111 Comments

• seanomelb | Aug 16, 2012, 06:50 PM EDT

  Forgotten your roots EdMahoney you seem to have an "I'm all right Jack" approach to socio-economic circumstances.

• GregShox | Aug 16, 2012, 02:00 PM EDT

  Paul Ryan is about as Irish as Eisenhower was German.

• EdMahoney | Aug 16, 2012, 11:21 AM EDT

  Regarding the Catholic Bishop's letter regarding the Budget - What is the Budget? It is the money tax payers (individuals & corporations), but not the Church, pay to the U.S. government to support our country. Therefore, when the Catholic Bishops refer to the budget they are referring to us tax payers!!! Note: the Bishop's letter is actually saying tax payers "HELP" the least of these, the poor, the hungry... It does not say to "PAY FOR" them. And it certainly doesn't say don't work, just sit on your butt & still get "HELP". AMEN

• EdMahoney | Aug 16, 2012, 10:44 AM EDT

  This is B/S - The Irish came to this country without a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out! With hard work, educating their children they made super inroads as Irish-Americans. That's what al 4 of my grandparents did & I'm proud of it. My wife & I along with our children were brought up that way and are very happy, successful & fulfilled people. Now, we here these whiners, who expect everything handed to them without working & paying for the privalege of being Americans. As far as I'm concerned they can leave this country and go suck off some socialistic society.

• BrianO | Aug 15, 2012, 08:11 PM EDT

  I appreciate a good sense of humor, take care.

• seanomelb | Aug 15, 2012, 07:02 PM EDT

  Those pesky pigeons just keep following me. I feed them titbit's as I feed you commonsense.

• McNamara31 | Aug 15, 2012, 06:10 PM EDT

  Pittsburghkid Why do Ryan's proposed tax code reforms favor the wealthy and the corporations? When he was pushing privatizing Social Security he marketed his pitch as pro "the people" when in truth it was pro Wall St.

• Pittsburghkid | Aug 15, 2012, 04:22 PM EDT

  There is no dignity in living off the government. Programs such as Social Security, and Medicare are program, in which the receiver paid into, and not charity. Ryan wants to reform these programs. It was the Government, which diverted money from the S.S. Trust fund into the general fund.

• McNamara31 | Aug 15, 2012, 04:02 PM EDT

  Paul Ryan..A pure political operative from the first day his feet hit the pavement in Washington. Ryan supported the Bush initiative to privatize all Social Security funds ( how would that have worked in the 2008 financial collapse) and would like to end Medicare (as we know it) and replace it with a $6000. voucher program that the sick and elderly would have to run around to buy their "yearly" insurance coverage.He's ready and waiting to throw the American middle class under the bus in their old age. There's nothing Irish about this guy or his vision for the future.

• BrianO | Aug 15, 2012, 09:40 AM EDT

  Seano time to change your schtick, you are starting to sound like a frustrated old man throwing rocks at pidgeons.

• seanomelb | Aug 15, 2012, 06:47 AM EDT

  Fox news the fear and smear channel for the American non-thinkers who would believe any bull story

• peterson | Aug 14, 2012, 09:22 PM EDT

  Obviously O'Shea is a New York liberal and believes what the Obama people say. Thank God for the Fox News Network who documents every news story !

• merefalow | Aug 14, 2012, 08:54 PM EDT

  he sounds a blue meanie.

• seanomelb | Aug 14, 2012, 06:17 PM EDT

  Paul Ryan is Palin in pants loves hunting deer!! better watch out he's now hunting the poor and seniors

• hollabackgurl | Aug 14, 2012, 03:54 PM EDT

  The religious right believe Paul Ryan's their man - he wants to charge anyone who has an abortion with murder. The billionaires want him to give them tax breaks as he dismantles the New Deal and ends every social welfare program. He is an admirer of Ayn Rand who thought that charity and altruism are evil. Selfishness is his creed, not Jesus'. But seniors have the most to fear of all. He wants to gut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

• Gearoid4 | Aug 14, 2012, 03:35 PM EDT

  It is strange how picky some political lobbies get, when it comes to Catholic doctrine and beliefs, yet fail to see the inherent hypocrisy, in the failure of members of their own political party, to uphold one of the most fundamental principles of Christian belief, i.e. the right to life. One can legitimately have differences of opinion about practical solutions to social issues, as the broad parameters on Catholic social doctrine seems to allow them, but there is no such wriggle room for positions on such terrible realities as abortion.

