Poor guy. He says he has to struggle with that, not being emperor.
Today, Obama points out that he's not a dictator.
Really?
On several occasions, he's acted like one, ignoring the Constitution, stripping Americans of our rights. He's circumvented Congress. He declared the Senate to be in recess, completely disregarding the separation of powers.
Sometimes, Obama is a dictator. He just says he's not.
Yesterday, Catholic bishops responded to the Obama administration's latest "compromise" in its policy to force religious institutions to violate their beliefs, infringing on their rights.
For almost a century, the Catholic bishops of the United States have worked hard to support the right of every person to affordable, accessible, comprehensive, life-affirming healthcare. As we continue to do so, our changeless values remain the same. We promote the protection of the dignity of all human life and the innate rights that flow from it, including the right to life from conception to natural death; care for the poorest among us and the undocumented; the right of the Church to define itself, its ministries, and its ministers; and freedom of conscience.
Last Friday, the Administration issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the HHS mandate that requires coverage for sterilization and contraception, including drugs that may cause abortions. The Administration indicates that it has heard some previously expressed concerns and that it is open to dialogue. With release of the NPRM, the Administration seeks to offer a response to serious matters which have been raised throughout the past year.We look forward to engaging with the Administration, and all branches and levels of government, to continue to address serious issues that remain. Our efforts will require additional, careful study. Only in this way can we best assure that healthcare for every woman, man and child is achieved without harm to our first, most cherished freedom.
In evaluating Friday's action regarding the HHS mandate, our reference remains the statement of our Administrative Committee made last March, United for Religious Freedom, and affirmed by the entire body of bishops in June 2012.
In that statement, we first expressed concern over the mandate's "exceedingly narrow" four-part definition of "religious employer," one that exempted our houses of worship, but left "our great ministries of service to our neighbors, namely, the poor, the homeless, the sick, the students in our schools and universities, and others in need" subject to the mandate. This created "a 'second class' of citizenship within our religious community," "weakening [federal law's] healthy tradition of generous respect for religious freedom and diversity." And the exemption effectuated this distinction by requiring "among other things, [that employers] must hire and serve primarily those of their own faith."
On Friday, the Administration proposed to drop the first three parts of the four-part test. This might address the last of the concerns above, but it seems not to address the rest.The Administration's proposal maintains its inaccurate distinction among religious ministries. It appears to offer second-class status to our first-class institutions in Catholic health care, Catholic education, and Catholic charities. HHS offers what it calls an "accommodation," rather than accepting the fact that these ministries are integral to our Church and worthy of the same exemption as our Catholic churches. And finally, it seems to take away something that we had previously—the ability of an exempt employer (such as a diocese) to extend its coverage to the employees of a ministry outside the exemption.
Second, United for Religious Freedom explained that the religious ministries not deemed "religious employers" would suffer the severe consequence of "be[ing] forced by government to violate their own teachings within their very own institutions. "After Friday, it appears that the government would require all employees in our "accommodated" ministries to have the illicit coverage—they may not opt out, nor even opt out for their children—under a separate policy. In part because of gaps in the proposed regulations, it is still unclear how directly these separate policies would be funded by objecting ministries, and what precise role those ministries would have in arranging for these separate policies. Thus, there remains the possibility that ministries may yet be forced to fund and facilitate such morally illicit activities. Here, too, we will continue to analyze the proposal and to advocate for changes to the final rule that reflect these concerns.
Third, the bishops explained that the "HHS mandate creates still a third class, those with no conscience protection at all: individuals who, in their daily lives, strive constantly to act in accordance with their faith and moral values. "This includes employers sponsoring and subsidizing the coverage, insurers writing it, and beneficiaries paying individual premiums for it. Friday's action confirms that HHS has no intention to provide any exemption or accommodation at all to this "third class."In obedience to our Judeo-Christian heritage, we have consistently taught our people to live their lives during the week to reflect the same beliefs that they proclaim on the Sabbath. We cannot now abandon them to be forced to violate their morally well-informed consciences.
