Hudson & Fournier: Countdown to Election 2012, Day 24. Exposing Biden's Lie About the HHS Mandate

By Deal W Hudson and Keith A Fournier
10/13/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Biden, as vice president, should have to face the consequences of lying about the policies of his own administration

Vice President Biden had an audience of 51 million people for his debate with Paul Ryan. Biden's lie about the HHS mandate potentially has a huge impact on how Catholic voters view the Obama/Biden ticket and the record of their first term.

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WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - It was hard to get much done on Friday due to the flurry of phone calls, emails, and texts concerning the USCCB statement about Thursday night's vice presidential debate.

Everyone was asking the same thing, "Where is Biden's name? It's not there!"

In case you missed the debate, at the end the moderator asked each candidate, both Catholic, to say something "personal" about their faith and the abortion issue in particular. Inevitably, the topic of the HHS mandate came up, and Vice President Biden told a whopper of a lie -- that the mandate will not force any Catholic to pay for contraception.

The USCCB statement quotes Biden verbatim but does not mention who the statement is intended to correct, Biden or Ryan. It begins, "Last night, the following statement was made...." Anyone reading this press release, unless they were familiar with last night's debate, would be left in the dark regarding just "who" misrepresented the impact of the HHS mandate on religious institutions, a stark violation of religious liberty.

That the USCCB went to the trouble of correcting a seemingly anonymous debater defies common sense, but those of us who have been through several political seasons are used to surprises when it comes to the conference, chanceries, parishes, and a presidential campaign. We've already dealt with the problem we've seen in state conferences issuing alphabetical voter guides -- they contradict what the bishops themselves wrote in the "New Introduction" to "Faithful Citizenship".

Is there a good reason why the USCCB statement would leave Biden's name out? There is certainly precedent for bishops' publicly correcting Biden, both as a senator and as vice president. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, wrote an article for Newsmax entitled Ryan, Biden and the Bishops listing 15 bishops who have publicly corrected Biden when he has misrepresented the Catholic faith.

Yet, here Vice President Biden had an audience of 51 million people for his debate with Paul Ryan. Biden's lie about the HHS mandate potentially has a huge impact on how Catholic voters view the Obama/Biden ticket and the record of their first term.

Biden's appearance in 2008 on "Meet the Press" was seen by approximately 3 million people, and 15 bishops publicly corrected him. Forty-eight million more people saw and heard Biden deny the violation of religious liberty that the bishops themselves devoted two full weeks to in the summer with their "Fortnight for Freedom". Yet, the USCCB cannot bring itself to utter his name.

Perhaps there will be other bishops who will fill the void and speak his name aloud saying, "Vice President Biden did not tell the truth about the HHS mandate, and while I am at it, he also spoke incorrectly about the proper role of the Catholic faith in public life."

But, there is an even stronger reason why the USCCB shirked its responsibility by leaving out Biden's name. Biden is the Vice President of the United States. He is the second ranking member of the Obama administration, an administration that announced a policy violating the religious liberty of Catholic institutions, causing more than forty of those institutions, including a number of dioceses, to bring law suits against the government. (When Ryan asked Biden about those law suits he was promptly interrupted by moderator Martha Raddatz.)

Biden, as vice president, should have to face the consequences of lying about the policies of his own administration, rather than being protected by the very institution -- the Church -- he has conspired to hurt.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: HHS Mandate, Joe Biden, Paul Ryan, US Bishops, USCCB, Religious Liberty, Religious Freedom, Deal W Hudson, Keith A Fournier

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1 - 10 of 18 Comments

KarlVDH
7 months ago
Judy, with repect, Romney and Ryan both have track records, too... every bit as long and accesible for researching as Obama's and Biden's... and NEITHER'S is any better or more compatible with our faith than the current President's.
There's simply not a reasonable way you can say you're holding Romney and Ryan to a different standard... that's not God's way... the FOUR of them are cut from the same cloth.
That's the TRUTH. And I agree... you do KNOW it.
Judy Claar
7 months ago
KarlVDH, Obama and Biden have had their 4 years. R/R have not.

I am not asking you to embrace Anything!