• Fergananim | Aug 14, 2012, 12:06 PM EDT

  Most Irish people in Ireland don't have much time for Catholic principles either! So go ahead and vote for him!

• Woodkern | Aug 14, 2012, 11:18 AM EDT

  I will not vote for Messrs. Romney and Ryan. I disagree with them on many points. That being said, this article is rubbish. American politicians, whether Republican or Democratic, who cite Catholic Social Doctrine to justify their policies do so at their own peril and merely expose their own hypocrisy. I find it terribly distasteful, condescending, patronizing and stunningly arrogant for Irish people to gerrymander us Americans in order to suit their political, monetary or egoistic ends. Ms. O’Leary’s ethic banter is not helpful in our political discourse. Congressman Ryan’s “Irish connection” is tenuous at best, going as far back as a great-grandparent. Overall, it is irrelevant.

• travelmpq | Aug 14, 2012, 11:00 AM EDT

  So, to the "Code Pink" jerks, the US was "responsible" for the death of Rachel Corrie in Israel. Just like Romney was "responsible," according to the Democrats' reasoning, for the death of the woman from cancer. Like the man said, "Rubbish!"

• seagreen | Aug 14, 2012, 05:51 AM EDT

  Code Pink....Was the organization that sprung from Rachel Corrie being run over and killed by an Israeli bulldozer provided by the Americans...

• irishamrep | Aug 14, 2012, 02:07 AM EDT

  Who the hell are the Irish American Democrats and what the Hell are you talking about? Do you people just make this stuff up. A couple of freaks from "Code Pink" which is a group of crazy disgusting women. The only thing the Catholic Democrats are know for here is so called catholics that are for abortion and generate money to spread abortion all over the world. Why don't you people educate yourselves instead of making yourselves look so ignorant, it's embarassing!

• Robbie69 | Aug 14, 2012, 12:20 AM EDT

  Hey, Ed.Shevlin, if Paul Ryan should be elected as Vice President, I hope you are rich enough to give up your Medicare and Social Security. And if you are so rich and high-minded, why don't you share a little of that cash with us poor people, who work as much as we can, despite the poor economy. When I was growing up in the 50s and 60s, one of my uncles said that the problem with the USA can all be solved if we could get rid of the unions. Now we have practically no unions and our standard of living for the average American is way down from when my Dad retired in just 1979. When he retired, people got a pension and full medical coverage. Now they don't get either. More than 60 percent of the people in my state are without any benefits at all, including no pension, no medical benefits, no paid holidays or vacation. Paul Ryan is not in the fine Catholic tradition of Irish Catholics. He is "upper crust," and he would make this country into one of 1% millionaires and the remaining 99% into peasants. If that is what he wants, why doesn't he just move to some Latin American country like Mexico where that is almost a reality. I have a degree in Economics, and I predict that a Romney presidency will bring in the Second Great Depression within two years, by 2015.

• Ed.Shevlin | Aug 13, 2012, 11:35 PM EDT

  I grew up in a family involved in Democrat politics of the 1920s through the 1950s when the far Left and the Hollywood libertines began to heavily influence and effectively control the party. The Democratic Party of today holds to many policies that are generally antithetical to Christian morality and fundamental ethical standards of good government and society. In these pages I read comments of too many fellow Irishmen who in good conscience think the Party still represents those cherished values of earlier days. Wake up, Boyos! Neither party is the grail of all virtue; but what I read is a paucity of deep objective thinking and analysis ... Too many muddle-minded mutton heads who let emotion cloud their logic and partisanship color their opinion. For most of my 80 years I've seen some of the unions evolve from protectors to exploiters and the general philosophy of the Democratic Party become the old Roman version of "Give them bread and circuses." In effect, keep the plebeans down on the government plantation and buy their votes with outrageous, unrealistic promises that rarely raises the poor from a morass of crime, illegitimacy, ignorance and dependence. The "Big Lie" repeated often enough and loudly enough starts to permeate the consciousness of the simple minded who still believe in "The Emperor's New Clothes". However, thank you to the perhaps one out of ten who submit well reasoned comments, whether pro or con, regarding the current political shenanigans here in the USA as well as on other issues. On the whole the editorial theme of IC tends to be liberal oriented rubbish, rabble-babble, double talk and nonsense!

