CATHOLIC GROUP ENDORSES OBAMA

Catholics for Common Sense, a grassroots organization of everyday Catholics announced that it is endorsing Barack Obama for president of the United States.

“President Obama’s work digging out of the myriad messes he inherited is impressive. His stimulus package prevented the country from falling into another Great Depression and has helped fuel 31-straight months of job growth. His Affordable Care Act means greater health for all Americans as well as increased financial security for all Americans as the threat of going bankrupt due to sickness is now diminished. His record lowering taxes on small businesses and the middle class is unprecedented. Moreover, all this was accomplished while he was ending the war in Iraq and bringing the most-feared terrorist in the world to justice,” said Catholics for Common Sense board chairman Michael McGonigle.

“Mitt Romney has not presented a coherent vision to the nation. He seems to alternate between extreme-right platitudes and audience pandering that has put him on both sides of many issues – several times each. Above all, though, Mr. Romney’s insistence on returning to the disastrous trickle-down policies of George W. Bush is nothing less than frightening – particularly as it relates to his mathematically impossible tax plan that will balloon the nation’s deficit" McGonigle said.

BISHOPS PRAISE OBAMA FOR HONORING CESAR CHAVEZ

California bishops laud Obama's dedication of national monument to Cesar Chavez

California's Catholic bishops said they were grateful that a President Obama declared a national monument to be dedicated to farmworker labor leader Cesar Chavez, who "was profoundly influenced by Catholic social justice teaching."

Chavez, who co-founded the United Farm Workers union in 1962, "strived to be a good disciple of the Lord Jesus by bringing the kingdom of God to the vineyards, fields and groves of America," they said in a statement released Oct. 3. President Obama led the dedication on Oct. 8.

"Seeing the hard plight of migrant laborers, he became a community organizer in 1952, and eventually the founder of the United Farm Workers in 1962," added the bishops. "Through his influence and dedication, countless farm laborers today have basic protections -- from clean drinking water and safe working conditions to minimum wages and access to health care."

President Obama toured the Chavez Memorial Garden and placed a red rose at the gravesite where Cesar Chavez was laid to rest in 1993.  Obama issued a presidential proclamation establishing what is now known as the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, to be maintained by the National Park Service. The property is known as Nuestra Senora Reina de la Paz, Spanish for Our Lady Queen of Peace. In the UFW, it was known simply as La Paz.
"At La Paz, the UFW grew and expanded from its early roots as a union for farmworkers to become a national voice for the poor and disenfranchised," Obama said in the proclamation. "For Cesar Chavez, La Paz also provided the respite he needed to continue serving the farmworker movement. His attachment to La Paz as both a refuge and a place where he engaged in his life's work grew stronger over the years."

La Paz now "joins a long list of national monuments stretching from the Statue of Liberty to the Grand Canyon," the president said. "It's a story of people, of determined, fearless, hopeful people," like Chavez, he added, "who have always been willing to devote their lives to making this country a little more just, a little more free."

Catholic Right Gives Up on Telling Catholics to Vote Pro-life. Now Just Says “Vote Republican.”

ROMNEY'S REVERSAL ON ABORTION OKAY.  ELECTING GOP IS WHAT'S IMPORTANT TO SOCIAL CONSERVATIVES

After years of telling Catholics that abortion policy is a “non-negotiable” principle, but that policies for the poor, working families and world peace can be ignored and dispensed with, Right-wing groups claiming a Catholic identity have not expressed any problem with Romney abandoning any anti-abortion agenda. The Right is still telling Catholics to vote Republican even when it does nothing to protect the unborn.

On Wednesday, Romney’s campaign released a new ad aimed at pro-choice women. “You know, those ads saying Mitt Romney would ban all abortions and contraception seemed a bit extreme, so I looked into it,” says a young woman identified as Sarah Minto. “Turns out Romney doesn’t oppose contraception at all. In fact, he thinks abortion should be an option in cases of rape, incest, or to save a mother’s life.” And last week, he told the Des Moines Register’s editorial board, “There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda.”

Romney declared that “Every woman in America should have access to contraceptives.” He also said employers should not be able to bar women from receiving such insurance, an apparent reversal of his previous position on that hot-button topic.

And Romney’s new found (or re-found from his days as Governor) pro-choice position has not met with any objection from social conservatives.

“If it’s hurting him to bring up the abortion issue, then I’m OK if he doesn’t,” said Bradley Mattis, head of the Life Issues Institute in Cincinnati. Rev. Frank Pavone, head of “Priests for Life” also justified support for Romney despite the GOP nominee’s position that the right to an abortion is a “settled” matter of law.