Because the stakes are so high, we will not cease from our effort to assure that healthcare for all does not mean freedom for few. Throughout the past year, we have been assured by the Administration that we will not have to refer, pay for, or negotiate for the mandated coverage. We remain eager for the Administration to fulfill that pledge and to find acceptable solutions—we will affirm any genuine progress that is made, and we will redouble our efforts to overcome obstacles or setbacks. Thus, we welcome and will take seriously the Administration's invitation to submit our concerns through formal comments, and we will do so in the hope that an acceptable solution can be found that respects the consciences of all. At the same time, we will continue to stand united with brother bishops, religious institutions, and individual citizens who seek redress in the courts for as long as this is necessary.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York
February 7, 2013
I am so thankful for the leadership of Cardinal Dolan and the Catholic bishops on this issue.
Our religious freedom is under assault by the Obama administration.
Obama can't be allowed to chip away at our precious liberty.
If you're Catholic and you don't care about this, it's time for some reflection.
I saw the children there, being exploited as props.
I saw the audience of Obama supporters, applauding his proposals.
Obama had on his serious face.
The stage was set. The performers emoted.
I didn't hear anything that Obama proposed that would have prevented the recent mass shootings.
I did hear a load of hypocrisy. Obama wants to fund "resource officers" in schools. He wants more police on the streets.
In other words, he believes ARMED protection is important in ensuring the safety of Americans.
The way to limit "gun violence" is with more guns. OK.
It bothered me that Obama kept exploiting the horrific Newton shootings. The fact is no background check would have stopped what Adam Lanza did. He stole the guns he used from his mother. He murdered her. HE BROKE THE LAW. No ruling from King Obama, no law passed by Congress, can stop people from disregarding them if they choose.
I wish it were possible to keep guns out of the hands of mentally ill and evil individuals. I don't think it is. Those wishing to do harm to others can accomplish their goal.
What I found most disturbing about Obama's dance was his politicization of the problem.
Blaming Congress (aka Republicans) and talk radio and the NRA for gun violence in America is shameful. Blame the killers, Obama.
Obama kept yapping about protecting our children. This from the most radical pro-abortion president in our nation's history.
Respect life? Obama has two faces.
Obama blathered on and on about our "rights." He's the alleged defender of the 2nd Amendment and our inalienable rights.
Really?
Obama declared war on Catholics and stripped us of our religious liberty. Are we really supposed to buy that this imperial president is defending our freedom?
Obama's penchant for executive rulings, his bypassing of Congress and refusing to be bound by our Constitution's checks and balances, is beyond troubling.
Bottom line: Those people bent on murdering others are going to do it. Obama's "executive actions" won't impact them.
I didn't hear Obama address the real problem - the breakdown of the family and the lack of sound moral values in our society. I didn't hear Obama talk about right and wrong, good and bad, in terms of people's behavior. Yes, he spoke of getting the CDC to "study" the effects of violent video games on people; but that's a waste. That's nothing but window dressing.
It's time to address the reality that our country is no longer grounded in moral values.
Until Obama and his cohorts admit that the fault lies in the actions of twisted individuals rather than inanimate objects, nothing will change.
At his news conference on Wednesday, Obama insisted the American people gave him a mandate to pursue his agenda.
Is Obama really that delusional?
Does his failure to acknowledge that half the country voted for Mitt Romney to be the president, making the mandate claim absurd, point to his arrogance?
Whatever, Obama's second term isn't going to be smooth sailing. He needs to admit that reality.
The divisiveness he campaigned on is going to come back to bite him.
His oppression of Catholics isn't going to be accepted by Church leaders.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan realizes Catholics must fight Obama's war on the Church and religious liberty in general.
Dolan asserted that the Church will not comply with the mandate that requires most employers, even those affiliated with religious organizations, to provide free contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients through health insurance plans.
“The only thing we’re certainly not prepared to do is give in,” Dolan said at a news conference. “Not violate our consciences, and not obey what we consider to be something immoral. That we’re committed on.”