• warlocks | Aug 13, 2012, 11:05 PM EDT

  well i don't support the Catholic Church any longer Its not the Church created by Jesus . the church Drifted away from Jesus Teachings and has become a greedy Money making business.the church should mind its own business. and stamp out the Corruption within its walls. let them weed out the Pedophiles in their ranks & the politics . The church is no longer the word of God it's become the word of mortal Men !

• hancock | Aug 13, 2012, 10:47 PM EDT

  Americans , Irish or otherwise, will vote their American conscience. Left or right, and all you Irish, English and Australians should mind your own damn business, like you tell us all the time.

• JimmyJK | Aug 13, 2012, 09:52 PM EDT

  seanomelb - You said it..... How can we, as Irish Americans, turn against the Long standing belief in social justice and fair play? How many Irish Catholics in America get Hung up on the abortion issue when they support the death penalty? How many Irish Catholics in America get Hung up on the abortion issue when the say Very little on the abuse of Pedophile abusing priests?? How many Irish Catholics are either ignorant or unintelligent when they do not want to address the Horrible abuses by wall street and the financial sector?? Hypocrites.... There is nothing worse in Irish culture than to be a hypocrite, have a big head and be labeled a traitor. This is what many Irish Catholics in America have become.... I have hope .... we can change and become better more caring people.....

• allentown | Aug 13, 2012, 09:30 PM EDT

  Since the Irish American Catholics are big believers in Bill Clinton, do they also indulge in a Bill Clinton favorite and that being a good Cuban cigar coated with a little Sugarbush? Don't knock it until you try it.

• Eschetic | Aug 13, 2012, 09:24 PM EDT

  Irish or Catholic, the one thing the Democrats, Independents and rational Republicans must do is completely and accurately report loud and often the true details of Ryan's proposals and Congressional voting record (including his minority position on pretending that a first trimester zygote - before the ganglia of the brain start to come together - the Catholic Church USED to call this "the quickening" and the beginning of life) is full human life. The rabid Right will call factual reporting "mud slinging" (they call lies about "liberals" "free speech" - you'll note that Ryan STARTED his campaign with a genuine whopper in his very first speech: the Party Line that Obama's carefully negotiated "Romney-Care" health care reform which preserves the role of private insurance companies somehow "took over" health care!), but a fair election with accurate information and a large turn out will guarantee the RE-election of the best President since Eisenhower.

• Nicoletta | Aug 13, 2012, 08:46 PM EDT

  Paul Ryan represents true traditional Irish Catholic values - he's against the murder of unborn children.

• bonjouryall | Aug 13, 2012, 08:18 PM EDT

  seanomelb, So what about the millions who voted for Obama because he's black? Liberals seem to find racial discrimination by their allies, such as the black population, perfectly acceptable. Last I heard, the Church is against 'racism'. What about Obama's past affiliation with the Chicago church that the national news media even admitted was "ethno-centric" (i.e. bigoted). Obama publicly supported the professor in the NE who was arrested as well as the young man in Florida before he realized there is an opposite side to both matters. And neither are federal issues anyway. We need a president who will represent ALL the people-not just the dark skinned ones!

• travelmpq | Aug 13, 2012, 08:15 PM EDT

  So the "Irish American Democrats" whose moral high ground includes having given the party over to pro-abortion and anti-family radicals, would have us believe that the Catholic hierarchy would prefer a pro-abortion Vice President? I don't think so.

• lahern | Aug 13, 2012, 08:14 PM EDT

  Funny, in one breath they complain about Ryan not representing Irish Catholic values and the next it's noted they're especially close to the Clinton's! Now there's a great example of moral fortitude, the CLINTON"S !??!

• King55 | Aug 13, 2012, 08:13 PM EDT

  OB Piper - when the hell was the RCC ever anti-Irish Catholic? I mean, COME ON! If anything they often championed the Irish above other Catholics.

• aloistmartin | Aug 13, 2012, 07:01 PM EDT

  If Juan Carlos can be a Catholic, so can Paul Ryan !

• seanomelb | Aug 13, 2012, 06:55 PM EDT

  Ryan is typical of 2nd or 3rd generation Catholic Irish Americans. They abandon their Catholics social justice past for the mighty dollar. Ryan is a child o the racist teaparty.

