Monday, February 3, 2020

Another Catholic diocese faces bankruptcy: Should Catholics give a damn?

I don't know whether Rhett Butler was a Catholic, but Catholics should adopt Rhett's attitude about the rising tide of bankruptcies among America's Catholic dioceses.  Frankly, my dears, we should not give a damn.

Nineteen Catholic dioceses have filed for bankruptcy in recent years, due to payouts forced on the Church by child-abuse victims, almost all of whom were raped or sexually abused by Catholic priests. The National Catholic Reporter compiled a list of 131 financial settlements between the Catholic Church and child abuse victims--most of them for a million dollars or more.

According to the Buffalo News, the Diocese of Buffalo, New York may be the twentieth American diocese to file for bankruptcy.  NCR's Carolyn Thompson reported a few days ago that the Buffalo Diocese has already paid out about $18 million to 100 child abuse victims and has 220 lawsuits pending against it.

Not surprisingly, the sexual abuse scandal has demoralized Catholic laypeople all over the United States. No one knows how many Catholics have left the Church due to this moral catastrophe, but it is clear that Catholic laypeople have drastically cut back on their financial contributions to the Church.

The Buffalo Diocese provides an example. Jay Tokasz, writing for the Buffalo News, reported that the diocese suffered a $5 million budget deficit last year even though it cut its budget by $1.9 million.

Donations to the diocese had dropped by a whopping one third in just one year.  In 2018, the Buffalo Diocese received approximately $18 million in donations. In 2019, donations fell to about $13 million.  That's a huge vote of no confidence in the Buffalo hierarchy's leadership. 

Catholics are frustrated and enraged by the Church’s sexual abuse scandal. How, we ask ourselves, can a church that calls itself the Bride of Christ allow men to rape and sodomize children—both boys and girls?  How could the Church allow rapists to continue in their ministry and how could it have resorted to sleazy legal maneuvers to hide the scandal?

The arrogance and indifference of the American Catholic bishops are destroying the Church’s financial viability—which is a good thing. Lay Catholics have simply stopped giving money to the son-of –a-bitches who have countenanced human trafficking in parish rectories for more than half a century.

 In fact, it is not too much to say that many Catholic bishops are themselves human traffickers who moved pedophiles around from parish to parish. Instead of bringing children to pedophiles, the Church sent pedophiles to the children. So much more efficient!

I stopped giving money to the Catholic Church about three years ago. My wife and I now make regular monthly contributions to Casa Juan Diego, the Catholic Worker hospitality house in Houston, Texas. We know that every dollar we send to Casa Juan Diego will go to help the poor.

I urge other disappointed Catholics to join me. Stop funding the creeps who run the Catholic Church and give it to people who are doing Christ’s work—whether or not they are Catholics. 


*****
·        According to the National Catholic Reporter, the Catholic Church has paid out more than $3 billion in settlements and court awards to child abuse victims.  The following is a list of 131 settlements and the number of victims in each case (as reported by NCR).

