Noble Effects from Ignoble Causes

Spurred by the belief that his economic package might be slowed down due to loss of Republican votes, IT APPEARS as if President Obama has asked Nancy Pelosi and other hyperliberal Democrats to back off the contraception issue in the stimulus package. In point of fact, he is trying to avoid egg on his face for not being able to push this stimulus through as fast as he promised (by Presidents' Day weekend), which would surely be the case if the $200M+ in contraception is included; either because the few conservative republicans out there will definitely vote against the package on principle, or because including the provision would come back to haunt a President who has promised to not waste the money on frivolous expenditures.

House Democrats are likely to jettison family planning funds for the low-income from an $825 billion economic stimulus bill, officials said late Monday, following a personal appeal from President Barack Obama at a time the administration is courting Republican critics of the legislation.

Several officials said a final decision was expected on Tuesday, coinciding with Obama's scheduled visit to the Capitol for separate meetings with House and Senate Republicans.

The provision has emerged as a point of contention among Republicans, who criticize it as an example of wasteful spending that would neither create jobs nor otherwise improve the economy.

Whatever the case, it's certainly 'amusing' that the non-denominational Barack Obama is, in this isolated scenario, acting more in accord with Catholic principles than the Catholic Nancy Pelosi.

God surely works in mysterious ways.