• OBPiper | Aug 13, 2012, 06:51 PM EDT

  "Things are never as they seem." I was raised Irish Catholic in a road contracting family as was Paul Ryan. Many of my views are more to the Democrats' liking, but no political party speaks for Catholics, the Democrats of old used to be in bed with the anti-Catholic KKK, the Republicans used to be in league with Quakers, and the Roman Catholic Church has long been rapidly anti-Irish Catholic (I woke up to that reality when I was 5 years old). Obama has been a fraud and failure. Romney seems be a fraud too on outsourcing. So, let Ryan have his day in the sun and the others under the magnifying glass in the sun.

• jamieLM | Aug 13, 2012, 06:12 PM EDT

  Everyone should do their own research on the records and policies of all the candidates. Blow off those obnoxious TV political ads that are full of lies, distortions, and half truths. It's not what the candidates say, or what their opponents say about them, but what they've actually done that matters. It's no one's business who each of us chooses to vote for in Nov. I don't need anyone on IC to tell me who to vote for and neither do any of you. None of us are going to change our minds just because we read negative crap on IC about Obama-Biden or Romney-Ryan. I don't care what any columnist or poster on IC thinks about any of the candidates. I can make up my own mind and vote for the ticket of my choice without IC's slanted views and opinions, for or against, any candidate. Whatever the outcome of the election, I'll deal with it and whoever is elected or re-elected, good luck because being POTUS is one thankless job.

• MERV999 | Aug 13, 2012, 06:05 PM EDT

  The Republican Party of Lincoln's time was a completely different entity than the Republican Party of today: Republican in name only. Study your history, indeed! As for the rest of the nonsense I'm reading here...reality checks all around, bartender!

• mairint | Aug 13, 2012, 06:04 PM EDT

  THE JOKE OF THE DAY! THANK YOU. SINCE WHEN DID DEMOCRATS BECOME CATHOLICS? RECENT DEMS HAVE BEEN ANTI-CATHOLIC IN THEIR VOTING RECORDS. PRO-ABORT THE BABY CROWD, HOMOSEXUAL RIGHTS TO DOMINATE, SCANDAL OF RECEIVING HOLY EUCHARIST WHILE SUPPORTING ABORTION - I COULD GO ON ...

• edmundburke | Aug 13, 2012, 05:58 PM EDT

  How funny that the Catholic "Irish American Democrats" are strongly embracing the pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage descendent of Anglo-Irish members of the Church of Ireland (Anglican communion) Barack Obama while sputtering with frenzy attacks against genuine Irish Catholic Paul Ryan.

• torbreezy | Aug 13, 2012, 05:44 PM EDT

  What a pathetic piece of trash . . .

• Donegal6 | Aug 13, 2012, 05:40 PM EDT

  What a bunch of twits. They have no clue how he was brought up. What are we freeking clones. And of course everyone of those critics is giving away all their worldly possessions and following in the foots steps of Our Lord and Savior. HYPOCRITES one and all. Partisan drivel at it's worst. Go Ryan! God helps those that help themselves doesn't mean help themselves to my money!! Cut waste, fraud abuse. Create confidence in the future and the billions that people are holding will be let loose. No one wants to invest in Obama's Socialist States of America. Create jobs or have global economic staganation or worse. You Can not force billionaires to invest. They don't have to, and until you create an environment enticing enough, like it or not, that money will sit. It's a fact of life stop living in fantasyland.

• shop tom | Aug 13, 2012, 05:17 PM EDT

  Coming from the party that has no problem with killing of millions of innocents in the womb, this baloney rings very, very hollow.

• cillowen | Aug 13, 2012, 05:17 PM EDT

  would jesus have done what Romney and his Ryan hope are doing and plan doing. They will ill serve our cause but will do wonders for famously touted friend and as likewise obamar is doing.

• Los Leandros | Aug 13, 2012, 04:22 PM EDT

  I did'nt know anything about Paul Ryan until reading up on his background etc. on wiki. All I can say is what a decent, honourable intelligent man he seems. Listening to Irish radio yesterday I was disgusted by the vile, offensive, personalised nature of the attacks on his character. It seems that " liberals " both in Ireland & the US have a hatred of decency wherever they find it. Could the underlying hatred be Paul Ryan's opposition to abortion - the holy grail for the Democratic party, it seems !.

