Flush with victory, the Catholic Bishops sent their new spokesman, Rep. Bart Stupak, to FOX News today to issue an ultimatum on health insurance reform. They'll kill it if they don't get their way:
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-[That's it: The Bishops will kill health care reform. If that happens, all those 49 million Americans without health insurance and the rest of us with pre-existing conditions can thank the local Catholic Bishop. And, I'm sure every Catholic hospital will just open its doors to cover the poor and uninsured without expecting any payment. It's not like the church is flush these days. There are already a lot of Dioceses that have gone bankrupt because of the sex abuse scandals.Mich.Vatican City]) pledged on Tuesday morning to defeat healthcare reform legislation if his abortion amendment is taken out, saying 10 to 20 anti-abortion-rights Democrats would vote against a bill with weaker language.
"They’re not going to take it out," Stupak said on "Fox and Friends," referring to Senate Democrats. "If they do, healthcare will not move forward."
Mark my words: The Bishops are just warming up. They're willing to undermine President Obama's top agenda item over their own conservative social agenda -- and members of Congress are willing to cede that power to the Bishops. Just wait til they get to issues affecting same-sex partnership recognition.