I know Truth and Truth knows me.

I also am not a cynic. I really think there seems to be a missing part of the equation to our conversation. Perhaps it is just an impasse. You know your opinions and how you choose to discuss them. We simply are not on the same page. Prayerful Blessings...
KarlVDH
7 months ago
Judy, forgive me, but you're suggesting we give Ryan and Romney a benefit of the doubt that we've NEVER given Obama or Biden. Romney's track record as Governor on the very subjects we're discussing most now... abortion, healthcare, gay marriage, etc. is, in fact IDENTICAL to Obama's. We call Biden a bad Catholic over his remarks, but you want to hope and pray about Ryan to give him a pass on embracing values that are ANATHEMA to Christianity. That's a double standard I'm not willing to embrace.
The truth? Come on, you see it as clearly as I do: they're two sides of the same counterfeit coin.
I'll say it again: Neither of the two major parties has ANY candidate to offer that's worthy of a real Catholic's vote.
Judy Claar
7 months ago
KarlVDH, Forgive me if I insulted you. That was not my intention. I am Catholic and I too have read Ayn Rand books. For me, they were stories of a woman's life. One who had so much potential. But she Chose, sadly, to go off course, as so many of our brothers and sisters do. She had some very good ideas...but also,...some that were very very bad, due to her hyper-Ego. In reading her books, one has to be Catholic enough, to See her Life. To see and understand her good as well as her malignant views. Certainly one must not get caught up in her Ego and therefore religious non-religious views. I had to read her books in college as most do. That is where we are introduced to her thinking, as well as others. Let us Hope and Pray, that Ryan is gleaning only good. Only God can judge or know what is in another man's heart.
Blessings...
Rob
7 months ago
Karl, I just wish that folks were willing to examine things as close on one side as they are the other. I've heard just about every conspiracy theory imaginable about the President (true or not). They have dug into every jot and tittle of his life trying to make the grand case that he is the antichrist, grand pooba marxist or satan himself (forgive the drama).

But no peep on any of the info you've listed. We want to turn the keys to our tax system over to Romney, but then just take him at his word that all the taxes were filed properly?
It's the exact double standard I hear so many cry about. We decry Obama because some think he is a muslim, but are prepared to elect someone who is basically a member of a cult, but because we think he's a good guy so that doesn't matter????

Who knows, maybe a change will do us good. Maybe if the boogey man leaves the White House, maybe they can actually get work. It's just sad that this is what it has come to.
KarlVDH
7 months ago
Judy, how about the following DIRECT QUOTES. The truth indeed, sister... I'm a bit inslted that you'd suggest otherwise. We may not agree, but I don't lie.
Here are Ryan's own words, followed by some of his heroine's. You tell me then how he's the right Godly choice for this country:

"But the reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand."- Paul Ryan

"Because there is no better place to find the moral case for capitalism and individualism than through Ayn Rand’s writings and works."-Paul ryan

"And when you look at the twentieth-century experiment with collectivism—that Ayn Rand, more than anybody else, did such a good job of articulating the pitfalls of statism and collectivism—you can’t find another thinker or writer who did a better job of describing and laying out the moral case for capitalism than Ayn Rand."-Paul Ryan

OR, how about these samples, which are a bit chilling:

"It’s inspired me so much that it’s required reading in my office for all my interns and my staff. We start with Atlas Shrugged." -Paul Ryan

"I give out Atlas Shrugged as Christmas presents, and I make all my interns read it. Well... I try to make my interns read it."

.....I can come up wth a LOT more, Judy... but will you concede that I've made my case?
And let's not forget what that evil, Godless woman had to say about RELIGION:

".Faith is the wors curse of mankind, as the exact antithesis and enemy of thought."- AR

"

".The alleged short-cut to knowledge, which is faith, is only a short circuit destroying the mind"- A.R.

"..And now I see the face of god, and I raise this god over the earth, this god whom men have sought since men came into being, this god who will grant them joy and peace and pride.
This god, this one word: I"

(She's teaching God is the self? Seriously??)