• edmundburke | Aug 13, 2012, 04:18 PM EDT

  To Stella O'Leary and other apparatchiks of the IAD: get back to the library and bone up on your history! I read your proclamation and I didn't know when to stop laughing. Many commenters here have put you right-- promoting abortion, gay rights, and socialism doesn't promote the aspirations of the "Irish" or of "Catholics". As to your fractured history, the Irish immigrants weren't putting much faith in public education, otherwise they wouldn't have spent millions of dollars and put thousands into the teaching orders to build up one of the most successful private educational systems in the world - the Catholic schools of America. Indeed, they were built because there was little faith in "public education". Moreover, the great strides made by the Irish in American society from 1860 to 1932, and they were awesome, were made under Republican administrations. Indeed, it was Lincoln himself who said before 1861 that the Irish constituted a new element in our society who saw value in America and its constitutional system. It is no surprise, therefore, that the Republican Party has enough Irish supporters to match those in the Democratic Party. Paul Ryan is preceded by the likes of Hannity, O'Reilly, Buchanan, Buckley, Henry Hyde, etc (I could go on) and the greatest of them all, Ronald Reagan. Spare us your propaganda, Ms. O'Leary, and get used to the fact that most Irish have put off the ghetto mentality you are trying to resurrect and that Irish Catholics find a compatible, welcome home in the Republican Party.

• plstg67 | Aug 13, 2012, 04:05 PM EDT

  And what exactly has pres.obama done to help the Irish people.It is because o him that all of America is in such a poor way.What has he done for the over 23 million people still w/o jobs or any real hope for a secure future.Think about that one.

• EphraimKibbey | Aug 13, 2012, 03:40 PM EDT

  @BrianO - BUT HE'S NOT!!!! He has been doing all that he can as President to pull America back from the cliff the last administration drove us over. Since he is not a "dictator" as some see him, he has been fought tooth and nail by the "make him a one term President" GOP all the way. Had they not filibustered his solutions, the country would be doing much better, but that would have hurt their political asperations. UNAMERICAN activities are ones that put personal gain before what is good for the country and I think that perfectly fits what the GOP has done for all of Obama's Presidency. Cutting regulation and giving massive tax breaks under BUSH/CHENEY did nothing to stimulate the economy and instead lead to the GREAT RECESSION. One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. What ever you think of Bush/Cheney, they at least put the LIE to Voodoo Economics. The sooner we return to tax and spend for the good of America, the sooner we will move out of the recession caused by Bush/Cheney's spend wildly but don't tax for the good of the 1% policies. It just amazes me that otherwise reasonable people dogmatically cling to policies that have been proven not to work just to justify support for their party.

• EphraimKibbey | Aug 13, 2012, 03:15 PM EDT

  @patrickesq - Reading the comments before yours, I too was all set to say what you wrote so eloquently - Thanks! Because our social safety net represents the values of so large a segment of the American people, whether based upon religious beliefs or upon logic, it is definitely fair game when discussing a candidate's qualifications for President. The fact that the Bishops condemned Ryan's budget as having no soul, is simply one view point that adds to the evidence for Ryan's TRUE values. Another group giving similar testimony is the Nuns' association that felt so strongly that its members are touring the country by bus to spread the word about the assault on the safety net by the GOP. That these two groups are both Roman Catholic is interesting given the church's alliance with the GOP on other issues but it is not a point of view unique to them. If one looks on the web sites of other American secular and religious groups, (PCUSA for one) one finds exactly the same message to their members. Actually the Romney/Ryan point of view that the safety net is the problem with our economy is held by only a few very vocal people. Even the members of the Tea Party, while calling for smaller government, say "keep your hands off my Social Security." The GOP's attacks on the safety net and the voting rights of minorities, students, the elderly and the poor are surprisingly UNAMERICAN given the GOP's proud traditions of support! It is amazing what GREED will do. The Eisenhower tax rates would solve our financial problems while sparing the poor from further sacrifice.

• BrianO | Aug 13, 2012, 02:37 PM EDT

  perhaps instead of trying to start a fight Irish central could write an article about how the prince of moneygall is destroying the American economy which in turn hurts the Irish economy.

