CRomnibus: Why Politicians Cannot Be Trusted with Our Money

By Alieta Eck, M.D.

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“The cost of a doctor visit—when paid directly—has not outpaced inflation. The cost of health insurance, however, has increased to something in the range of a mortgage payment. Americans need relief.”

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Congress just passed—without even reading it—a trillion dollar spending bill. The Continuing Resolution (CR) allows the government to keep spending in the absence of a budget. The “omnibus” package—“omni” means everything in the kitchen sink—adds in 1,600 pages of pork all mixed together. No amendments, no extractions: Take it all at once or shut down the government.

Obviously, congressmen who voted for it don’t live in the real world of mortgages, food budgets, and car payments, where real Americans actually have to pay their bills.

Bobbing and Weaving on Hobby Lobby

 Alieta Eck, M.D.

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The recent “Hobby Lobby” Supreme Court decision defended the rights of the owners of a company to refuse to fund a health plan that covered abortifacient “contraceptives.” The Hobby Lobby owners argued that such medications violated deeply held religious beliefs. So for now, by a disturbingly close 5-to-4 vote, the Supreme Court has asserted that government has no right to force business owners to violate their conscience—provided that the business is “closely held.”