Dozens of Catholic dioceses and other Catholic organizations have filed lawsuits in federal courts over the mandate, which is included in ObamaCare.
Though Cardinal Dolan admitted the bishops waited until after Election Day to see if the results of the election could change the health care requirements, he said, “now I think the bishops have taken a deep breath and said, we better get back to work and decide just what we are going to do.”
Dolan stated that though the Church is still willing to work with the administration, “I would say no door is closed except for the door to capitulation.”
I am so thankful for leaders like Cardinal Dolan.
He's not surrendering to Obama. He won't accept his assault on our fundamental freedom to exercise our religion. He won't give in.
As a Catholic, the results of the presidential election have been difficult for me to process.
Catholics chose Obama over Mitt Romney.
The fact is Mitt Romney acts like a better Catholic than most Catholics in America.
Overwhelmingly, Hispanic Catholics voted for the most radical pro-abortion president in American history.
In spite of Obama's assault on the BILL OF RIGHTS and religious liberty, targeting Catholics, Hispanic Catholics voted for Obama.
Although Romney won among white Catholics, many of them also ignored Obama's stunning extremism on abortion and his attack on one of our fundamental freedoms, choosing to vote for Obama.
Obama waged war on the Catholic Church in America and he still won the Catholic vote.
He bet on the fact that most Catholics' faith is not a priority in their lives, and he won. He was right.
Reuters/Ipsos exit polling found that 51 percent of Catholics favored President Barack Obama, compared with 48 percent for Republican contender Mitt Romney. A report by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life had a similar finding, with 50 percent of Catholics for Obama and 48 percent for Romney, the same as the popular vote in the general population.
Hispanic Catholics were far more likely to favor Obama - by 76 percent to 23 percent - than white Catholics, who favored Romney by 56 percent to 43 percent, according to the Reuters poll. Black Protestants favored Obama by 97 percent to 3 percent, while white Protestants favored Romney by 69 percent compared to 29 percent for Obama.
"When you talk about Catholics, there are really two Catholic votes, the white vote and the Hispanic vote, which look starkly different," said Robert Jones, chief executive of the Public Religion Research Institute. He said exit polls found that overall, voters were focused mainly on economic issues.
This election year saw strong advocacy on the conservative side of some issues by Catholic bishops, which caused discomfort for liberal Catholics. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops protested the Obama administration's health care mandate which requires Catholic hospitals and colleges to carry insurance that provides free contraception as a violation of religious liberty.
...The bishops' stands did not seem to have much influence on the vote, said Jones. Catholic attitudes on the healthcare mandate were unchanged in March and September polls, despite advocacy by church leaders.
"If the (Republican Party) has some reflecting to do about its inability to reach an increasingly multicultural country, Catholic leaders could benefit from similar soul searching when it comes to their own diverse flock," said John Gehring, Catholic program director at Faith in Public Life, a liberal advocacy group.
Liberal John Gehring believes the Republican Party and Catholic leaders need to bend to fit his agenda, one that does not include respect for LIFE and respect for the CONSTITUTION, religious liberty.
I completely disagree.
Catholic leaders are failing, but not because they need to "soul search" their way to mirroring the majority of voters self-identified as Catholics. The leaders are failing because they aren't communicating as they should. So much of Catholic teaching is ignored.
It seems many priests are comfortable with that, avoiding issues that are controversial.
Yes, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops did take on Obama and his abuse of Catholics' freedom. They are to be commended for that. They issued strong statements expressing their concerns and organized efforts to raise of awareness of Obama's abuse.
But that's pretty much where it stopped.
While at Mass this weekend, I was thinking about how little is said by priests to guide Church members when it comes to practicing our faith in a way that reflects Catholic teaching.
There seems to be a great effort not to offend, a lot of sitting on the fence. There's a certain cowardice that is disturbing.
I was sitting in the pew, truly troubled about the lack of backbone, the weekly sins of omission that occur at Mass during the homily.
