Gratitude, Government, And Gall

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.

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.

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This post originally appeared on Western Journalism – Informing And Equipping Americans Who Love Freedom