Economics, Entitlements  Affordable Care Act: Sum Is Worse Than
Parts  Relevant Magazine (“God. Life. Progressive Culture.”)
asked Morna Murray, President and CEO of Catholics in Alliance
for the Common Good (not an official organ of the Catholic
Church), and yours truly to respond to the question: “What do we
make of the recently passed (healthcare) bill in light of the
Gospel?” The magazine asked us to respond to a series of
questions and then gave us the opportunity to respond to each
other’s answers.  They’ve just run a portion of the interchange.
All our answers are faithfully reproduced, though most of them
are shortened. Unfortunately, they decided not to include a few
of my favorite questions. For instance, Relevant asked us to
give the pros and cons of the recently passed “Affordable
Healthcare” Act. As far as I’m concerned, these are the central
moral questions for any piece of legislation. If you don’t
rationally weigh the likely costs and benefits of a piece of
legislation, justifiably conclude th