• Jaypeet0 | Aug 13, 2012, 02:31 PM EDT

  Yeah, they attacked Paul Ryan? In a slashing bitter attack? Yeah? Well, When and only when, they launch a bitter and slashing attack on the Catholic Apostate politicians who vote proAbortion, do they have any right to say anything at all about Paul Ryan. I myself am poor-to-middle class, and I am not buying their pro-Socialist rhetoric, masked as catholic social justice concern, at all. Voucher systems do not necessarily, at all, remove protections for needy people. And these programs, good as they are meant to be in some cases, are overseen by HUGE bureaucracies that cost 3 to 4 time or more the money that is used by them for "the poor and needy and elderly and undereducated." And SINCE President Carter, in a payoff to the teachers unions, created the Department of Education, our nation's education quality and test scores have gone straight down the toilet. We have to support the poor and needy and we dare not refuse to, but huge expensive bureaucracies are not "required" to maintain Catholic social teaching. They waste tons of your taxpayer money. Another example of this waste, this time in the PRIVATE charity sphere, was the charity known as FEED THE CHILDREN. I used to give them significant donations ALL THE TIME, then I learned through reliable charity watchdogs, that this charity was spending 67 CENTS of EVERY DOLLAR donated to it, on ADVERTISING. Plus it gave nearly a MILLION DOLLARS (meant by us to FEED the hungry CHILDREN) to the founder's SON to start a business as a loan. Unbelievable. Support FEEDING AMERICA instead. It's website is http://www.feedingamerica.org and they ARE reliable. Every $10 you donate buys a whopping 90 POUNDS of food for hungry and needy and unemployed people.

• wmbyrnes | Aug 13, 2012, 02:19 PM EDT

  Poor Sheila, either she has taken a few too many nips of 'the spirits' or was dropped on her head as a child...or both! To suggest this statement - "IAD’s chairman Stella O’Leary stated that, “The Irish owe their success in this country to the fairness and justice provided by the American system and the protection from religious discrimination provided by the Catholic Church, the Democratic Party and the Labor Movement"!! I believe that the core of our success in this country is due to our unstoppable spirit, strength of character, hard work and determination to prevail any hardship, not to the democratic party or the labor movement. And, as long as Sheila is attributing Paul Ryan's alleged slight to the Catholic Church, where is her outrage that the Obama administration & Kathleen Sebelius have decided to throw out the 1st portion of the First Amendment to the US Constitution with their directive forcing Catholic universities, hospitals, etc. to provide (and pay for) birth control and abortion pills. The policies and ideology of the Obama administration...and the left-wingers of the Democratic party, continue in their efforts to create economic slavery for tens of millions of people in this country. How well did that work out for us for several hundred years after Oliver Cromwell and the policies of England controlled our lives?

• Tom Mo | Aug 13, 2012, 02:15 PM EDT

  The IAD is a Political Action Committee providing support to democratic candidates who promote peace, justice and prosperity IN IRELAND. The IAD does not represent this Irishman IN AMERICA.

• Rebelforce | Aug 13, 2012, 02:12 PM EDT

  I don't know enough about the Ryan budget to comment, but could there possibly be a worse betrayal of Irish Catholic values than supporting the deliberate killing of a child in the womb?

• staker42 | Aug 13, 2012, 01:43 PM EDT

  I doubt the catholic church has much standing anymore so what the catholic bishops say or think does not matter. As for the IAD thankfully they don't represent any Irish or Irish Americans that I know.

• patrickesq | Aug 13, 2012, 01:42 PM EDT

  All the shrill, negative comments made in response to this, and any other article about religion, and, or politics, reminds me of the comment Adlai Stevenson made to a heckler who repeatedly asked Stevenson to state His beliefs. His reply to the heckler would be equally applicable to your commentators who seem to lack the ability to say anything rational or objective to justify their attacks on anyone and anything that does not agree with their perceptions: "I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignorance." Moral values are not unique to the Catholic Church. They are intrinsic to all major religions and humanitarian beliefs. A just and compassionate society is a fundamental value that is encompassed in the Preamble to the US.Constitution. Christ said it quite simply: Love your neighbor as yourself. The identity of our neighbor was quite broadly defined in the parable of the good Samaritan. Amen.

• joan1954 | Aug 13, 2012, 01:14 PM EDT

  Frankly as much as I am a conservative, I am tired of the mudslinging by both sides. The more this goes on the less people will listen.

