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From Under The Rubble
June 4, 2014
Gratitude, Government, and Gall
by Christopher Manion
fitzgerald griffin foundation
FRONT ROYAL, VA — Voluntary Christian charity results in the natural gratitude of both the benefactor and the beneficiary.
“Thank you,” says the man robbed and thrown in the ditch; “No, thank YOU,” says the Good Samaritan — "for giving me the opportunity to serve a brother in Christ.”
That’s the way it’s been for centuries in Christendom. But recently, society’s gratitude for the generosity of the voluntary benefactor has been quietly turned upside-down. In fact, today’s welfare-state liberals view their benefactors with a thinly-veiled contempt.
It used to be called “biting the hand that feeds you.” Today it’s called business as usual.
Today’s welfare-state liberals view their benefactors with a thinly-veiled contempt.
According to ABC News, Rollin-Eyed Joe Biden and his wife gave an average of $369 to charity per year over a ten-year period.
Biden apparently does not believe in private, voluntary charity. However, he endlessly struts and brays as a champion of “government” charity.
And every time he lambasts the taxpayer, Joe takes a victory lap, eyes rolling, teeth shining.
This seems to go with the territory. Joe and his lefty pals are always cawing that other people — especially those greedy rich folks who criticize his boss — don’t give enough to the poor.
Joe wants you to help the poor by giving your money to the government. Then he can give it away.
And that makes Joe feel pretty good about himself – after all, the con job always sticks the taxpayer with the bill, while Joe takes the credit.
Joe, a Catholic, is not alone. Bishop Stephen Blaire (D – Stockton) routinely attacks Paul Ryan, also a Catholic, for his proposed budget that includes “immoral” cuts (which aren’t cuts) in future welfare-state programs.
I find no indication that Bishop Blaire has ever suggested that welfare recipients should thank the taxpayers for their support.
And Joe hasn’t either. And he gets paid by the word!
Here’s the issue: Currently, Joe and his pals loudly congratulate themselves for forcing those stingy taxpayers to pay for “poverty programs” — dozens of them, costing hundreds of billions a year. They are funded every year, whether they work or not.
Curiously, after the taxpayer coughs up all that money, Joe and his pals treat him not as a beloved benefactor, but as a greedy malcontent.
But it’s the taxpayer’s money, not Joe’s. And Joe uses that money to get him and his welfare-state pals elected again and again and again.
That’s a pretty big deal.
Why aren’t they grateful, Joe?
In 2011, there were 108 million Americans receiving means-tested welfare benefits (note, please, that these don’t include Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, or veterans benefits),
In fact, America’s welfare recipients outnumber the full-time workforce – by several million!
Forget the budget battles for a moment. Let’s assume that the welfare state will go on forever.
Shouldn’t Joe and Bishop Blaire and all those “champions of the poor” at least suggest that the recipients of all these welfare billions might want to thank the taxpayers who are paying them?
Perhaps they should be thanking the taxpayer, and not Joe.
“We want to take a moment to thank our sponsors….”
Admittedly, such honesty would require a serious conversion.
After all, these self-anointed heroes seem to be doing everything they can to encourage the poor to resent, and even envy, their benefactors.
America’s welfare recipients outnumber the full-time workforce — by several million!
“Those greedy Tea-Partiers think they’re Taxed Enough Already! The Hell they are! Thank them? No way! They should be ashamed for not giving more!”
Curiously enough, the 108 million have a lot in common with the Cronies — the “one percent” who benefit from the special-interest cash and favors that flow from the Bipartisan Beltway Hot Tub — all paid by the taxpayer.
Like the poor, the Cronies are full of gratitude — but not for the taxpayer.
No, they direct their gratitude to the thieving politicians!
The cronies literally throw money at the hacks who make it possible for them to make billions. But why don’t they ever thank the beleaguered taxpayer whose money pays for it all?
Here’s a modest proposal: let’s make April 15 a national holiday.
On “Let’s Thank the Taxpayer Day,” everyone in the private sector gets the day off, and everybody working for the government works for nothing.
Country’ll grow.
Flash: Con Law Prof Hates the Constitution
The Washington Times reports that Obama really unloaded at a Chicago fundraiser for rich Democrats in May.
Democrats are at a “disadvantage,” he says, because the Constitution allows only two senators for each state.
“California has the same number of Senate seats as Wyoming. That puts us at a disadvantage,” he complained.
Of course, Obama has defied the Constitution so often that one doesn’t wonder why he doesn’t just appoint a few more senators on his own.
He could follow the lead of Caligula, the Roman Emperor who reportedly loved his horse so much that he appointed him to the Roman Senate.
Actually, the move would not represent that great a departure from protocol. After all, some folks will tell you that there’s always room for one more ass in the Senate.
Papal Notes
Pope Francis’ recent trip to the Holy Land was carefully planned. However, he left one stop off his official itinerary.
Gianni Valente writes for La Stampa’s Vatican Insider from Jerusalem:
“In a resounding unscheduled stop during his visit to the Holy Land before the Mass in Bethlehem’s Manger Square, the Bishop of Rome asked to be driven in front of a point of the cement barrier that Israel has been constructing since 2002 and that runs largely through Palestinian occupied territory, contravening international laws. There, Pope Francis remained a few minutes in total silence, surrounded by a group of young Palestinians.”
Like Benedict and Saint John Paul before him, Francis believes that “the Holy Land is in need of bridges not walls.”
Like Benedict and Saint John Paul before him, Francis believes that “the Holy Land is in need of bridges not walls.” He also called on Israel to recognize a “two state solution,” affirming the “right of the Palestinian people to a sovereign homeland and their right to live with dignity and with freedom of movement.”
Meanwhile, a spokesman at the Israeli Foreign Ministry reportedly called the unscheduled stop a “publicity stunt.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly wasn’t pleased either: he was so nettled that he even argued with the Pope about what language Jesus spoke.
Well, Bibi will face no such static when he receives a royal welcome at the “Christians United For Israel” conference in Washington this July. The group, led by longtime anti-Catholic Pastor John Hagee, believes that U.S. support for a united Israel is a necessary precursor of the Second Coming.
Speaking of which, this was Francis’ first trip to the Holy Land. I doubt that Bibi is looking forward to the second one.
From Under the Rubble archives
From Under the Rubble is copyright © 2014 by Christopher Manion. All rights reserved.
Christopher Manion served as a staff director on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for many years. He has taught in the departments of politics, religion, and international relations at Boston University, the Catholic University of America, and Christendom College.
See a complete biographical sketch.
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