Photo Credit: House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (L) (R-WI) introduces U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (R) as he addresses supporters at Lawrence University during a campaign stop in Appleton, Wisconsin, March 30, 2012. REUTERS/Darren Hauck
Congressman Paul Ryan’s endorsement of Mitt Romney has left many conservative grassroots activists confused. They wonder how Ryan could “be in bed with the establishment,” as they say. The endorsement has nothing to do with being “in bed with the establishment.” It’s about shared philosophy. Like Romney, Ryan is concerned with the almighty dollar. “It’s about the economy,” remember? I would say that Paul Ryan had no trouble at all endorsing Mitt Romney, and probably has planned to endorse Romney all along, but was waiting for the right moment — the Wisconsin vote. Ryan and Romney share kinship in being about “the economy” — the dollar, first and foremost. This endorsement, then, was no surprise to me at all, and it is a bonus for Barack Obama because it is further confirmation that the Republican establishment’s philosophy is no more Christian than Obama’s is.
I have to say that I have been a little concerned that Rick Santorum has spoken highly of Paul Ryan on a number of occasions, because I was afraid it might come back to bite him. Granted, Santorum’s praise for Ryan is generally in the context of his budget plan, never about his core philosophy. Rick Santorum is running for president, and as a presidential candidate he has to try to bring as many people on board with his vision for America as he possibly can. On the other hand, I am a voter, not running for anything, and so Paul Ryan is not someone you will find me offering praise for.
Ryan has always troubled me greatly because of his praise for the anti-Gospel philosopher Ayn Rand.
“The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand,” Ryan said at a D.C. gathering four years ago honoring the author of “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead.” …
At the Rand celebration he spoke at in 2005, Ryan invoked the central theme of Rand’s writings when he told his audience that, “Almost every fight we are involved in here on Capitol Hill …?is a fight that usually comes down to one conflict–individualism versus collectivism.”
Ayn Rand is featured in Architects of the Culture of Death
In contrast, Rick Santorum’s philosophy (and mine) is based on Christianity, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution, and is inspired by such people as Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (who was a Republican), and Ronald Wilson Reagan.
In the last presidential election, the Republican establishment nominated a candidate who essentially took social issues off the table. John McCain did not run on social issues. He ran primarily on the economy and national security, the other two of the three legs on the conservative stool. In this election, the Republican establishment is taking all three off the table: social issues, the economy and national security. While they tell us that the election is about “the economy,” as they give lip service to social issues and a nod to national security, they have quite unintentionally taken the economy off the table, as well, at least for me, a faithful Catholic. Nothing makes this more clear to me than the endorsement of Mitt Romney by Paul Ryan.
If Rick Santorum is the nominee, of course, I would like to see Paul Ryan support him for president. I’d like to see all Americans support Rick Santorum for president. As far as core philosophy, however, I will take Jesus Christ over Ayn Rand any day of the week.
At Amazon: Architects of the Culture of Death
