The Affordable Care Act (ACA) expands Medicaid – the joint federal-state program that provides health coverage to the poor – to cover more parents and single adults. But states can refuse to expand their program, even though most of the funding comes from the federal government. Speaker of the Missouri House Tim Jones (R-Eureka) has [...]
The election has made one thing clear: there will be no repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the next four years. Instead of calling for “repeal and replace” measures, however, Congress can seek to amend the ACA, especially to ensure that the new law in no way promotes or funds abortions. States can [...]
Catholic teaching offers no blueprint for solving a crisis like the present one. There is, however, a role for the Church in expressing pastoral concern and encouraging politicians to work together to maintain the common good of all citizens, especially the most vulnerable, such as the indigent elderly, those with disabilities and the working poor. [...]
After a long and bitter campaign, President Obama has been re-elected by a very narrow margin – just 50 percent of the popular vote – while Congress remains divided with Democrats controlling the Senate and Republicans in control of the House. Will partisan gridlock continue? Certainly, that is not what most Americans want. It’s time [...]
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, congratulated President Barack Obama, November 7, the day after his re-election as President of the United States. Cardinal Dolan promised the prayers of the bishops saying that “The Catholic Bishops of the United States offer our prayers that God will give [...]
On election night voters across the country were not only anxiously awaiting election returns on races involving candidates, but also the outcome of various ballot measures. These measures reflected a wide spectrum of social policy issues and often resulted in close outcomes. In many of the states the Catholic conferences took a leading role in [...]
A time bomb is set to go off in the next few months that could destroy the fragile economic recovery now underway, leading to a surge in unemployment and more misery for many American families. Most economists agree that now is not the time to raise taxes and make deep cuts in federal spending. But [...]
November 6th is not only election day for state and federal candidates, it is also the date when citizens will consider numerous state ballot issues. A look across the country shows a wide variety of initiatives, referendums and constitutional amendments to be decided by the voters. They include: Same-sex marriage: Four states (Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, [...]
Proposition B would raise the tax on tobacco products by 73 cents. Missouri’s current tax rate of 17 cents per pack of cigarettes is the lowest in the nation and has not been increased for over a decade. With the proposed increase Missouri would still be in the bottom half of states in tobacco tax [...]
A proposed increase in the tobacco tax is one of the issues that voters will face during the general election on Nov. 6. Proposition B proposes to raise the current tobacco tax and dedicate the funds to smoking prevention and cessation programs, public schools and higher education. It is believed that an additional $283-$423 million [...]