Trickle Down Economics is a Myth.

As a person trained in economics I never understood the Reagan era GOP mantra of “Trickle Down Economics." My experience has always been more like Robert Reich’s who called it “Tinkle Down” Economics – the rich are “tinkling down” on the rest of us. An excellent refutation of the “Trickle Down” theory can be found at http://www.politicususa.com/en/tax-cuts-trickle-down

Rerum Novarum

This is the 120th Anniversary of Pope Leo XII’s landmark encyclical “Rerum Novarum” which set the basis for Catholic social teachings. At a time when workers were being mightily abused by the growing Industrial Revolution, Pope Leo stood up for the rights of workers. I wish that America’s bishops would do the same today. While they were good enough to call a panel at an academic “safe house” like Catholic University of America (CUA) to celebrate the brave Pope Leo, they have been remarkably silent as the rights of workers have been trampled upon by companies (many of them Catholic hospitals) and in State Houses across the land. http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1101818.htm It’s no wonder they have become so irrelevant. What would Jesus do? What would Leo do?

Closely following this event, House speaker John Boehner came to give the commencement address at CUA  and this prompted a letter from 75 professors from Catholic colleges around the country saying that the “Republican-supported budget he shepherded through the House of Representatives will hurt the poor, elderly and vulnerable, and therefore he has failed to uphold basic Catholic moral teaching.”

“Mr. Speaker, your voting record is at variance from one of the Church’s most ancient moral teachings,” the letter says. “From the apostles to the present, the Magisterium of the Church has insisted that those in power are morally obliged to preference the needs of the poor. Your record in support of legislation to address the desperate needs of the poor is among the worst in Congress. This fundamental concern should have great urgency for Catholic policy makers. Yet, even now, you work in opposition to it.”

The letter writers go on to criticize Mr. Boehner’s support for a budget that cut support for Medicare, Medicaid and the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, while granting tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. They call such policies “anti-life,” a particularly biting reference because the phrase is usually applied to politicians and others who support the right to abortion.  http://www.religiousleftlaw.com/2011/05/catholic-professors-criticize-boehner-in-letter.html

As for the bishops? Well, they run CUA, so they must have been quite happy with what they were getting. The only “life” issue that seems to concern them is abortion and they know who “carries the water” for them. Who cares about a “moral obligation to preference the need of the poor”? … What would Jesus do? What would Leo do?

Had enough?

How ridiculous does a news outlet have to get before it loses all respect and credibility. Fox News recently advocated water boarding President Obama. http://www.politicususa.com/en/fox-obama-waterboard

Donate to the SHS Auction

Contact Tom Reid at Swampscott High and make a donation to this very worth while event. Then watch May 23 - 26 and bid on all they good bargains they will be offering. The auction will be broadcast on Channel 15 (Comcast) and Channel 40 (Verizon). You can reach Tom @ reid@swampscott.k12.ma.us