·        2000-03-15 — Santa Rosa, California — $1.6 million — 4
·        2000-12-04 — Los Angeles, California — $5.2 million — 1
·        2001-03-08 — Bridgeport, Connecticut — $15 million — 26
·        2001-12 — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — $5 million — 1
·        2002-01-30 — Tucson, Arizona — $14 million — 11
·        2002-04-01 — Orange and LA, California — $1.2million — 1
·        2002-06 — Los Angeles, California — $1.5 million — 1
·        2002-06-14 — Omaha, Nebraska — $800.000 — 1
·        2002-08-23 — Orange, California — $400.000 — 1
·        2002-09-04 — Los Gatos, California – Jesuits — $7.5 million — 2
·        2002-09-09 — Providence, Rhode Island — $13.5 million — 36
·        2002-09-18 — Boston, Massachusetts — $10 million — 86
·        2002-10-10 — Manchester, New Hampshire — $950.000 — 16
·        2002-11-26 — Manchester, New Hampshire — $5.1 million — 62
·        2003-01-09 — Boston, Massachusetts (Jesuits) — $5.8 million — 15
·        2003-01-29 — Metuchen, New Jersey — $800,000 — 10
·        2003-03-13 — Camden, New Jersey — $880,000 — 23
·        2003-05-08 — Manchester, New Hampshire — $815.000 — 4
·        2003-05-22 — Manchester, New Hampshire — $6.5 million — 61
·        2003-05-22 — Manchester, New Hampshire — $2.1 million — 33
·        2003-06-10 — Louisville, Kentucky — $25.7 million — 243
·        2003-06-30 — San Bernardino, California — $4.2 million — 2
·        2003-07-01 — Chicago, Illinois — $1.9 million — 1
·        2003-07-10 — Chicago, Illinois — $4 million — 4
·        2003-08-14 — Tucson, Arizona — $1.8 million — 5
·        2003-09-09 — Boston, Massachusetts — $84.2 million — 552
·        2003-09-11 — Seattle, Washington — $7.9 million — 15
·        2003-10-02 — Chicago, Illinois — $8 million — 15
·        2003-10-11 — Covington, Kentucky — $5.2 million — 27
·        2003-10-16 — Bridgeport, Connecticut — $21million — 40
·        2003-11-24 — Oakland, California — $1 million — 1
·        2003-12-04 — Covington, Kentucky — $1million — 5
·        2004 — Bridgeport, Connecticut — $40,000 — 2
·        2004-01-23 — Oakland, California — $3 million — 1
·        2004-01-28 — Covington, Kentucky — $2 million — 7
·        2004-04-15 — St. Petersburg, Florida — $1.1 million — 12
·        2004-04-21 — St. Louis, Missouri — $1.7 million — 1
·        2004-05-27 — Altoona-Johnstown, Pennsylvania — $3.7 million — 21
·        2004-07-03 — Toledo, Ohio — $500,000 — 2
·        2004-08-17 — Springfield, Massachusetts — $7.8 million — 46
·        2004-08-20 — Toledo, Ohio — $1.2 million — 23
·        2004-08-26 — St. Louis, Missouri  — $2 million — 18
·        2004-09-22 — Miami, Florida — $3.4 million — 23
·        2004-10-08 — Newark, New Jersey — $1 million — 10
·        2004-10-28 — Davenport, Iowa — $9 million — 37
·        2004-12-02 — Orange, California — $100 million — 91
·        2004-12-17 — Seattle, Washington — $1.8 million — 12
·        2004-12-23 — Oakland, California — $6.3 million — 3
·        2005-02-15 — Paterson, New Jersey — $5 million — 27
·        2005-03-08 — Cincinnati, Ohio — $3.2 million — 120
·        2005-03-24 — Oakland, California — $437,000 — 1
·        2005-03-31 — Fort Worth, Texas — $1.4 million — 1
·        2005-04-07 — Fairbanks, Alaska-Jesuits — $1 million — 1
·        2005-04-09 — Fort Worth, Texas — $2.7 million — 1
·        2005-04-15 — Oakland, California — $1.9 million — 2
·        2005-04-20 — San Francisco, California — $5.8 million — 4
·        2005-04-22 — Santa Rosa, California — $3.3 million — 1
·        2005-05 — Orlando & St. Augustine, Florida — $1.5 million — 3
·        2005-05-09 — Davenport, Iowa — $1.9 million — 1
·        2005-05-19 — Stockton, California — $3 million — 1
·        2005-06-10 — San Francisco, California — $21.2 million — 15
·        2005-06-10 — Seattle, Washington — $1.7 million — 4
·        2005-06-29 — Sacramento, California — $35million — 33
·        2005-06-30 — Boston, Massachusetts — $33.1 million — 257
·        2005-07-01 — Santa Rosa, California — $7.3million — 8
·        2005-07-08 — San Francisco, California — $16.0 million — 12
·        2005-08-05 — Oakland, California — $56 million — 56
