How extreme is the Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid Party?
A popular piece of legislation that seeks to honor Pope Francis is stuck in Congress.
With time running out on the Capitol Hill calendar, the lawmakers who crafted the bipartisan measure are getting impatient with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
The resolution, written by Reps. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Pete King (R-N.Y.), congratulates Francis on his March 2013 election and recognizes “his inspirational statements and actions.”
The seemingly innocuous resolution was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which hasn’t acted on it. The panel didn’t comment for this article.
The inaction and the lack of a white smoke signal from Boehner have sparked speculation that politics is at play.
Only 19 of the 221 co-sponsors are Republicans. The dearth of GOP members on the measure could be attributable to assertions that the pope is “too liberal,” according to a Republican backer of the legislation.
The source noted that Francis last year denounced “trickle-down economics.”
Some Republicans believe the pope is “sounding like [President] Obama. [The pope] talks about equality — he actually used the term ‘trickle-down economics,’ which is politically charged,” the GOP official said. (our emphasis)Horrors! Denouncing trickle-down economics! And equality! Impeach the Pope! (Or maybe just sue him for now.)
We expect to hear howling about this affront to the head of the Roman Catholic Church from Sean Hannity and Sweaty Bill Donohue any time now... =crickets chirping= . Mmmm. We thought so.
The Republican Party has counted on receiving the catholic vote for several decades now. But, their is a strong liberal and even radical streak in Catholicism and as flush Limpballs and GOP evangelicals insult the pope and dust off their assaults on papists, Catholics are going to have to choose between god and mammon; mammon being money...
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, glad to have you back, Gene. Looking forward to seeing posts on "Disaffected..."!
ReplyDeleteImmigration is also a "wedge" issue between the Catholic Church and the frothing right, since most of the people coming over the border (the Central American children, especially) are Catholic. The Church rightly wants to protect them and the Pope, if not a liberation theologist, knows first-hand about the poverty and deprivations in Latin America. He's a lot closer in political/ social outlook to Pope John XXIII than to John Paul II, thankfully.