His budget plan has drawn fire from some Catholic bishops for cutting programs that help the poor. Conservative leader Deal W. Hudson on what the GOP ticket needs to do.
With the choice of Paul Ryan as Romney's running mate,
the 2012 presidential election will be the first in U.S. history with a
Roman Catholic on both sides of the ballot. The contrast between the
Catholicism of Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Ryan perfectly
represents the ongoing debate about the Catholic vote going back to the
Reagan years.
Indeed, the choice between these two types of Catholic politicians could not be any more plain.
Biden
is a “social justice” Catholic who claims to know how to connect with
blue-collar Democratic Catholics, like those in his hometown of
Scranton, Pa. During four of his last five years in the Senate, he
received a 100 percent rating from NARAL. As vice president he supported
federal funding for abortion, despite voicing opposition to it in 2008,
and the Health and Human Services mandate requiring Catholic institutions serving the public to provide insurance coverage for contraception , including abortifacients and sterilization.
During the 2008 campaign, some of Biden’s remarks on NBC’s Meet the Press defending his position on abortion were publicly criticized
by Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison, Wis., and Archbishop Charles J.
Chaput, then of Denver, now of Philadelphia. Morlino’s diocese, by the
way, includes Paul Ryan's hometown of Janesville, Wis.
Paul
Ryan, it appears, never had a “progressive” phase in the development of
either his politics or his Catholic faith. From a fifth-generation
Wisconsin family, Ryan attended public schools ,
graduating in economics and political science from Miami University,
Ohio, and developed a liking for the works of individualist philosopher
Ayn Rand during his high-school years. His interest in politics led him
to work as an aide in 1992 to Sen. Bob Kasten and as legislative
director between 1995 and 1997 for Sen. Sam Brownback, both ardent
pro-lifers. Ryan worked as a speechwriter for Jack Kemp during the 1996
campaign after spending a few years at Empower America, the think tank
Kemp ran with Bill Bennett.
Since
being elected to the House in 1998, Ryan has developed a solid
reputation with the grassroots as a pro-life, pro-marriage Catholic, and
among Tea Party and fiscal conservatives, he has attained hero status
for his extraordinary grasp of economic and budgetary issues. At age 42,
Congressman Ryan is now often referred to as the “intellectual leader”
of the Republican Party, a description repeated by Mitt Romney in announcing his VP choice.
Biden’s
vulnerabilities as the choice for Catholic voters are neither more nor
less than those of President Obama; the sitting vice president will have
to continue to defend the expansion of the abortion mandate and the
violation of religious liberty at the heart of the HHS mandate. Unless
Biden repeats the mistake he made in 2008 on Meet the Press, it is unlikely he will draw any direct fire from the bishops.
While
the choice of Ryan will please the Tea Party as well as fiscal and
social conservatives, it creates an opening for the Catholic supporters
of Obama: Paul Ryan’s 2012 GOP budget has already been the subject of
official criticism by some Catholic bishops for failing to meet
certain “moral criteria” and cutting programs that “serve poor and
vulnerable people.” The media coverage failed to note that the four
letters to Congress in April came from two bishops: Bishop Stephen E.
Blaire of Stockton, Calif., chairman of the Committee on Domestic
Justice and Human Development, and Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des
Moines, Iowa, chairman of the Committee on International Justice and
Peace, each speaking on behalf of the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops in their respective roles.
The
first letter arrived April 4 at the House Subcommittee on
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies. On
April 10, Ryan ably defended himself and his application of Catholic
principles in an interview with David Brody.
“Those
principles are very, very important,” Ryan said. “And the preferential
option for the poor, which is one of the primary tenets of Catholic
social teaching, means don’t keep people poor, don’t make people
dependent on government so that they stay stuck at their station in
life; help people get out of poverty, out into a life of independence.”
Ryan’s words were ignored amid the subsequent denunciations of social-justice Catholics, led by Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, who after underscoring her Italian, Catholic upbringing charged:
"The
Ryan budget does not address debt nor fiscal responsibility. What it
does is take care of the very wealthy at the risk of the middle class
and people who are poor. That is contrary to Catholic teaching."
In
spite of the fact that DeLauro completely ignores the latitude allowed
to prudential judgments based upon Catholic principles, her charge will
be repeated ad nauseam against the Romney-Ryan ticket over the next 90
days.
DeLauro’s
interview April 17 was prompted by the arrival of three more letters to
Congress from two Catholic bishops, once again accusing the Ryan budget
of hurting the poor and failing the measure of Catholic social
teaching.
Ryan
knew he had more explaining to do, so on April 29 he sent a four-page
letter to the president of the USCCB, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New
York, explaining how his budget was guided by the principles of
Catholic social teaching. Ryan argued that as a Catholic he was
justified in taking into account the bigger picture of the entire
economic situation facing the nation. He argued there was a moral
obligation “implicit” in Catholic social teaching to address “difficult
basic problems before they explode into social crisis.”
The supportive letter of May 18
Ryan received in response from Dolan was hardly noticed. But the major
points Ryan made in both his Brody interview and his letter to the
archbishop were clearly acknowledged: “The principles of Catholic social
teaching contain truths that need to be applied,” wrote Dolan, by the
application of “prudential judgment.”
The
level of opposition to the Ryan budget among the bishops is not
unsubstantial. At their June meeting in Baltimore, the bishops voted
171-26 to approve a proposal brought by Blaire, the chairman of the
Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, to begin drafting a
message on the U.S. economy, entitled “Catholic Reflections on Work,
Poverty, and a Broken Economy.” This draft will be presented to the
entire body of bishops at their November 2012 meeting after the election.
But
the fact that this document is in the works, and that it was prompted
specifically by the Ryan budget, is indicative of criticism that will
undoubtedly be leveled at the GOP, its ticket, and Congressman Ryan
himself: the charges of “cutting programs,” “hurting the poor,” and
“destroying the safety net” will reinforce the stereotype of the GOP as
uncaring, heartless, and the “party of the rich.” (Blaire, it should be
noted, is the bishop of Stockton, Calif., which just a month ago filed
for bankruptcy protection.)
The
bottom line is this: the Romney-Ryan campaign must acknowledge the
Catholic concerns about the budget as a major obstacle to winning the
election Nov. 7. It will make or break the GOP ticket’s appeal to
Catholics in a state like Pennsylvania, where I am presently putting
together a Pennsylvania Catholics Network. Romney, Ryan, and their
surrogates need to be proactive and explain, before the criticism
reaches a fever pitch, how Ryan’s budget does in fact satisfy the “moral
criteria” of Catholic social teaching. The argument, I believe, can be
made, but the campaign must have the will to make it.
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