Lunch Bucket Joe is not "Joe Catholic"

October 30, 2012

by: Doug Mainwaring


The Obama campaign has a new video ad aimed at holding on to support from Catholic voters who went for the Obama/Biden ticket big time in 2008. Here is a full transcript of the ad:


As a practicing Catholic like many of you, I was raised in a household where there was absolutely no distinction between the values my mom and dad drilled into us and what I learned from the nuns and priests who educated me.

We call it Catholic social doctrine: Whatever you do to the least of these you do for me.
"I'm here to tell you that President Obama shares those values. You heard him say it time and again, 'We are our brother's keeper. We are our sister's keeper.' And he means it.

My dad used to say it in a slightly different way. He used to say it's about recognizing dignity in every man and women.

So if you take a look at what we've done, at its root it comes down to providing people with opportunity --a dignified opportunity to care for themselves and their families. And that's why we spent the last four years fighting to make sure the middle class has a fair shot again. That's why he fought to expand access to affordable care, quality health care for all Americans.

And while we're so hard to improve the education system and expand access to college. That's why we're fighting so hard to building the economy from the middle out, because that's the only way the working poor have a ladder up. That's why our administration took action to lift the cloud of deportation over one million children of immigrant parents who didn't choose to come to America, but have chosen to do right by America.

And that's why we're asking the wealthy to pay a little more while pushing to make permanent middle class tax cut.

Folks: The choice in this election couldn't be clearer. We can stand with the President or sit back and see someone in office who really does believe 47% of the American people are not prepared to take responsibility for themselves, who says he would veto the Dream Act, who encourages "self deportation." Someone who would leave a million people without access to healthcare and education.

He would transform Medicare into a voucher system.

Look, the President and I, we know Americans aren't looking for a handout. They're just asking for a chance. So if you're ready to stand with President Obama, go to Catholics.BarackObama.com.


There are two things which make this ad so interesting: 1.) The sheer hubris of this man speaking as a Catholic and 2.) its glaring omissions.

First, hubris: Biden reminds us of Jesus' admonition in the parable of the sheeps and goats: "Whatever you do to the least of these you do for me." Yet Mr. Biden's annual donations to charity rank near the bottom of the chart when it comes to charitable contributions by Americans. This is a man who does not practice what he preaches and clearly, has no conscience about it.

According to his tax returns:

● In 2006, Biden gave a grand total of $380 to charity. His income was $248,459. This amounts to 0.15%. In fact, for a decade before becoming vice president, the Biden's average annual charitable giving amounted to $369/year, or 0.2% of their income.

● In 2009, the Bidens donated $4,820, or 1.44% of their $333,000 income.

● In 2010, they reported $379,178 in income and $5,350 in donations, again, about 1.4% of their income.

Mr. Biden's tax returns clearly tell a story -- hardly the widow's mite.

Second, omissions. It is stunning that Mr. Biden appeals to "Catholic social doctrine" in trying to win the votes of Catholics, when he and the administration he serves not only reject, but attack and undermine so many core Catholic values.

Despite the fact that during the vice presidential debate, Biden declared that he believes in the teachings of his Church regarding abortion, he actively supports abortion. Biden conveniently leaves this unmentioned.

Through its contraception mandate, the administration in which he serves has launched an all-out attack on religious liberty, an affront to all Catholics who embrace the teachings of their faith. This too is omitted from the ad.

It is Mr. Biden who famously prodded President Obama to follow in his footsteps and become a national advocate for same-sex marriage. Mr. Biden makes no effort to call attention to this.

Mr. Biden and other prominent Catholics in politics such as Nancy Pelosi, Maryland's Governor Martin O'Malley, and New York's Andrew Cuomo, and before his death, Senator Ted Kennedy, are not champions of their faith in the offices in which they serve. They're not even adequate representatives of the Church in which they profess belief. The contrary is true: They use their faith in the name of political opportunism.

The contraceptive mandate sums up the disingenuousness of Vice President Biden's request for support from Catholics.

Last winter, another prominent Catholic, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, announced the government's new contraceptive mandate in accordance with President Obama's wishes. This was more than a pro-forma announcement of some new regulations. It was a Declaration of War.

Make no mistake about it. While dioceses and large Catholic institutions and organizations were the first to feel the sharp jab of the government's assault, this is part of a sustained attack on all people of faith.

Here's what many have yet to come to grips with: the threat is personal. This battle is going to be waged in your backyard: in your local parish or congregation; in your home; in your family; in your life.

This is not some nebulous, hypothetical, or ephemeral threat. Our government has now officially declared that it does not care about your religious liberty.

The only way this battle will be won is for people of faith to become personally engaged. Like the Patriots of the Revolutionary War era, we average, everyday Catholics need to do our share to fight the rising tide of secularism which wants to choke off the life of the institutional Church and suppress the consciences of those who object to government's overreach. We need to open our eyes and realize the extent of their antipathy for the Catholic Church.

"Conscience is the most sacred of all property;" (James Madison). In essence, President Obama, Vice President Biden, and HHS Secretary Sebelius have condemned your conscience in favor of their unconscionable mandate. They have likewise done this with same sex marriage and they continue to do it with abortion.

They have demonstrated they have no respect for your sacred property. Through a hostile claim of eminent domain, they have condemned your sacred property so they can erect their secular temple of government in your heart and mind.

Catholics need to resist and reject Mr. Biden's insincere entreaty. Catholics need to vote Messrs. Biden and Obama out of office.


Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/10/lunch_bucket_joe_is_not_joe_catholic.html#ixzz2AmcRWgFg