Want a good indication of how savagely House Republicans hate “liberalism,” particularly when it comes to a determination to deal with economic inequality? It looks like an blandly-worded bipartisan resolution honoring Pope Francis is stuck in a House committee because some GOP conservatives dislike the Pontiff’s powerful statements on economic justice. Here’s a report from The Hill’s Molly Hooper:
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.
So I guess the Holy See is supposed to stick to subjects like abortion where it is in agreement with conservative Republicans. Or maybe Boenher–a loyal son of the Church of Rome, according to the official records–has decided he’s more Catholic than the Pope.
