Monday, April 30, 2012

Subsidiarity

Paul Ryan loves Subsidiarity,
But doesn't seem to get the
Prefential Option for the Poor.
You've got to hand it to Paul Ryan. I think he really believes that the principle of Subsidiarity compels him to eliminate as many federal services for the poor as he sees fit. What is subsidiarity? In short, it's the belief that the best people to take care of the needy are those closest to them. The Church believes this. St. Francis believed this. Mother Teresa believed this. Dorothy Day believed this.

It is a beautiful principal, in line with the personal love that Christ displays in the New Testament and through the experience of Christian spirituality. Subsidiarity reminds us that it's not okay to just let a huge, impersonal system plug and chug with serving the needs of individuals and communities. It asks us to do everything we can to strengthen communities from the bottom up, get to know each other and take personal responsibility when a neighbor needs help. Ideally, according to subsidiarity, government would not even be necessary because we would all care for each other's needs freely and readily, leaving no one out.

Dorothy Day also loved Subsidiarity,
but prioritzed the poor, too.
Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I would guess that Rep. Ryan sincerely bases his economic proposals on this ideal. He eliminates federal spending on services with the hope that private individuals and states will pick up the slack in a more efficient, personal way.

Now, what he might not understand is that Subsidiarity requires that necessary outreach and assistance, especially to the poor and sick, be ensured. Always. It doesn't say that assistance should always be conducted on a level close to the need. It says that assistance should be conducted as close to the need as realistically possible. The question to ask ourselves, that I hope he's asked himself, is whether it's realistic that the hungry will receive better food assistance when federal food stamps are limited. Will sick children receive better insurance without federal support for Medicaid? Is there funding and man-power at state and local levels that will ensure the continuation and improvement of aid to people served by the 3.3 trillion dollars he proposes to eliminate from the federal budget?

It's not hard to see that the answer is a definitive "no!" Due to the economic crisis, states and local governments, charities and non-governmental organizations  have a far decreased capacity to assist those who need them. I am unsure how removal of federal assistance will help them to do better.

Perhaps it is theoretically possible that it will encourage donors to give more locally. However, the results of such cuts already occurring throughout state and local governments makes such a theory suspect to me. People simply don't have the extra money right now to make up for the loss of governmental assistance.

I think Ryan has misinterpreted Subsidiarity, whether willfully or otherwise. Further, he does so inconsistently, bolstering national defense with increased funding. This essentially prioritizes high-tech bombs and jets over food, education and medicine for those who desperately need it. It seems to me that he has cleaved closely to the Republican Party Platform and twisted Catholic Social Teaching to justify it.

I suppose we're all guilty, from time to time, of such twisting of our faith. However, that's why we have others to point these things out to us. The Bishops and hundreds of other faithful Catholics of all political persuasions have raised their voices to tell Catholic Republicans in Congress not to follow this line of politics. So, I hope they're going to give it a listen and change their tune accordingly.

Below is a letter from faculty at Georgetown University to Rep. Ryan regarding his misinterpretation of Catholic Social Teaching. I'm also including some other links on the topic. I'll stop posting about this budget now, I promise.

More information on the Ryan Budget here and a really good commentary here.

GeorgetownLettertoRep.PaulRyan

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The Ryan Budget, The Bishops and the Bigger Picture

The Huffington Post has an article about John Boehner's recent dismissal of the concerns of many Catholics, specifically the US Bishops Conference, surrounding the House budget, proposed by Paul Ryan. Both Ryan and Boehner are Catholic and have been open about the fact that their faith influences their decisions as lawmakers.

For review, it proposes that the federal government spend $5.3 trillion dollars less over 10 years than we would with the current budget relatively unchanged . That's a lot of money (for some perspective, check out this illustration). The savings comes entirely from non-defense spending. In fact, it asks for an increase of $200 Billion in defense spending. Of the 5.3 trillion, 3.3 trillion (that's 62%) comes from cuts to programs we can describe as aid for low-income people. They include food stamps, medicaid and financial assistance for low-income college students. Given this, it is no exaggeration to say that the Ryan Budget disproportionately targets the poor and needy as unnecessary governmental investments.

Honestly, I don't have much of anything to add to the conversation surrounding the proposed budget, other than to add my voice to the mix. So, let me say it: it is ridiculous to cut aid to the poor and sick without asking the well-off to make any additional sacrifices at all. Actually, many corporations and wealthy individuals will find  lower tax rates. This is all, sad to say, something I expect from the Republican party, a case of backwards priorities.

What's different, however,  is that Rep. Ryan has had the audacity to appeal to Catholic Social Teaching as the inspiration for his plan. This dynamic is further exacerbated by the public disapproval of the Bishops, followed by Speaker Boehner's blunt dismissal of their concerns.

Catholic priorities, articulated by both the Institutional Church and in evidence through the Church's history, have always began with assistance for the vulnerable. Further, the Church expects government to use its resources effectively to protect and nourish the worst-off in the nation. This principle and expectation explains the vocal opposition to legalized abortion, the death penalty and euthanasia. This same set of values, a preferential option for the poor and vulnerable in Catholic-speak, demands a budget that whole-heartedly supports services for the poor.

From where I sit, lawmakers who prioritize corporations and wealthy individuals so blatantly are, at best, fooling themselves and, at worst, intentionally favoring the powerful over the voiceless.

Anyone who hasn't heard, open your ears! While Republicans claim to value life above all, they refuse to use the government to protect anyone but the unborn and the well-off. Further, this budget proves that, when there are "tough choices" the poor lose where bombs, fighter jets and the companies that make them win.

Jesus told us that we will always have the poor. He also told us to be with him while we could. In Matthew he drives the point home by telling us exactly where his is: with the hungry, naked, imprisoned and sick. Now, who knows whether this budget will become law. But, we must live as people both of direct action and political power. We must take care of the needs of the poor through charities and non-profits but we must also ask for help on their behalf, finding ways to empower businesses to hire people and maintain assistance for those who will go hungry without it.