also to work with the friars, briefly, in Honduras as well. In Honduras, a seemingly hopeless, devastatingly poor and crime-plagued city — Camayagua – is gradually being transformed. The tools? Prayer, love, a medical clinic, refuge for imperiled women and a sense of hope and possibility are among them. They serve to bring renewal to individual lives, families and neighborhoods. The following article by Fr. John Boughton offers a glimpse at the same kind of miracle that the friars are using to transform hearts and lives in the  Fort Apache neighborhood in the South Bronx as well as others in Harlem, Yonkers, Newark, New Mexico, Texas, Nicaragua, England, Ireland and elsewhere. The CFRs are young friars and sisters whose numbers have rapidly grown almost thirtyfold, probably to about 200 … a tangible testimony to God’s love and also to the community’s capacity to attract committed people to a life of faithful service.

Houses like this one are all too common. Most of the folks on our food list live in homes that are comparable to this, some a bit better, some a bit worse. But the physical structure is less important if the foundation of the home is on Jesus.

“Without real prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, we would just be social workers in funny suits. The four hours a day spent together in prayer in this chapel fuels all of our work and will be what bears any eternal fruit we may one day harvest. “

Walking down the street behind our Friary one sees mostly the newer cinderblock homes. One of these houses in particular, however, stands out from all the rest, not for its exterior but for what it is from within. It is called Casa Milagro, (Miracle House). The house grew out of our consistent contact with the young people in our barrio. Time and time again we would get to know some of the dreadful living situations and histories of the very bright children. In projecting just a little toward the future, most often it appeared that they would be doomed to falling back into the same cycles of ill-education, broken family structure and poverty that have plagued this country for centuries. Even if one attains a cinder block home, it doesn’t mean the living situations within is any different than one with a mud floor. Some statisticians here say that sexual abuse strike 4 out of 5 young girls before they are of age. Even if it is half of that, it is still outrageous. At one point we became aware of several very serious situations in the lives of a few girls in our neighborhood. We realized we would be accountable to God if we did nothing. So with the help of a trained social worker, and a strongly Catholic woman who had been working as a house mom at an orphanage down the road for 14 years, we decided to rent a multi-room cinder block house to try and change the odds in the futures of a few girls in the neighborhood.

The goal of Casa Milagro, first and foremost, is to form these at risk girls in a family environment built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. They are formed in prayer and work, and they receive an education. If they persevere then they may be given the opportunity to receive a University education. The hope is that they are able to become professional women who can choose whatever vocation God calls them to in life. Sadly, most women don’t get that chance here. Casa Milagro is a home that fills a gap in the society for girls who are too old to enter any of the orphanages around the country and yet too young to be on their own. Each of the girls had no recourse other than to live on the streets, or in physically and psychologically dangerous situations at the homes in which they were raised. The house quickly grew from 3 girls to 6 girls, and it has the capacity for eight. They know that they are free to leave at any time, yet they love to be there. The casa is a place of hope for the future.

The house mom, Doña Luz, has made Casa Milagro a safe refuge for young ladies whose poverty might otherwise make them prime targets of Camayagua’s brutal society. She runs the place and sets the prayer schedule. They eat meals together for a set minimum time. Family meal time is invaluable in forming community, and shaping individuals. The girls share responsibilities around the house. They go to school together and to Mass. They are encouraged to dress modestly. They are required to participate in the faith formation programs run by our lay missioner friends, ‘The Missioners of Christ’. They also have to give a few hours a week of service work. Currently they are all serving at the home for handicapped children and are happily learning sign language. The girls are required to meet regularly with the guidance counselor and a psychologist to help them deal with some of their past and to set them on a good footing for the future. Each of the girls takes the opportunity at Casa Milagro very seriously. They know that they have been given a chance that most will never get.  It really is marvelous to see these young ladies brighten up as they begin to have the hope of a real future, often for the first time.

From the outside, this little house doesn’t look much different than the other finished cinder block homes on the street. But what is happening within is very different. A few young lives are being transformed and given a chance to grow in healthy soil. They are coming to know the Lord, being given human formation and getting through school. Looking at the lives of the poor in Honduras, in the States, or anywhere, it is easy to think that throwing money at the situation will change things. Certainly there is a need to cover basic necessities such as putting a roof over someone’s head. But the quickest way to change lives and the society is conversion to Christ, human formation built on Him and education. Please pray for the young ladies at Casa Milagro, and for the beautiful people here in Honduras.

