The appointment of Blase Cupich will have an impact beyond the Catholic Church because it tells us about the role Francis wants the church to play in American life.
Most of us remain woefully unprepared for life’s final transition. One way of addressing this problem is the Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment paradigm.
We are confronted with a conservative judiciary using any argument it can to win ideological victories that elude their side in the elected branches of government.
In his short and perplexing concurrence on Hobby Lobby, Justice Kennedy offered a path to resolving the dispute over the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate.
It’s unfortunate that the Obama administration’s initial, parsimonious exemption for religious groups helped ignite the firestorm that led to Hobby Lobby.
That the ACA hit its sign-up goal ought to give everyone pause over how reckless its opponents have been in making instant judgments and outlandish charges.
With ACA enrollment numbers up and the troubled website stabilized, it’s worth looking back at the madness that gripped the Chicken Little pundits a few months ago.
The conventional wisdom seems to be that Americans, feeling ripped off by the Affordable Care Act, are ready to pounce. But how does that correspond to reality?
There’s nothing easy about watching one’s father drift out of his own life. Alzheimer’s, old age, senility—whatever you call it—is distressing for everyone.
The re-emergence of a Democratic left will be one of the major stories of 2014. Moderates, don’t be alarmed: Its return is good news for the political center.
The Republican leadership seems to hope Obamacare will collapse under its own weight. Not all conservatives are convinced of the wisdom of that approach.
Contrary to popular belief, the USCCB does not have the power to tell individual bishops—or Catholic health-care systems—what to do and what not to do.
While the next few months could be rocky, there are still reasons to be optimistic about the ACA. To understand why, it helps to know a few details about the law.
Unless the exchanges make clear which plans cover elective abortion and which don’t, the ACA’s requirement that insurers segregate abortion funds makes little sense.
Republicans took a step back from the tea party. An ebullient progressive was elected mayor of New York. And a Democrat was elected governor of Virginia.
Our nation escaped the worst. But there were consequences to the decision of a craven House Republican leadership that knew it was picking a fight it could not win.
The vast majority of Americans are outraged that some in Congress are endangering the economic security of the nation in pursuit of a narrow ideological agenda.
Obama and Democrats are done with being intimidated by the use of extra-constitutional means to extort concessions the right cannot win through normal legislation.
There's no reason to expect rollout of the ACA to go smoothly, but the overall prognosis is bright and the first exchange insurance prices are lower than expected.
Battles over budgets and Obamacare involve a showdown over the role of government in stemming rising inequality and making our country a more fair and decent place.