·        2005-08-27 — Seattle, Washington – Benedictines — $2.6 million — 7
·        2005-09-02 — San Francisco, California — $4 million — 4
·        2005-10-11 — San Francisco, California — $2.6million — 2
·        2005-11-01 — Hartford, Connecticut — $22million — 43
·        2006-01-09 — Covington, Kentucky — $2.5 million — 19
·        2006-01-09 — Covington, Kentucky — $79 million — 243
·        2006-02-21 — Dubuque, Iowa — $5 million — 20
·        2006-03-13 — Los Angeles, California – Franciscans — $28 million — 25
·        2006-03-16 — Jackson, Mississippi — $5.1 million — 19
·        2006-04-01 — Seattle, Washington — $1 million — 2
·        2006-06-30 — Boston, Massachusetts — $6.3 million — 86
·        2006-08-04 — Anchorage, Alaska and Boston, Massachusetts — $1.4 million — 5
·        2006-09-01 — Milwaukee, Wisconsin — $16.7 million — 10
·        2006-10-27 — Los Angeles, California – Carmelites — $10 million — 7
·        2006-11-30 — Norwich, Connecticut — $1.1 million — 1
·        2006-12-01 — Los Angeles, California — $60 million — 45
·        2006-12-16 — Washington, D.C. — $1.3 million — 16
·        2007-01-05 — Denver, Colorado — $1.5 million — 15
·        2007-03-27 — Dubuque, Iowa — $2.6 million — 9
·        2007-03-29 — Fairbanks, Alaska and Oregon Province of Jesuits — $1.9 million — 4
·        2007-05-10 — Rockford, Illinois — $2.2 million — 2
·        2007-05-16 — Portland, Oregon — $1.3 million — 2
·        2007-05-18 — Rockville Centre, New York — $11.4 million — 2
·        2007-05-29 — Chicago, Illinois — $6.6 million — 15
·        2007-06-30 — Boston, Massachusetts — $2.1 million — 34
·        2007-07-14 — Los Angeles, California — $660 million — 508
·        2007-07-30 — Charleston, South Carolina — $10.3 million — 80
·        2007-08-30 — Charleston, South Carolina — $1.375 million — 11
·        2007-09-07 — San Bernardino, California — $15.1 million — 11
·        2007-09-13 — Santa Rosa, California — $5 million — 10
·        2007-10-05 — Orange, California — $6.6 million — 4
·        2007-10-19 — St. Louis, Missouri – Marianists — $160,000 — 1
·        2007-11-16 — Fairbanks, Alaska – Jesuits — $50 million — 110
·        2008-01-04 — Spokane, Washington – Jesuits — $4.8 million — 16
·        2008-01-18 — Wilmington, Delaware — $450,000 — 1
·        2008-04-10 — Dubuque, Iowa — $4.7 million — 18
·        2008-05-13 — Burlington, Vermont — $784,000 — 1
·        2008-05-14 — Los Angeles, California – Salesians — $19.5 million — 17
·        2008-06-30 — Boston, Massachusetts — $5.4 million — 55
·        2008-07-01 — Denver, Colorado — $5.5 million — 18
·        2008-08-12 — Chicago, Illinois — $12.6 million — 16
·        2008-08-19 — Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri — $10 million — 47
·        2008-08-27 — Belleville, Illinois — $5 million — 1
·        2008-08-29 — Providence, Rhode Island — $1.3 million — 4
·        2008-09-11 — Chicago, Illinois — $2.5 million — 1
·        2008-09-18 — Chicago, Illinois — $1.7 million — 1
·        2008-10-30 — Pueblo, Colorado – Marianists — $4.2 million — 23
·        2008-11 — Seattle, Washington - Christian Bros — $7.2 million — 11
·        2008-12-03 — Springfield, Massachusetts — $4.5 million — 59
·        2008-12-17 — Burlington, Vermont — $784,000 — 1
·        2009-01-29 — Seattle, Washington - Christian Brothers — $7million — 13
·        2009-02-28 — Memphis, Tennessee — $2 million — 1
·        2009-04-08 — Wilmington, Delaware — $1.5 million — 1
·        2009-06-03 — Monterey, California — $1.2 million — 1
·        2009-06-30 — Boston, Massachusetts — $3.6 million — 27
·        2009-07-21 — Chicago, Illinois — $3.9 million — 6
·        2009-10-09 — Burlington, Vermont — $784,000 — 1
·        2009-10-22 — Belleville, Illinois — $1.2 million — 1
·        2009-10-28 — Savannah, Georgia — $4.2 million — 1
·        2009-11-05 — Portland, Maine — $200,000 — 1
·        2010-05-03 — Indianapolis, Indiana — $199,000 — 1
·        2010-05-13 — Burlington, Vermont — $17.6 million — 26
·        2010-06-10 — Charlotte, North Carolina and Capuchins — $1.2 million —
·        2010-08-11 — Lansing, Michigan — $250,000 — 1

