FRAUD: A SCOURGE ON THE COMMON GOOD

Word on Fire

One of the biggest political stories of this year can be summed up in one word: fraud. 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?

In the Word on Fire podcast above, Bishop Robert Barron and Matthew Petrusek discuss this challenging topic.