I'm still really upset about the results of the election. I'm fearful about the future. I was hoping for change, for things to get better for my family and friends, to get back on track. Adding to my uncertainty is how I feel about my Church.
The gender gap in the 2012 presidential election was the largest since Gallup began tracking the metric in 1952, according to data released by the polling firm on Friday.
President Obama won women by 12 percentage points, while Mitt Romney won men by 8. That’s a 20-point gender gap, edging out the 1984 election when Ronald Reagan defeated Democrat Walter Mondale in a landslide.
...The politics of gender played a significant role throughout the 2012 election, as Romney looked to cut into Obama’s advantage among female voters by framing the economy as a women’s issue.
The strategy worked for a while, as polls showed women flocking to the GOP challenger after his strong first debate performance. But Romney was unable to hold on to those gains in the final weeks of the campaign, and the Obama campaign relentlessly portrayed the GOP candidate as a throwback to the 1950s in his views on women's reproductive and pay equity issues.
Romney may also have been hurt by two Republican House candidates, former Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) and Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock. Both Senate candidates, who lost their election bids, made controversial comments about rape and abortion that reignited the Democratic line of attack from earlier in the cycle that the GOP is looking to “turn back the clock” on women’s issues.
American women who actually bought into the Democrats' claim that Mitt Romney was the enemy of women and intended to "turn back the clock" on women's issues are embarrassingly ignorant.
The Democrats should not be proud that their idiotic "War on Women" crap worked. It's pathetic.
Apparently, the reality is a lot of American women are just plain stupid.
Good Lord, if they are so empty-headed that they don't realize that the economy most definitely is a women's issue and critical to their health and well-being, then they're hopelessly backward.
Really, how clueless can they be?
Those ads painting Romney as bent on "getting rid" of Planned Parenthood were thoroughly deceptive.
Obama and the Democrats, as we know, are shameless. They will say anything.
Contraception? A game-changer?
How sad!
I guess one problem for the Romney campaign was that it gave American women too much credit.
At least some of us don't need the big, strong government to take care of our every need.
We're strong. We understood what was at stake in this election and we voted for Romney.
Mitt Romney may have lost the White House, but for a brief time Wednesday a transition website went live — calling him "President-Elect" and offering Americans a view of a presidency that might have been.
The site was only up temporarily, but screen grabs preserved by Politicalwire.com show Romney's team was ready to roll with information about the Jan. 21 presidential inauguration and future Cabinet nominees.
...SolutionStream, the Utah-based company that designed the site, didn't say why the mock-up went live, but confirmed it was ready to go if Romney had defeated President Obama on Tuesday. The former governor of Massachusetts fell short of beating the President, who was marching closer to winning Florida on Thursday and bringing his electoral vote count to 332 vs. Romney’s 206.
Jason Thelin, an owner of SolutionStream, told The Huffington Post that the site was a “tiny” project and was thrown together in a day and a half.
His company was contacted by Romney transition volunteers about 10 days before the election, he said.
After The Huffington Post inquired about the site Wednesday, it was soon taken down.
According to Politico, Romney’s transition team — called “The Readiness Project” — was being led by Mike Leavitt, the former Health and Human Services secretary under President George W. Bush and a former Utah governor. Romney’s campaign had not been eager to talk about his transition plans before the election.
But the website gave a sense of what Romney would have done had he won.
“On his first day in office, Mitt Romney will issue an executive order that paves the way for the federal government to issue Affordable Care Act waivers to all 50 states,” according to a section called “Repealing the Affordable Care Act.” “He will then work with Congress to repeal the full legislation as quickly as possible.”
Oh, my God.
EVERYTHING could have been so different.
Instead of this overwhelming, all-encompassing sense of impending doom, I'd be hopeful and optimistic and so relieved.
You know that feeling of relief you have when a crisis is averted, when your worst fears vanish?
What might have been, what might have been.
It was possible, but a few million Republican voters shamefully decided to sit this one out.
