“Like Henry VIII said to each of his new wives, ‘I won’t keep you long.’” These types of humorous asides peppered a presentation by Vatican journalist John Allen on September 30 at Geddes Hall, and lightened the mood in a speech otherwise dedicated to very serious matters.
Living in South Bend, it may not be immediately evident that the federal government has been shut down since October 1. But to 800,000 “non-essential” federal employees, the month of October has seen a few unpleasant changes brought on by the gridlock within the US Congress.
“The great challenge of the contraceptive mandate is not legal, political or even constitutional. The primary challenge is an evolving orthodoxy that no longer assumes religion in American public life is a good thing, much less that it ought to be constitutionally privileged.”
On September 18 the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided, in a move that surprised markets, that economic conditions did not yet warrant a reduction in the pace of its bond purchasing program.
The current policy of purchasing $85 billion-a-month of Treasury- and mortgage-backed securities is the third iteration of quantitative easing, a policy tool designed to maintain downward pressure on interest rates after the federal funds rate has reached its zero lower bound and other traditional policy tools have been exhausted. These policies so far have led the Fed’s balance sheet to increase to almost $4 trillion. After months of signaling markets to prepare for tapering due to improvements in the outlook for economic growth, the FMOC move triggered a sigh of relief in stock and bond markets, with the yield on 10-year Treasury notes falling and the Dow Jones Industrial Index closing at a record high immediately following the release of the FOMC meeting statement.
As part of the 2013 Notre Dame Symposium focusing on religious liberty under Obamacare, Bishop Robert Morlino of the Diocese of Madison addressed members of the Notre Dame community on September 20 in the Oak Room of South Dining Hall. The topic of his address was the future toll of Obamacare on religious freedom.
The so-called HHS contraceptive mandate, requiring contraceptives and abortifacients to be covered under employer health plans, has pitted Catholic and other religious employers in a legal battle against the federal government. Opponents of the mandate have called it a gross violation of the religious liberty of conscientious objectors.
Bishop Morlino, however, expressed a desire to change the terms of debate
Patrick Lyon, Staff Writer The Center for Social Concerns hosted a discussion on the rising crisis in Syria titled “Dignity […]
Alexandra DeSanctis, Staff Writer As the civil war in Syria rose once again to the center of the news cycle, […]
Owen Smith, Staff Writer “Town and Gown” is a phrase used to describe the two groups of a college town, […]
Scott Englert, Politics Editor Nate Balmert, Staff Writer Oral arguments for two cases regarding same sex marriage began last week […]
Scott Englert, Politics Editor On March 19 in the Eck School of Law, Michael Greve, a law professor at George […]
