Catholic bishops criticize Ryan budget cuts to food stamps

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is criticizing the House-passed Republican budget for cutting food stamps and other assistance programs for the poor.

In a letter to the House Agriculture Committee, the bishops say the budget fails to meet certain “moral criteria” by disproportionately cutting programs that “serve poor and vulnerable people.”

A second letter sent Tuesday to the Ways and Means Committee criticizes a provision that makes it more difficult for illegal immigrants to claim child tax credits. The Bishops called the credit “one of the most effective antipoverty programs in our nation.”

Kathy Saile, USCCB Director of Domestic Social Development, said letters to House committees addressing other aspects of the budget were forthcoming.

The letters follow Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) comments that his Catholic faith shaped the budget he authored. He also argued the budget is consistent with Catholic teachings.

“A person’s faith is central to how they conduct themselves in public and in private,” Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, told the Christian Broadcasting Network.

“So to me, using my Catholic faith, we call it the social magisterium, which is how do you apply the doctrine of your teaching into your everyday life as a lay person,” Ryan said.

Ryan made a moral case for his budget, saying that the government shouldn’t be responsible for lifting its citizens out of poverty — rather, that it’s the obligation of the citizens themselves to be society’s caretakers.
 


“Those principles are very, very important,” Ryan said. “And the preferential option for the poor, which is one of the primary tenants 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 comments drew criticism from some progressive Catholic groups last week, but this is the first time the bishops have weighed in on his budget.

In their letter, the bishops urged lawmakers to reject “unacceptable cuts to hunger and nutrition” programs for “moral and human reasons.” They said spending cuts should instead be made to subsidy programs that “disproportionately go to large growers and agribusiness.”

Lawmakers should “protect essential programs that serve poor and hungry people over subsidies that assist large and relatively well-off agricultural enterprises,” said the letter, signed by Bishop Stephen E. Blaire.

“Cuts to nutrition programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will hurt hungry children, poor families, vulnerable seniors and workers who cannot find employment. These cuts are unjustified and wrong.”

The letter was addressed to Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, and ranking member Collin Peterson (D-Minn.).

Ryan’s budget aims to reduce the federal deficit almost entirely through spending cuts; it would cut about $5 trillion more than the president’s 2013 budget proposal. Democrats are pushing for tax increases to reduce the deficit in addition to spending cuts. Ryan’s plan also includes a proposal to redesign Medicare.

This is not the first time in this election cycle that the Catholic Church has pushed back against policies it believes clash with its teachings.

It sharply criticized the Obama administration this year for requiring employer-purchased insurance plans to provide birth control to employees without a co-pay.

The Catholic Church, as well as Republicans and some Democrats, blasted the move as a violation of religious liberty, and the administration responded with what it said was an “accommodation” allowing exceptions from the mandate for Catholic hospitals and other religiously affiliated groups.

The bishops argue that the accommodation doesn’t go far enough and would still violate religious liberty by forcing employers to make available birth control, including the morning-after pill, to their employees.

This story was updated at 2:18 p.m.

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