If transforming America was their intent, congratulations to them. Their goal is on the road to realization.
That's close to the sort of voter turnout Saddam Hussein would get.
Dramatically more Milwaukeeans voted in 2012 than in 2008!
Eighty-seven percent turnout is better than attendance on a given day in some failing Milwaukee Public High Schools, with 60 percent truancy.
I don't understand why people came out in droves to obstruct a change in leadership that would have brought back jobs and prosperity and respect for our most fundamental freedoms. Loyalty to Obama is nice but voting for failure is not smart. Voting for free stuff is stunningly short-sighted.
Some Americans really love free contraceptives and abortion on demand, don't they?
I assume Obama was about to go on to say that the people have the power in this campaign, not him.
That's true.
However, Obama's choice of words, that he's a prop, is as unfortunate as it is spot-on.
He's on stage, serving as part of the scene in the theatrics.
His role as a prop has been utterly ineffective. He's not really part of the action.
He's just there, an empty suit, not making things better via his policies or his leadership.
And then the instances when he abused the office and grabbed power, dictating and oppressing, the imperial president, Obama made things worse.
And then we have the mainstream media, "propping" up Obama, shamelessly hiding the truth from the American public, going AWOL time and time again, on Fast and Furious, Benghazi, the oppression of Catholics' religious liberty, even the economy.
The last four years the story has been the Leftists propping up the prop in chief.
Yesterday, the Romney campaign told reporters that it expected to win at least some of the “blue states” in which it is now competing with Obama in the Midwest, including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The campaign did not give a specific reason for its optimism, but one thing these states have in common is a high proportion of Catholic voters. And Catholic voters have shifted dramatically towards Mitt Romney.
In September, the left and the media were exultant when the Pew poll seemed to show a surge for Obama among Catholic voters. He led by fifteen points, 54-39.
Today, that bubble has burst completely, and Obama is back down to a two-point lead, 48-46. (Few headlines this time from the mainstream media.)
Among white Catholics, Romney has jumped to a 14-point lead (54-40) after being tied with Obama in September in the poll.
To understand just how significant that is, consider that in 2008, Obama won Catholics by 9 percent (54 to 45) and lost white Catholics by just 5 percent (47 to 52). In 2004, the Catholic vote went narrowly to Bush overall (more widely among white Catholics), and in 2000 it went narrowly to Gore (and narrowly to Bush among white Catholics).
The 14-point lead Romney currently enjoys among white Catholics is almost without precedent.
Catholic voters are abandoning Obama for the same reason many other voters are: the sluggish economy, Romney’s strong performance in the presidential debates, Obama’s dishonesty and failure in Benghazi.
Yet Catholic voters have reason to feel particularly aggrieved, given the Obama administration’s battle with the Catholic church over the mandate in Obamacare that employers cover abortion drugs and contraceptives.
...Obama’s collapse among Catholic voters, and especially white Catholics, also suggests that the 2012 election is about much more than the economy, even if the economy is the most important issue. For many voters, the choice is also an ideological one, between a president who has attempted to increase the power of the government at the expense of religious liberty, and one who has committed to traditional values and small government.
I have so many reasons to vote for Mitt Romney and not Obama.
Near the top of that list is Obama's abuse of power and oppression of Catholics.
In addition to Obama's disastrous performance as president, I am at odds with him ideologically.
It definitely deeply concerns me that my religious freedom is under assault.
A dramatic new television ad, produced by Wisconsin Right to Life, is airing in most of Wisconsin's media markets. The ad draws attention to the fact that the federal administration is ordering Catholic hospitals and universities to provide coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, even though abortion violates deeply held Church beliefs.
Wisconsin Right to Life Executive Director Barbara Lyons said, "To follow the administration's orders means Catholic hospitals and universities face a dilemma - serve only Catholics and deny care to all others, defy the administration and face huge financial penalties --or close their doors altogether. Wisconsin Right to Life believes this is an untenable situation that the public needs to be aware of."
