No ‘Pope Francis effect’ on Capitol Hill gridlock

[hrmjustin]

David Gibson

The epitome of its dysfunction may have arrived with last week’s wrap-up before a five-week summer recess, as House Republicans failed to pass their own scaled-back bill on the border children crisis on Thursday (July 31). Realizing how bad that looked, lawmakers returned on Friday to pass an even more severe bill that had no chance of going anywhere.

But a better gauge of the problem may be the fact that despite the almost universal popularity of Pope Francis, the House of Representatives was unable to muster enough bipartisan support to pass a resolution lauding Francis’ election — nearly 18 months ago.

The bill, H.Res. 440, seems straightforward, as it aims to congratulate Francis on his March 2013 election and recognize “his inspirational statements and actions.”

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/08/04/pope-francis-effect-capitol-hill-gridlock/

[Htom Sirveaux]

1. You should hear them talk about his economic statements

on conservative Catholic radio. It's all about how he's saying those things because he's from Argentina, and he shouldn't be taken seriously because he's not an economist.

[hrmjustin]

2. I never heard that radio station. is it rw?

[Htom Sirveaux]

3. It's called Relevant Radio, and yeah, it's pretty darn conservative.

They've been screaming about the birth control mandate, "Obamacare is funding abortions!", etc.

[hrmjustin]

4. oh so it is EWTN on the radio.

[Htom Sirveaux]

5. Actually, EWTN also has a radio station, separate from Relevant, but yeah, like that.

I know way too much about this stuff.

[hrmjustin]

6. Oh it is interesting at times for the spiritual aspects.

[Htom Sirveaux]

7. I think it's important to listen to different perspectives.

Even (and especially) those I disagree with.

[hrmjustin]

8. Agreed!

[No Vested Interest]

9. "he's not an economist."

An awful lot of people who aren't economists spout off on the subject.

OTOH, I'm not sure many economists should be taken seriously.
Economics is not an exact science.

[Htom Sirveaux]

10. And it's frequently shot through with political ideology.

"Austerity" by Mark Blyth is must read on the economic orthodoxy that has been beggaring nations for hundreds of years based on self-righteous moralism from the 17th and 18th centuries.