Posted on 02/11/2012 4:56:43 AM PST by Kaslin
Every sports fan knows that close contests are often decided by mistakes rather than heroics. In this year's Super Bowl, Tom Brady threw just one interception, but Eli Manning didn't throw any. Manning's team won.
What's especially disheartening for fans are unforced errors. Right now, President Obama's fans have reason to worry about a substantive unforced error that threatens his support among Catholic voters.
The Obama administration recently ruled that all insurance policies must offer contraceptive services with no co-payments required. In and of itself, that decision is neither positive nor negative. Forty-three percent of voters favor it, while 46 percent are opposed.
That mandate violates the beliefs of some churches. Normally, religious exemptions are granted in such cases, but not this time. Thirty-nine percent support the administration on this point, while 50 percent are opposed. Even worse for the White House, support for the ruling comes primarily from people who rarely attend church. That's a group that voted strongly for Obama in 2008 and continues to support him today. In other words, no upside.
But, among Catholics, only 28 percent believe religious organizations should be required to implement rules that conflict with church doctrine. Sixty-five percent are opposed. This is true even though many Catholics disagree with church teachings on birth control.
The impact is stunning since 54 percent of Catholics voted for President Obama in 2008. Today, just 39 percent of Catholic voters approve of the way he's doing his job.
Perhaps some strategists thought that Catholics would welcome government help in battling the church on birth control. But Catholics who disagree with the church deal with the situation in the privacy of their own bedroom. They don't need federal help. In fact, it is hard to imagine any person of faith wanting the federal government to have any say in church doctrine and how Holy Scripture should be applied.
While Team Obama wanted to debate contraception, the Catholic League's Bill Donahue said it was unprecedented "for the federal government to line up against the Roman Catholic Church." Even The Washington Post, hometown paper for America's Political Class, thought the administration ruling went too far and "does not make an adequate accommodation for those deeply held views." When the Post thinks you've gone too far in imposing federal authority, it's a sure sign that you're pretty far out on a limb.
The unforced error has added impact because it ties directly into other issues that President Obama would rather keep quiet before Election Day. Most voters want more choices in their health care coverage, not less. By a 77 percent to 9 percent margin, voters think everybody should have the right to choose between different types of health insurance plans, including some that cost more and cover just about all medical procedures and some that cost less while covering only major medical procedures. They want options, not mandates.
Additionally, the issue puts the president's unpopular health care law back in the news. Voters already believe that law will increase the cost of health care, and most also believe the decision on contraceptive coverage will add even more costs.
In the end, unforced errors like this will only matter if the election is close. If the economy improves significantly, the president is likely to be re-elected. If the recovery stalls and confidence falls, he is likely to lose. But in a close race, unforced errors could be decisive. Team Obama is probably looking for a way to correct this error and undo the damage well before the fall campaign season arrives.
Ping
We really do have to imagine them with their gay face on.
They aren't concerned for your religious liberties at all ~ didn't give it a second thought. What they want is for you to focus on their sexual needs ~ or somebody's sexual needs ~ or whatever ~ to the exclusion of everything else.
Oh! Goody! More Free Stuff. Now you like sex as a means of Entertainment and Enjoyment (Do men get FREE CONDOMS as well?) but I want to go to the theater 4 times a week - can I get FREE THEATER TICKETS? Equal Protection and all that.
they’ll still vote for him in the Northeast.
If anyone thinks this is going to be free they are delusional. The insurance companies have already hinted that they would raise their rates.
I agree with Rush that this was the end-game. The dust up with the Catholic Church was just a red herring which they know will be forgotten by election time.
Everything is paid for by somebody somewhere. Raising their rates would be one way the insurance companies would be able to comply with this mandate and still stay in business.
Aside from the financial issue, I object to this mandate on grounds of religious freedom. I'm not Catholic. I don't have any particular moral objection to contraception, though I do to abortion.
I do, however, believe that it is wrong to force Catholic institutions to provide something which goes against their teachings, never mind that many Catholics do practice birth control. It's an infringement on freedom of religion and no such infringement should be taken lightly.
I hope that this issue wakes up a great many people who thought Obama and ObamaCare were just wondermus!
He offended me WAY before his fumbling.
I’m not so sure. My gut feeling it is the foot in the door along the same path that leads to things like China’s Patriotic Catholic Association. Any government controls on religion will be sure to expand because bureaucrats never think they have enough authority and will always find more things to take charge of.
That means that if they are not stopped at this level, they’re going to start taking an interest in other things, with the ultimate goal of getting a voice, or maybe just an ear (to start) on what is being taught to kids.
Now that should scare the hell out of anyone. If the government gets involved in Sunday School...
I think at the core, all the religions working against this know that instinctively, which is why there is an unusual degree of unity among various faiths in fighting it. They all have a stake in this fight.
My Gawd Man, you talk about this (the article) like it were an issue where if the president would have only handled this better, everything would go on swimmingly... the hell it would! Obama is a menace to America and her constitution. He seeks to turn our freedom into fiefdom, from where all are free moral agents to, if you live according to his mandates, you will be cared for... the arrogance and deluded self importance of our moral busybody president must come to an end... this year!!!
Correct me if I am wrong. It’s still a mandate, just switched who pays for it.
That’s my understanding.
"Call me Rev Obama. I just got ordained."
"And here's 'Sr Michele' on the day she entered the novitiate."
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....the arrogance and deluded self importance of our busybody president must come to an end.....
If only FR had a "Like" option.
Liability insurance is generally purchased in order to prevent the possibility of being hit with a huge bill down the line. Health insurance the same. Why would anyone need insurance to avoid the possibility of being hit with a huge bill for contraceptives or “morning after” abortion pills? The bill, if one paid it him or herself, is minuscule. The real nub of all of this is, as always, abortion by medical intervention. Nothing else costs enough to warrant the purchase of insurance.
There was no "fumble." Rush labeled it correctly as a "power grab" and an assault on the First Amendment which, if these talking heads keep defining it to the public in the President's chosen semantic method, risks all the individual liberties included in that First Amendment's listing.
The President knows that if he can persuade the Catholic Church and other religious leaders to view his seeming "fumble" as a "recovery" which is acceptable, then the First Amendment's protections for free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, right to peaceably assemble, and appeal to Government for redress of grievances--all have been forever breached and are vulnerable targets for tyrannical leaders.
Church leaders must take on the task of educating their members on the ideas of liberty--a task their ancestors did not shy from during the revolutionary period. The sermons of those days rang out with appeals for ordered liberty and respect for the "rights of conscience."
Axelrod and the other "handlers" believe they can manipulate the political argument to their advantage. Perhaps they underestimate the voices of freedom in the religious community.
"Although all men are born free, slavery has been the general lot of the human race. Ignorant—they have been cheated; asleep—they have been surprised; divided—the yoke has been forced upon them. But what is the lesson? ... the people ought to be enlightened, to be awakened, to be united, that after establishing a government, they should watch over it ... It is universally admitted that a well-instructed people alone can be permanently free."
Heck in Chicago the dead will vote for him multiple times
If Obama can order insurance companies to provide birth control “for free,” why not just go a step further and order condom manufacturers to give away condoms for free? That might go even further toward his goal of minimizing pregnancies. Drug stores could just have a barrel between the cash register and the door with a sign FREE CONDOMS.
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