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Urban Institute: Thirty percent of student debtors are enrolled in Income-driven repayment plans

The federal student-loan program is in crisis, but it is hard to figure just how big the problem is.

The Department of Education annually reports the percentage of student borrowers who default three years after beginning repayment. That figure--about 10 percent in recent years--is concerning but not alarming.

Non-governmental studies (Pew Foundation and Brookings Institution) have found that the 5-year default rate for recent cohorts is double the 3-year rate: about 25 percent.  In other words, 1 out 4 student-loan debtors default on their loans within five years of beginning repayment.  Now that is alarming.

But the situation is a lot more dire than that.  A recent report from the Urban Institute (authored by Kristin Blagg, Laurie Goodman, and Kelia Washington) noted that 8 million student-loan debtors are in income-driven repayment plans (IDRs).  According to this report, that amounts to about 30 percent of all college borrowers.

That's really scary because almost no one among those IDR participants is paying down the principal on his or her debt.  Instead, just about all of these 8 million people are making very small monthly payments based on their income--not the amount that they borrowed.

It is always dicey to compare one student-loan analysis to another because we are always measuring apples and oranges. Some of the people counted as 5-year defaulters in one study may be the same people identified as IDR payers in another. (And the Brookings and Pew studies examined cohorts, not the entire student-debtor population.)

Nevertheless, it is clear that when the 5-year defaulters and the IDR participants are considered together, about half of all student-loan borrowers are not paying off their loans.  In my opinion, that's a meltdown.

You may love Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren or you may hate them, but both deserve credit for putting a serious proposal on the table to address the student-loan crisis.  Forgiving all student debt (Bernie's plan) or $50,000 of a borrower's debt (Elizabeth Warren's plan) are reasonable ideas.

One thing seems clear (at least to me): The student-loan program is out of control and it is kicking millions of people out of the middle class. The program hinders overburdened debtors from buying homes, having children, getting married, and saving for retirement.

And who benefits? Our corpulent, incompetently run colleges and universities whose leaders say the universities need more federal money.

Greedy colleges: "Feed me, Seymour!"





Friday, January 31, 2020

I fell asleep during the Impeachment movie. Did I miss anything?

Like millions of Americans, I watched Impeachment, The Movie. Unfortunately, I fell asleep near the end, and when I woke up, I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on.

In my own defense, Impeachment was a very long movie--more than three years, almost as long as Once Upon a Time In Hollywood.  I got up to go to the bathroom during the Mueller investigation, and I never got back on track.

And of course, when a movie is three years long, you gotta have some popcorn. I was smart enough to buy the Value Tub--the one that gives you unlimited refills. It was expensive--$250 plus tax, but I got 127 refills, so it was a pretty good deal.

But the popcorn breaks added to my confusion. I missed parts of the movie when I was making all those trips to the concession counter.

So fill me in. I thought the Mueller investigation concluded that Trump was not guilty of colluding with the Russians, but later in the movie, Hillary Clinton said that he was.

And then Trump was accused of making an illegal phone call to the president of Ukraine. And that had something to do with Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and all the rest of Biden's children. But that was never explained.

