By now I’m sure most of you have seen this chart: It’s from a presentation by Gary Alexander, Secretary of Public Welfare in Pennsylvania (factoid: he’s also an ordained deacon in the Armenian Orthodox Church!). It shows the after-tax wages (bottom blue bars) and welfare benefits (upper multicolored bars) available for a hypothetical single mom with two children at various incom... More

I’ve been watching the furor over President Obama’s “you didn’t build that” comments with interest. As is often the case in political theater, I think both sides are overplaying their hands. Republicans are exploiting the President’s comments for all the political capital they’re worth, overlooking the nuance in the speech that would give context to the r... More

I’m in Indianapolis today preparing for the Frassati Society’s LIVE OUT LOUD Conference, where I’m a keynote speaker. But I wanted to offer a couple quick comments about the debt ceiling debate which is now entering it’s final critical days in Washington, DC. As you may have seen, the U.S. Bishops – under Bishops Blaire and Hubbard (remember him?) – have issued ... More