kathleen sebelius

Over the past several years we have seen churches throwing themselves more into the political landscape. Today we see it even more:

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday that she didn’t consult with the Catholic bishops on the latest version of the contraceptive coverage rule.

At a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the Obama administration’s budget request, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) pressed Sebelius on which constituencies the administration consulted before announcing its changes to the contraception rule.

“I did not speak with the Catholic bishops,” Sebelius told Hatch. “I know that the president has spoken to the bishops on several occasions, yes.”

The church views the separation clause as one way; the state can't tell the church what to do, but the church can tell the state what to do. This is not how our founding fathers envisioned it and is a very real danger to our democracy. Actually, if you think about it, it's bringing us closer to the same type of tyranny that the pilgrims fled England from all those centuries ago.

So I say it's time to remove that whole clause and make the church play by the same rules as everyone else. They have already pushed the envelope for too long and it's time for a change.

That’s the news catching on like wildfire this morning – that President Obama has dropped his support for a public option in the healthcare bill. Like most on our side I was at first really upset over this, but instead of starting my screams of anguish, I sat here and thought about it.

When you start looking into the story you quickly realize that there is mixed messages going on. Kathleen Sebelius was the one who brought us the news of no public option yesterday, but Robert Gibbs basically denied it. Is the Obama White House this confused on message, or is it part of a bigger plan?

Democrats are losing the message war during the August recess. Townhalls are turning into shouting matches thanks to the right wing opponents of health care reform, and now the two big things they have complained about, a public option and end of life counseling, are rumored to be gone. That takes away their two biggest complaints, while the loss of these items should ignite our base.

Perhaps this is a way for the administration to regain control of the message war in August. We are at the halfway point of the recess, and now the White House can see what happens at the townhalls with these two items off the table. If they start seeing outrage from the left about it then they can come back in September and reinstate the options, citing a public outrage over the removal of them.

On top of that, if there is visible outrage from the President’s own party, that will be much more meaningful than opposition from a bunch of McCain/Palin supporters. That will also help to push the Blue Dogs over to our side that much more. After all once the recess is over they need to start their campaigns for the 2010 elections.

The governor of Kansas, the one who gave the Democratic response to the SOTU last night, has announced she will be backing Barack Obama for President.