ABC Host Asks Paul Ryan: "You Don’t Think The Pope Would Endorse your Budget?"

Despite Ryan's whitewash, here's what Pope Francis really thinks.

"Pope Francis Links"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/11/pope-francis-links.html

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Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Sunday suggested that Pope Francis had been touting the same “free market” principles opposing the “welfare state” that the Republican Party has been pushing for years.

Late last year, Ryan, who is Catholic, was asked how the pope’s criticism of capitalism squared with the Republican Party’s message. Paul had argued that the pope didn’t really understand the U.S. economy because the “guy is from Argentina, they haven’t had real capitalism in Argentina.”

During an interview on Sunday, ABC host George Stephanopolous asked the Wisconsin Republican if he had been “a little too flip” in criticizing the pope.

“No, not at all,” Ryan insisted. “They have crony capitalism in Argentina, where you have exploitation. That is not the free market, that’s crony capitalism. We’re starting to see some crony capitalism here in America.”

He added that the pope was inviting Catholics to propose solutions for dealing with the poor, “stop isolating the poor.”

“And if you look at his comments very closely, he always talks about the welfare mentality,” Ryan added. “He always talks about the welfare mentality and how we have to avoid creating a welfare state. Bring the poor in and create upward mobility and free enterprise that gives opportunity to everybody, no matter who they are and where they are in life in America. That’s what we’re for.”

“You don’t think he’d endorse your budget, do you?” Stephanopoulos pressed.

“Of course not, he’s a pope!” Ryan replied. “Popes don’t endorse budgets. Popes say let’s have a conversation about how to fix the broken status quo, how to bring the poor in, how to not have a welfare state, and how to produce upward mobility. Popes don’t endorse actual legislative changes or budgets like that.”

Watch this video from ABC’s This Week, broadcast Feb. 2, 2014.  http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/02/abc-host-corners-paul-ryan-you-dont-think-the-pope-would-endorse-your-budget/

Alan: American conservatism is propelled by an irrepressible urge to serve two masters.

Guess which one wins.

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Matthew 6:19-26 

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)

19 Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal.

20 But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal.

21 For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also.

22 The light of thy body is thy eye. If thy eye be single, thy whole body shall be lightsome.

23 But if thy eye be evil thy whole body shall be darksome. If then the light that is in thee, be darkness: the darkness itself how great shall it be!

24 No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

25 Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat: and the body more than the raiment?

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Here is this same passage as translated in "The Message."

Matthew 6:19-26 The Message (MSG)

A Life of God-Worship

19-21 “Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

22-23 “Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!

24 “You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.

25-26 “If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.