But here's the part that really befuddled me.  The impeachment trial in the Senate was triggered by an anonymous whistleblower whose name was never revealed.  And Representative Adam Schiff, the chief prosecutor, claimed he had never met the guy.  Huh? To me, that part of the movie just wasn't believable.

Obviously, the director of the movie, Nancy Pelosi (who played herself in the film), should have cut a lot of the scenes. In my opinion, the movie could have been cut down to about a year and a half.

And there were casting errors.  The guy who played Robert Mueller was obviously miscast. He was supposed to be this bulldog investigator with ironclad integrity, but he came off as some sleepy old guy who was trying to find the remote on his television.

I tell you this--I am not going to watch that movie again. I'm too old to watch three-year movies.

But I'm pumped about the sequel, which comes out next summer--Impeachment: The Empire Strikes Back! This one is about the expulsion of Adam Schiff from the House of Representatives, and Joaquin Phoenix plays Shiff wearing Joker makeup.

I can't wait to see it, and I understand it's only about two months long.


Joaquin Phoenix playing Adam Schiff in Impeachment: The Empire Strikes Back

This essay is also posted at my blog site on American culture: Saints of Flyover Countryflyoversaints.org.

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

"Deserves got nothin' to do with it": Is Elizabeth Warren's student-loan forgiveness plan fair to people who played by the rules?

An Iowa man challenged Senator Elizabeth Warren about her student-loan forgiveness plan during a campaign event in Grimes, Iowa.

"I just wanted to ask one question," the man said to Warren. "My daughter is getting out of school. I've saved all my money. She doesn't have any student loans. Am I going to get my money back?" he said.

"Of course not, Warren replied.

"So you're going to pay for people who didn't save any money and those of us who did the right thing get screwed," the man said.

"No, you're not going to get screwed," Warren lamely responded.

I get the Iowa guy's point. It seems unfair to grant wholesale student-loan forgiveness to millions of people, while parents who made severe financial sacrifices to pay for their children's college education get no relief.

But let's face it. About half of all student loans are not being paid back anyway. That's right--about half.

More than a quarter of all student-loan borrowers default on their student loans within five years. Another 20 percent or so are in income-based repayment plans that are structured so that the borrowers never pay off their loans. And then there are millions of people who have their loans in forbearance or deferment, while interest piles upon the principal of their debt. 

In a way, Senator Warren's student-loan forgiveness plan is like President Jimmy Carter's decision to grant amnesty to the young men who fled to Canada to escape the draft during the Vietnam War. Critics said it was unfair for draft dodgers to suffer no penalties while millions of Americans went into the Army and more than than 50,000 Americans died in the jungles of Vietnam.

Unfortunately, huge moral quagmires have no clear-cut solutions. The Vietnam War was an enormous national tragedy, a senseless and immoral affair. Or so I believe.

Likewise, the student-loan crisis is a moral crisis. Forty-five million people are carrying student-loan debt that totals $1.6 trillion and millions of these people got little or no financial benefit from their college experience.  

The for-profit colleges raked in enormous wads of federal cash and dished out overpriced and often worthless college degrees. The law schools and business schools jacked up the prices of their professional programs simply to suck up more federal money, and a lot of that money went toward bloated salaries for college administrators.

There is no perfectly fair solution to this crisis.  As a nation, we simply must grant relief to suffering college-loan debtors.  And Senator Warren's plan is a reasonable proposal for doing that.

Personally, I would prefer for Congress to amend the Bankruptcy Code and allow insolvent debtors to discharge their student loans through bankruptcy.  That would be fairer to people like Senator Warren's critic in Grimes, Iowa.

But the student-loan catastrophe has got to be addressed head-on.  Senator Warren's plan and Senator Sanders' plan are pretty good solutions.  In my opinion, bankruptcy relief is a better solution. 

Any plan will benefit some people who do not deserve student-debt relief. But as Clint Eastwood's character said in the movie The Unforgiven, "Deserves got nothin' to do with it." 

Let's move forward to clean up the student-loan program before it totally destroys the integrity of higher education--not to mention America's middle class.


"Deserves got nothin' to do with it."