Welcome back to the Word on Fire Show. I’m Matthew Petrusek, senior director of the Word on Fire Institute and the host of the Word on Fire Show. Thank you for joining us. One of the biggest political stories of this year can be summed up in one word: fraud. Minnesota, where we are recording this show, has been an epicenter of the systematic theft of public dollars. But this is not only a problem for us. It’s a national epidemic. From California to New York, Arizona to Florida, and even Texas, the US Government Accountability Office estimates that American taxpayers lose between—get this—$233 billion up to $521 billion to fraud per year. On the high end, that is almost double the annual budget of New York state and more than the entire yearly GDP of the country of Denmark. The sheer scope of this swindle is bad enough. The fact that so much of it is taken from those who need the funds most—through the defrauding of Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs meant to support vulnerable people—makes the issue a national crisis. How should we respond to this scourge of dishonesty from the standpoint of Catholic social thought? Why is fraud such a grave injustice, especially in its effects on the common good? And what does the Bible say about taking what does not rightly belong to you? Here to offer a distinctively Catholic account of why the plundering of the public coffers is one of the great social injustices of our time is Bishop Robert Barron.
Topics Covered
00:00 | Introduction
01:40 | Traversing the western side of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester
03:05 | The staggering numbers regarding US fraud
06:03 | What law or moral principle is being violated?
08:16 | What about stealing from institutions? Isn’t that victimless?
10:03 | Connecting fraud with questions of social justice
10:50 | Fraud prevention and the preferential option for the poor
11:43 | What the Bible says about exploiting the poor
12:50 | The contributions of negligence
14:43 | Considering the common good in relation to fraud
16:01 | How fraud erodes civic trust
17:00 | Catholic social teaching and differing ideologies
20:23 | Checks and balances: The response to our fallen nature
22:11 | Decreased churchgoing and its impact on moral guidance
24:35 | Argument #1: What we call fraud is actually common abroad
25:33 | Argument #2: Uncovering fraud is really picking on the poor
26:32 | Argument #3: Uncovering fraud is partisan politics and we ought not engage
27:19 | Bishop Barron’s response to “Stay out of politics”
29:00 | Listener question: What guidance can you give to incoming college students?
31:18 | Join the Word on Fire Institute
Link:
- Word on Fire Institute: https://institute.wordonfire.org/
NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a Word on Fire IGNITE member! Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners . . . like you! So become a part of this mission and join IGNITE today to become a Word on Fire insider and receive some special donor gifts for your generosity.