Boehner & The Bishops

According to Politico, Speaker John Boehner does not yet have the votes to pass his plan to raise the debt ceiling, cut government spending, raise no new taxes, and leave the Pentagon budget almost completely untouched. Good.

Boehner's plan is awful, as the USCCB indicated in its letter to members of Congress. The bishops quite explicitly echoed President Obama's call for a balanced approach to the problem of the government's long-term fiscal health. "A just framework for future budgets cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor persons," they wrote. "It requires shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate revenues, eliminating unnecessary military and other spending, and addressing the long-term costs of health insurance and retirement programs fairly."

The full text of the USCCB letter can be found here.