The Catholic News Agency reported that the vote to ban on Planned Parenthood funding “FAILED.”
Hogwash. It succeeded exactly how it was supposed to.
To view the bill as “failed” is to misunderstand the intention of the bill. It was never intended to pass. It was intended to force Democrats into an up and down vote so Republicans could use it against them.
When John Boehner announced that part of the budget deal was securing an up and down vote on Planned Parenthood funding he knew it was a legislative non starter. The Senate is controlled by the Party of Death and President Obama made it clear that he’d rather shut down the government than remove funding from Planned Parenthood.
If Republicans were as seriously committed to a culture of life as Democrats are to the culture of death the government would be shut down now. But Republicans backed down on defunding Planned Parenthood in order to get a few million dollars in budget cuts. And then they declared victory for “changing the debate” or something.
What Republicans really wanted out of the up and down vote was for certain Democrats like Pennsylvania’s “pro-life” Democrat Senator Bob Casey to vote against defunding Planned Parenthood. And in that, it was a success.
Now they can sit back while pro-lifers go after Senators Casey and Ben Nelson among others for voting to fund Planned Parenthood. Don’t get me wrong. We should be going after Casey and Nelson and any other legislators pretending to be pro-life. We should be intent on outing the culture of death party as the culture of death party. But let’s not call the Republican party the “Party of life.” They haven’t really earned that. They’re the party that likes the votes of pro-lifers.
This vote went exactly how Republicans thought it would. So don’t call the bill a failure. It was a success. It’s the Republicans who’ve failed. Because remember, the goal of the Republican Party isn’t necessarily to stop abortion but to win elections.
April 15, 2011 at 5:55 pm
Yeah, the goal of the Republican Party is to win elections. When did it ever call itself the
"Party of Life"?
The goal of the Catholic Church is to save souls. It truly is the party (celebration) of life (Jesus Christ). So why isn't the Catholic Church exposing the Catholics who proclaim death while continuing to call themselves Catholic?
You are a Catholic blogger and yet you are calling the Republican Party to task for exposing the behavior of Democrats to win elections. Now I could see this if you stated you were a Democrat blogger. But as a Catholic blogger, you should be calling the Church to task for not doing what the Republicans do to win elections: as Jesus would say look how those in the world work–that is how eagerly the bishops should be working to get us to heaven.
April 15, 2011 at 6:26 pm
@Anon: The kingdom of God begins in the here and now,not the hereafter. There is no disconnect between the city of God and the city of man. And since, we do not have a Catholic party in the Senate, the closest we have is the GOP who is apparently remiss in their commitment to stand for the rights of man in the person of the unborn (and in so doing stand for the rights of God).
This is the fallacious meme of some nominal Catholics in politics e.g. Biden, Pelosi, Iscariot et. al. And FYI, defending unborn people is not a Catholic thing but a human thing just like defending Blacks and Jews. So, it is unfair and intellectually dishonest to relegate the issue of abortion into the realm of faith systems.
April 15, 2011 at 6:34 pm
MArchbold, MArchbold,
Your readers, including this writer, are persuaded of your zeal!
Please, on occasion, be persuadable by your readers.
Republicans "control" one half of one third of the federal government. At this point they have power to drive wedges. They have power to initiate but not finalize and ratify bills of finance.
They have no power to enact legeslation.
They are faced down from a far superior position by a profligate Senate.
They are overlorded by the veto pen of His Esquisitness, the President who has dug his heels in saying "no way" "no chance". Meanwhile, you are stamping your feet in the public square demanding "right now; all or none". Spot the similarity?
While Republicans "had control" of both houses and the presidency for 6 years they actually had a razor thin majority in the Senate, which body is populated to this day by members ready and willing to exert their unique and individual powers of fillibuster which you may disdain but which remain nonetheless real.
What also remains real is the impending collapse of the American economy. This is something that the republicans have seized as a vital responsibility of theirs to address.
At the same time they seized the opportunity to advance the anti-abortion cause well up-field in the process of addressing the nation's dire economic state.
"Tax payer money" (is there any other kind?) has been going quietly to PP for a long time. Now it goes conspicuously to the jeers of the right and the majority of the voting public. And thanks to the Republicans, $$ now goes to PP at the loud and childish insistance of the President who would be so much happier if it was all quiet like it used to be.
Things are coming to a head and you are packing your bags! Stick around for the real action instead of leaving at intermission.
April 15, 2011 at 7:01 pm
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April 15, 2011 at 7:05 pm
@Hilltop: Correct me if I am wrong, but did the GOP have the option to shut the government down this time? They did not HAVE to capitulate.
Have you ever visualized that scenario? It is more promising because the Democrats are not sure that the people will blame the GOP. They sent out that idea and some folks bought it and buckled down at the first opportunity when they have something to use as CYA. They did not duke it out to the bitter end which just shows that the struggle for the unborn was a negotiable battle for them. To them, poor black babies are expendable. So, they gave millions to Planned Parenthood – AGAIN.
The forces of darkness were more committed to killing babies than the forces of light to saving them. And in a struggle, the more committed ones win.
America is not only financially bankrupt. It is getting to be morally bankrupt as well. Who was it who said, "To destroy a nation, one must first destroy it's morals"?
April 15, 2011 at 11:02 pm
If my math is correct, there are 5 (five) CATHOLIC Justices on the US Supreme Court. Catholics can, therefore, overturn Roe v Wade at anytime! Why blame Republicans?
April 15, 2011 at 11:05 pm
Correct that… 6 (SIX) Catholic Justices!!!
April 15, 2011 at 11:43 pm
Mr. Archbold. Kudos. Your analysis nailed it.
April 16, 2011 at 1:26 pm
@Hilltop, I agree with you. Although it is disheartening (a terrible word, deeply disappointing perhaps better) that PP will continue to receive taxayer dollars for now, at least the argument has become a real game changer. The real problem IMHO is that Catholics (many who read this blog) continue to vote for pro-abortion politicians and were responsible for putting the most pro-abortion president in office in 2008. If Catholics cared so much for LIFE, they would not have voted for Obama. We would have been in a far different position if Republicans controlled more than just the House. So it is easy to place blame on the Republican party but they are our only hope (governing-wise) as this vote on Thursday has proven that there are no pro-life Dems any longer. Patrick, lets not villify the Republicans. Lets put the blame squarely where it belongs… on us.
April 17, 2011 at 4:36 am
To all who thought that the House Republicans should have let the government shutdown, look at the history of the November 1995 shutdown.
President Clinton rejected the spending bills sent over by the Republican controlled Congress (Rs had both chambers that time). The government shutdown. The Republicans ended up getting the blame, the President got a new political life and won re-election in '96, and the Republican Revolution of 1994 never recovered its mojo.
So, why would this time had been any different?
April 18, 2011 at 5:09 am
A very well written and much needed commentary. Thank you Matt. Rather than waiting for the day which will never come: the day when the Republicans control the presidency, the house and have veto-proof control of the senate, would it be better to have a third party that simply concentrated on having enough members of the house to be deal makers or deal breakers regrading any proposed legislation? I would call it The Family party. It would put the Life issues first, then other issues in order of priority. It could side with the Republicans for majority purposes. I think the Tea Party has demonstrated that it is not about the social values issues, at least not when money is at stake.