I know the horrible economy is driving this election. It should be. Obama has been a disaster, thwarting economic growth. He has caused so much misery, especially for the middle class.
However, Obama's assault on the Bill of Rights, his oppression of Catholics, would be reason enough for me to reject him.
I never thought an American president would have the audacity to so flagrantly disregard one of our fundamental freedoms, but Obama is.
Disgraceful.
Americans of all faiths and no faith should be repelled by Obama's assault on our liberty.
In Thursday's vice presidential debate, Joe Biden lied, insisting the Obama administration has not spit on the Bill of Rights and stripped American Catholics of their religious liberty.
[O]ver 100 individuals and organizations have been forced to file 33 lawsuits against the Obama Administration to demand respect of their religious liberty. The choice before these employers is untenable: either violate their conscience or refuse to comply with the anti-conscience mandate and face burdensome fines.
These individuals, organizations, and businesses contribute mightily to civil society by providing education, health care, and countless social services. Heritage has profiled a few of the many victims of Obamacare’s coercive disregard for religious freedom. From charities faced with hefty fines for practicing what they preach to business owners told that their religious freedom stops at the door to colleges forced to end student health plans because of Obamacare’s costly provisions and threat to conscience, the health care law jeopardizes the work of countless institutions.
Sadly, last night wasn’t the first time Biden has distorted the facts on the mandate’s serious assault on religious freedom. Contrary to what the Obama Administration would have Americans believe, there is no so-called “accommodation” for religious employers not covered by the mandate’s narrow religious exemption. The Administration’s press conference promises and bureaucratic announcements of a supposed “accommodation” neither changed the coercive mandate currently in effect nor provided any workable or adequate solutions to the mandate’s trampling on religious liberty. They are nothing more than a smokescreen to hide the mandate’s unconstitutional assault on a basic freedom.
Policymakers and national leaders should understand the primacy of religious freedom in the American constitutional order and work to protect that freedom, not undermine it. A first step towards the greater protection of religious freedom is rescinding the anti-conscience mandate and repealing Obamacare with all of its liberty-crushing provisions.
Just as Obama and Biden continue to lie about the Benghazi terrorist attack, they are lying about the HHS mandate.
They are lying.
Obama and Biden and their Democrat allies are lying. Do not believe their denials regarding their assault on religious liberty.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement on Joe Biden's comments during last night's vice presidential debate regarding the HHS mandate.
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued the following statement, October 12. Full text follows:
Last night, the following statement was made during the Vice Presidential debate regarding the decision of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to force virtually all employers to include sterilization and contraception, including drugs that may cause abortion, in the health insurance coverage they provide their employees:
"With regard to the assault on the Catholic Church, let me make it absolutely clear. No religious institution—Catholic or otherwise, including Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital—none has to either refer contraception, none has to pay for contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact. That is a fact."
This is not a fact. The HHS mandate contains a narrow, four-part exemption for certain "religious employers." That exemption was made final in February and does not extend to "Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital," or any other religious charity that offers its services to all, regardless of the faith of those served.
HHS has proposed an additional "accommodation" for religious organizations like these, which HHS itself describes as "non-exempt." That proposal does not even potentially relieve these organizations from the obligation "to pay for contraception" and "to be a vehicle to get contraception." They will have to serve as a vehicle, because they will still be forced to provide their employees with health coverage, and that coverage will still have to include sterilization, contraception, and abortifacients. They will have to pay for these things, because the premiums that the organizations (and their employees) are required to pay will still be applied, along with other funds, to cover the cost of these drugs and surgeries.
USCCB continues to urge HHS, in the strongest possible terms, actually to eliminate the various infringements on religious freedom imposed by the mandate.
When I heard Biden lie about the mandate with such conviction, I was certain the USCCB would respond.
As a Catholic, I am horrified by the Obama administration's assault on my religious liberty. As an American, I am horrified by the Obama administration's assault on the First Amendment.
I am disgusted that Biden, a Catholic, lied the way he did last night.
