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The compromise announced Friday by the Obama administration on birth control as part of health care seems reasonable to me (point of clarity, I am Catholic), but in this political season, reason doesn’t seem to be a top priority. Before the change, of course, I had a thought. First, did you know it costs a health care provider far less to offer birth control than it does to provide care in the case of unwanted pregnancies and some of the unintended health consequences? Far less, actually. So why can’t a Catholic institution offer a base plan that does not include birth control, but the employee does have the option of personally contacting the insurance provider to have it added. It is then up to the insurance provider to decide if adding the option of birth control changes the employee’s contribution to the health care plan.
And I have a question. Let’s say John, an employee of a Catholic college, in consultation with his wife Mary and their family doctor, concludes that it would be in the best interest of their family and Mary’s long term health that they have no more children. John decides to put the “burden” on his shoulders and gets the old snip-snip operation. Is that covered, at least in part, by the college’s health care plan?
Okay, let’s move on. Kudos to JC Penny for staring down some organization that I never heard of and said it is keeping Ellen DeGeneres as its new spokesperson. And a tip of the hat to Ellen for the classy and charming way she handled the situation. Ellen, I promise you all of my future purchases of socks and underwear will be at JC Penny.
I do not go to Super Bowl parties because there is always a 50/50 chance my Steelers will be in it and I cannot be distracted. So it is just my wife and I, and in those years when the Steelers are not in it we spend the night rating the advertisements with none to four stars. We had only one four star this year, the Clint Eastwood-Chrysler spot. In fact we gave it a standing ovation for its production and its support of hard working Americans and a great American city. We didn’t realize it was political until Karl Rove went up in arms the next day.
Speaking of Super Bowl ads, I don’t know how many millions Budweiser spent, but I am not going to buy beer because it is in a shiny blue bottle. And how do you think they got that dog in one of the ads to ignore all of the goodies spilled on the kitchen floor? It had to be a digital affect. At my house our newly nicknamed spaniel, Chubles, would eat the linoleum given the chance.
And, finally. The Notre Dame men’s basketball team plays with one big heart. And Mike Brey this season is doing his best coaching since he has been here.