Sr. Cathy Ryan, executive director of Maryville Academy, joins Bob ito talk about Maryville’s new direction since she recently announced the longtime institution would end its residential program for wards of the state as of June 30 in the face of shrinking state funding for such programs, as community-based placements are seen as more beneficial for children. Ned Dolesji, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, joins the program to talk about that state’s new physician-assisted suicide law, which went into effect on June 9. Additionally, California Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget calls for $1.2 million for lethal drugs for the state’s Medicaid patients who are seeking physician-assisted suicide – and the Medicaid program does not pay for palliative care. Next, David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, discusses the new report by the institute that compiles results from its public opinion polls over the past nine years. The conclusion: We, the voters, bear significant responsibility for the current debt crisis and gridlocked government in Illinois. Why? Because we the voters elected the leaders responsible for this state of affairs AND we consistently insisted on an untenable high-service/low-tax status quo. Finally, Greg Schleppenbach, former executive director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, talks about his new job as associate director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). He replaces Richard Doerflinger, who recently retired after 36 years with the USCCB.