The ultraright “Catholic Vote” has even moved beyond not caring about Romney’s position on abortion to becoming a total Republican front group even when it means condoning the killing of unborn life. While their arguments for Romney vary from a claim he told funnier jokes than Obama at the Al Smith dinner to advocacy for Austrian School economics, the kicker is in their most recent attack on Obama for being “anti-coal.” In fact what the President supports is controls on Mercury pollution which, among other health hazards, causes the death of too many unborn lives. They are even ready to defend abortion/miscarriages when it is part of the GOP agenda of opposition to regulation.

LATINO CATHOLICS OVERWHELMINGLY FOR OBAMA

LATINO CATHOLICS SOLID

IN SUPPORT FOR THE PRESIDENT

A new study by the Pew Research Center revealed that three-quarters of Latino Catholics are President Barack Obama supporters while only 19% say they will vote for Romney. Strong support for the President exists among most elements of Latino Catholics including the most frequent church-goers. Catholics Latinos are more likely to support Obama than Latinos in general. The nonprofit research organization also found that 71 percent of Hispanics who are Catholic are Democrats, while 21 percent are Republicans.

The research also revealed that Latino evangelical Protestants support Obama 50 percent, while they support Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney 39 percent. Thus is far more favorable the white evangelical Protestants who support Romney often have hostile views towards issues important to Latinos such as the DREAM Act.

While the strong support from these Catholics is very welcome, it also presents a strategic advantage.  Churches and non-profit groups are free to engage in non-partisan voter turnout efforts, including calls from the pulpit, church bulletin or by other means.  Maximizing turnout at Latino Catholics parishes means at least 75% of the votes will go to the President.  Let's do all we can at our Latino parishes to turn out the vote!

CATHOLIC REPUBLICAN ACTIVIST ARRESTED IN VOTER FRAUD

GOP VOTER FRAUD ARRESTEE FORMERLY WITH "C-FAM"

While there has been a concerted effort by Republican leaders to erect new barriers to voting, often impacting the poor, minorities and working families the toughest, there have been almost no actual examples of in person voter fraud.

Nevertheless, the first and only arrest this year we are aware of voter fraud has been by a Catholic Republican activist, we are sad to report. Colin Small got his political education with the Right-Wing Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, headed by anti-gay rights activist Austin Ruse. Small then was hired by a Republican voter registration effort as a supervisor, where he destroyed voter registration applications. The sheriff’s office in Harrisonburg, VA, said Small had been charged with 13 counts of destruction of voter registration applications, disclosure of voter registration information, and obstruction of justice.

Virginia has a long history of obstructing the rights of racial minorities and workers from participating in the political process. It is unfortunate this tradition is being carried out, now by illegal means, by a activist in the Catholic Right.

AL SMITH DINNER

PRESIDENT AND ROMNEY JOIN CATHOLIC PRELATES AT AL SMITH DINNER

In a time of a sorry lack of civility in political discourse, it is a blessing that the Al Smith Dinner for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York brings together both candidates, the leaders of the Catholic Church including USCCB President/Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan and many people of good will. 

Governor Romney showed great dignity in his remarks that ""Don't tell anyone I said so, but our 44th president has many gifts and a beautiful family that would make any man proud. ... In our country, you can oppose someone in politics and make a confident case against their policies without any ill will. And that's how it is for me."

President Obama received a standing ovation when he rose to speak at the Catholic Charities gala.  At the usually lighthearted event, both men made jokes at their own expense, but President Obama ended on a serious note, proclaming in the words of Saint Paul:  “It’s written in Scripture that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:4)

DON'T LOOK FOR PAUL RYAN AT ST. VINNIE'S

Paul Ryan Absent At Soup Kitchens, Shelters In His District, Says Catholic Charities

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Paul Ryan's awkward visit last week to a Youngstown, Ohio, soup kitchen made national headlines and has been the butt of late-night jokes. The head of the charity that runs the soup kitchen complained to The Washington Post that Ryan and Co. "ramrodded their way" in for an unauthorized photo-op.

Ryan's surprise visit was an even bigger shock to people who run organizations dedicated to serving the needy back in his Wisconsin congressional district...

Ryan, despite more than 13 years in Congress, appears to be very much a stranger to those charities. None of the food pantry or shelter workers interviewed by The Huffington Post could recall Ryan having visited...
Carol Hulburt, a coordinator at a food pantry in Milton, Wis., said Ryan has not once visited in the roughly 15 years she has worked there...

A worker who answered the phones at the House of Mercy family shelter said she has not seen the congressman come through its doors in the 10 years she has worked at the facility...

Eric Levitt, Janesville's city manager, has volunteered with House of Mercy for nearly two years. He said he has not seen Ryan there...

Even when invited, Ryan hasn't shown up. Robert Borremans told The Washington Post in August that in the nine years he has run Janesville's Rock County Job Center, multiple invitations have failed to secure a visit from Ryan. "I've reached the point I don't ask anymore," Borremans said.


Read more here:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/18/paul-ryan-soup-kitchen-wisconsin_n_1976623.html