Catholic Nuns Gun for Paul Ryan
Sister Simone Campbell says she is on a mission to protect the poor—from Rep. Paul Ryan.
This summer, the outspoken Catholic nun led a bus tour across the country called “Nuns on the Bus,” protesting the Wisconsin congressman’s proposed federal budget plan, which she says would slash funds for social programs for low-income people. Now she is recruiting teams of sisters to lobby their state legislators to insist on protections for the poor, such as an expansion of Medicaid. She has invited Ryan and Mitt Romney to join her in spending a day with poor people. She even took on conservative pundit Bill O’Reilly on Fox News this week to make her point.
“That was kind of wild,” she says of the O’Reilly show, which resulted in an on-air fight. “You have to think of it as missionary activity,” she laughs. On the show, O’Reilly argued that the poverty rate had gone up under President Obama, so the current system isn’t working. “Tell me what you want, Sister,” he demanded. Her reply: “What I want is money in the pockets of hardworking people who are living below the poverty level…The Ryan budget gives money to the top, not the bottom.”
Sister Simone is the executive director of a Catholic advocacy group in Washington, D.C., called Network, which lobbies Congress for policies that help the poor. She and her fellow sisters have zeroed in on the newly chosen vice-presidential candidate because he proposes reducing the federal budget deficit through substantial cuts in spending, which Sister Simone believes would hit low-income people hard. “In order to do what he says he is going to do, it takes drastic cuts,” she says, adding that Ryan does not generally go into detail about the specific programs for the poor that would be affected. “He’s trying to avoid enumerating them,” she says. “The truth is, there’s a shift of money to the top—tax cuts for the wealthy.” Representatives for Ryan didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/16/catholic-nuns-gun-for-paul-ryan.html
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I went to one of their stops and it wasn't as big a turnout as I had hoped for. My Congressman was there and then most of the crowd was union members who all showed up together. There was not of people like me there, those who just showed up without being a member of some group.
I kinda wish they were in Florida for Ryand's stop with his mother. Most of these were older women and I don't think they are going to think twice about going after someone their own age who is advocating for Ryand's budget.
Here is what I posted after the Nuns on the bus stop.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002847904
^copy^
I believe that the "sweet little old lady" factor has not been properly addressed concerning this particular group of activists. Everything has been "Don't Mess With Nuns!" but IMO that is not the source of their influence. These women are adorable and have devoted their lives to helping those in need. I would gladly put them up against any (R) in office, anytime.
