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In agreement with the U.S. Bishops, Catholics are urged to vote for candidates “based on the full range of issues, as well as on the candidate’s personal integrity, philosophy and performance,” keeping in mind that “a Catholic moral philosophy does not easily fit the ideologies of ‘right’ or ‘left’, nor the platform of any party…Our responsibility is to measure all candidates, policies, parties, and platforms by how they protect the life, dignity and rights of the human person, whether they protect the poor and the vulnerable and advance the common good."8
“Most issues are moral issues. If we take moral issues seriously, we need to vote accordingly.”
– Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
Caucus Co-chair
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1. Statements from the publication “Faithful
Citizenship: a Catholic Call to Political Responsibility,” US Conference
of Catholic Bishops; concepts adapted from “Peaceweavings:
Choosing a Presidential Candidate, Pax Christi, USA and the National
Catholic Rural Life Conference.
2.David Kamin, tax and budget analyst,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, by telephone, August 27, 2004
3. “Tax Returns: A Comprehensive Assessment
of the Bush Administration’s Record on Cutting Taxes,” Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 2004
4. “Studies Shed New Light on Effects of
Administration’s Tax Cuts,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
August 25, 2004, with data from the Congressional Budget Office Mid-Session
Budget Review
5. “Assessing President Bush’s Fiscal
Policies,” Mark M. Zandi, Economy.com, July 2004
6. “Gap Between Rich and Poor Widening
in Troubled Economy,” by Leigh Strope, Associated Press, August 17,
2004
7.Economic Justice For All Pastoral Letter
on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy, National
Conference of Catholic Bishops, November 1986, 202d. The U.S. Bishops’ election
statement (Faithful Citizenship, November 2003) is silent
on the matter of fair taxation policies that can generate sufficient revenue
for basic needs programs.
8. Address of His Holiness Pope John
Paul II to the Diplomatic Corps, January 13, 2003
9. See FN at 2
10.“Studies Say Tax Cuts Now Will Bring
Bigger Bill Later,” The New York Times, September
23, 2003
11. Ibid
12. “Studies Shed New Light
on Effects of Administration’s Tax Cuts,” Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities, August 25, 2004; Robert Reischauer, Urban Institute,
as reported in Newsweek,
May 24, 2004
13. “The Unbearable Costs of Empire,” by
Mark Weisbrot, Business Week Online, July 29, 2004; “This
Can’t Go On,” by Paul Krugman, The New York Times,
November 4, 2003, p. A29
14. Congressional Budget Office data; The
New York Times, September 23, 2003, p. C2
15. “Tax Returns: A Comprehensive
Assessment of the Bush Administration’s Record on Cutting Taxes, ” Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 23, 2004
16. “Studies Shed New Light
on Effects of Administration’s Tax Cuts,” Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities, August 25, 2004
17. Ibid, Table 1
18. See FN at 15; U.S. Treasury Department
data
19. “Studies Shed New Light on Effects
of Administration’s Tax Cuts,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
August 25, 2004; “Tax Returns: A Comprehensive Assessment of the Bush
Administration’s Record on Cutting Taxes,” Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities, April 23, 2004
20. “IRS Is Tightening Rules for Low-Income
Tax Credit,” The New York Times, April 25, 2003
21. NETWORK, A National Catholic Social
Justice Lobby, “Budget and Taxes,” Election 2004 Charts
22. “NO END IN SIGHT TO RISING DEFICITS,
EXPERTS WARN,” Committee for Economic Development, Concord Coalition,
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, September 29, 2003
23. Ibid, Table 1
24. Ibid, Table 1
25. Ibid, Table 1
17. Ibid, Table 1
War
and Peace