How about this:

"I AM AGAINST GOD." -Ayn Rand

Now... I'm supposed to believe that a guy so enamoured of THIS woman and her teaching is somehow "better" than the godless men currently running the show? Sorry, Judy, but I ain't buying it. This is nothing but partisanship.
I repeat: THERE IS NO CANDIDATE WORTHY OF THE REAL CATHOLIC'S VOTE IN THIS ELECTION. We have been sold a bill of goods.
Angel
7 months ago
Helen Nowak, you speak as if you take conscience seriously--that, or not at all. If the latter, your opinion should be ignored as someone with nothing meaningful or responsible to say about matters involving morality. If the former, then you have just made a good case for broadening the exemption.

Shaun: The Church has become "far right"???! If you educate yourself on the broad range of social concerns that the US bishops address--historically and today (incl. labor rights, debt relief, the death penalty, immigration reform, pre-emptive warfare, ecology, etc.)--you will find them to be rather "progressive" but not blind lapdogs of the narrow-minded, aggresively secular, anti-constitutional type of state/utopian liberalism that has been in vogue since the 1990s, after having hijacked the Democratic Party sometime after the Vietnam War era. And if you will track the HHS Mandate controversy, "my way or the highway" characterizes Obama's intransigience given that he broke an explicit promise to several pro-life Congressmen whose support he absolutely needed for his healthcare reform bill to pass. If you do not love Christ's Church enough to bother to try to understand her thinking on the great issues of the day, you can count yourself among the subverted and a pawn of ideologies foreign to Christ and his gospel. Care enough about your Christian faith to educate yourself with something more objective than Time magazine, MSNBC, and the NYT!
Judy Claar
7 months ago
KarlVDL: I have heard about AR books and Ryan forever now. Did Ryan publicly say that he idolizes Ayn Rand? Or did he simply read her books? Facts now. Truth and only the truth.
Blessings...
Eugene Leady
7 months ago
Duplicity is so awful, especially from the people who we have trusted to lead and guide our country. It appears Biden's comments are meant to confuse all of us about what Christ or the churches have said about homosexual sex, abortion,or the HHS mandate that Catholic organizations insurance must pay for abortion. He also seeks to confuse Catholics about what it means to be one, and so divide us, in order to gain votes.

It appears that many people support Obama because they are for abortion. The church should not get involved in politics , but don't church members have the right as citizens and an obligation as Christians to speak up against immoral laws? If you say the church must be silent, then isn't one saying that victims everywhere have no right to protection, which would include Jews, the poor, refugees, or any others?

Why should we trust the VP at all? All they care about is getting reelected and staying in power. The National defense authorization act authorizes imprisioning citizens without charges by labeling them terrorists. Perhaps the USCCB is afraid that a dictatorial Obama, after winning the election, will use this law against the Catholic church. So they won't say much against the administration or mention Biden by name.

Isn't this situation similar to what the Pope and Catholic church faced when they wanted to oppose Hitler in Nazi Germany? The bishops had to be careful of what they said about the Nazi's policies for fear of retribution against Catholics.

If you think that the government would not label those who appose abortion as terrorists, check history.
Joe Schleider of Chicago's Pro Life Action leaque was accused of racketeering (using a law designed to prevent Mafia groups from making money across state lines) and of being a terrorist.
This was because he lead protests and prayer vigils against abortion, in several states.

One does not make money leading prayer against abortion but the gov. tried him using the racketeering law anyway. He was acquited of all charges but had to spend years and much money for legal expenses.
KarlVDH
7 months ago
Sure, Biden lied; why on Earth would that be a surprise? The man is pure politics- and that's about the WORST thing I could say about a man.
So. Are we going to sit here and pretend Ryan told nothing but the truth, or do lies only matter when they're from one side?
Sorry. Unlike some here- like the guy who's likely to jump on here and say this means I'm an Obama supporter right after it posts- I value my own integrity more than that.
There's not a man on either ticket worthy of a real Catholic's support. And that's the simple truth. Ryan? A guy who idolizes Ayn Rand? Please. Nothing better than Biden at the end of the day. this is the most atrocious election of my life.
Ok, here comes the predictable, insubstantial response...watch- it'll be fun.

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