“What do you see in those eyes? It must be Jesus to create such communion. While on a recent visit, Sr. Clare pf the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal makes deep eye contact with one of our neighbors.

Walking down the street behind our Friary one sees mostly the newer cinderblock homes. One of these houses in

“Without real prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, we would just be social workers in funny suits. The four hours a day spent together in prayer in this chapel fuels all of our work and will be what bears any eternal fruit we may one day harvest.”

particular, however, stands out from all the rest, not for its exterior but for what it is from within. It is called Casa Milagro, (Miracle House). The house grew out of our consistent contact with the young people in our barrio. Time and time again we would get to know some of the dreadful living situations and histories of the very bright children. In projecting just a little toward the future, most often it appeared that they would be doomed to falling back into the same cycles of ill-education, broken family structure and poverty that have plagued this country for centuries. Even if one attains a cinder block home, it doesn’t mean the living situations within is any different than one with a mud floor. Some statisticians here say that sexual abuse strike 4 out of 5 young girls before they are of age. Even if it is half of that, it is still outrageous. At one point we became aware of several very serious situations in the lives of a few girls in our neighborhood. We realized we would be accountable to God if we did nothing. So with the help of a trained social worker, and a strongly Catholic woman who had been working as a house mom at an orphanage down the road for 14 years, we decided to rent a multi-room cinder block house to try and change the odds in the futures of a few girls in the neighborhood.

The goal of Casa Milagro, first and foremost, is to form these at risk girls in a family environment built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. They are formed in prayer and work, and they receive an education. If they persevere then they may be given the opportunity to receive a University education. The hope is that they are able to become professional women who can choose whatever vocation God calls them to in life. Sadly, most women don’t get that chance here. Casa Milagro is a home that fills a gap in the society for girls who are too old to enter any of the orphanages around the country and yet too young to be on their own.

Housemother Doña Luz with the young ladies from Casa Milagro (Miracle House).

Each of the girls had no recourse other than to live on the streets, or in physically and psychologically dangerous situations at the homes in which they were raised. The house quickly grew from 3 girls to 6 girls, and it has the capacity for eight. We have no doubts that it will be filled. It is a place of hope for the future.

The house mom is tasked with running the place. She sets the prayer schedule. They eat meals together for a set minimum time. Family meal time is invaluable in forming community, and shaping individuals. The girls share responsibilities around the house. They go to school together and to Mass. They are encouraged to dress modestly. They are required to participate in the faith formation programs run by our lay missioner friends, ‘The Missioners of Christ’. They also have to give a few hours a week of service work. Currently they are all serving at the home for handicapped children and are happily learning sign language. The girls are required to meet regularly with the guidance counselor and a psychologist to help them deal with some of their past and to set them on a good footing for the future. Each of the girls takes the opportunity at Casa Milagro very seriously. They know that they have been given a chance that most will never get. They also know that they can leave at any time freely. I must say, it really is marvelous to see these young ladies brighten up as they begin to have the hope of a real future, often for the first time.

From the outside, this little house doesn’t look much different than the other finished cinder block homes on the street. But what is happening within is very different. A few young lives are being transformed and given a chance to grow in healthy soil. They are coming to know the Lord, being given human formation and getting through school. Looking at the lives of the poor in Honduras, in the States, or anywhere, it is easy to think that throwing money at the situation will change things. Certainly there is a need to cover basic necessities such as putting a roof over someone’s head. But the quickest way to change lives and the society is conversion to Christ, human formation built on Him and education. Please pray for the young ladies at Casa Milagro, and for the beautiful people here in Honduras.

Some women who get love, housing, food and all kinds of help choose to live at a Good Counsel home for as long as a year with their babies, helping other women like themselves

Two days ago, Jessica was seven months pregnant, homeless and sleeping on a park bench so she sent a note to TV reporter Monica Morales at New York City’s WPIX-TV, channel 11. Monica, who is six months pregnant herself, identified with the plight. After she ran the story, Monica contacted the wonderful Good Counsel Homes, who came to Jessica’s aid immediately. Jessica now has a nice, safe place where she and her baby can stay as she gets other help and job training and maybe volunteers to help other women like herself, too.

The short video clip shows when Monica brings Jessica to GC’s Bronx home. See it here:

:  www.goodcounselhomes.org