• glorybe1929 | Aug 13, 2012, 01:03 PM EDT

  Our Lord has not taken our "free will" from us. Why does the Catholic Church have to force feed its people? We are adults that raise our children with the morals of Christ. Why doesn't the rcc practice what God practices? Freedom in HIM ? The world will never be perfect. The people, whether Christian or what ever, try daily, I'm sure, to ive proper lives and take their consequences when they fail.Pathetic reasoning for an intelligent people!

• lokionline | Aug 13, 2012, 01:02 PM EDT

  Paul Ryan may be a Catholic but his philosophy, as he has told us, was formed by Ayn Rand. It would be useful for all concerned to review what Ayn Rand was promoting in 'The Fountainhead' and 'Atlas Shrugged'.

• Mayolady | Aug 13, 2012, 12:58 PM EDT

  This nation was founded on not only the principles of freedom but on providing for the general welfare. Paul Ryan wants to cut all programs that relate to the safety net which we all need. Without OBams' health care plan, you can't get affordable insurance or be accepted unless in perfect health. His vouchers are a joke--you can't buy insurance with those because it is not nearly enough! The Catholic Church is not represented by the most vocal bishops alone. There are other bishops who are now speaking out who do not agree with their stance. I found in the Bible where some church leaders say contraception is forbidden. It is in the old testiment about Jewish law that said a man had to sleep with his brother's widow.Good Grief. The Health Care under Obama does NOT make Catholics pay for abortions! That is a lie. Examine this law. The Paul Ryan plan IS against the golden rule ---It gives and preserves the existing tax breaks to the rich and cuts the budget to hit the middle class --and the working poor. But we has Catholics are not supposed to care? You can call yourself a Catholic but not a Christiam with those attitudes.

• Mayolady | Aug 13, 2012, 12:43 PM EDT

  These comments below are ridiculous. Do they want to live in an oloigarchy where the middle class dies and the 1% rules? Are they thinking they too will be there soon or what? Dream on. We ALL need a safety net. Inequality in the US has never been this bad since the Gilded Age of the 1890's. The Declaration of Independence and the design of our government is not only to prewerve liberties but to promote the GENERAL welfare. Paul Ryan has never had a job other than a government job. His program will cut our budget in ways that harm education, even reducing college loans, give vouchers for medicate so low you can't buy insurance, and do away with social security. You go to his website and read his budget for yourself. Children will suffer. The middle Class will suffer. The Catholic bishops want to "protect life" by doing away with contraception and abortion, but once the babies are here and alive, they will throw them under the bus. Poverty among children is rising dramatically but they don't care. They seem to be steering us toward the Republicans and their programs on this idea of an attack on Religious freedom. The Bishops are the ones on the attack--to thinking American Catholics, the nuns, and more.

• sraleigh | Aug 13, 2012, 12:43 PM EDT

  I am delighted that 90% plus of the comments refute the premise that most Irish Americans are Democrats. I live in the Liberal Heartland of Madison WI. When I arrived here 20 years ago people could not understand why an Irish American Catholic was not a Democrat, my response was always that Ted Kennedy did not represent my values and principles . Even more so now the Democratic Party represents unions/trial lawyers and vocal minority viewpoints. Yesterday I learned that John F Kennedy was the President who signed into law a bill allowing unionization of federal workers . For someone that strongly supported Scott Walker here in Wisconsin this was a big no no. Paul Ryan represents the best traditions of his forebearers and will make an excellent Vice President and future President

• piusx | Aug 13, 2012, 12:41 PM EDT

  Memo to the IAD and to all Catholics: "Those who hold the reins of government should not forget that it is the duty of public authority by appropriate laws and sanctions to defend the lives of the innocent, and this all the more so since those whose lives are endangered and assailed cannot defend themselves. Among whom we must mention in the first place infants hidden in the mother's womb. And if the public magistrates not only do not defend them, but by their laws and ordinances betray them to death at the hands of doctors or of others, let them remember that God is the Judge and Avenger of innocent blood which cried from earth to Heaven." (Pope Pius XI, Casti Connubii, December 31, 1930.)

• mecostigan | Aug 13, 2012, 12:39 PM EDT

  Where does the IAD stand on the direct attacks by the Obama administration on the beliefs of the Catholic Church? Where do they stand on those Irish American politicians who support abortion? Politics over ones religious values, very unseemly.

• jerrydonovan | Aug 13, 2012, 12:37 PM EDT

  I do not believe that Ryan was picked for his catholic views.Other than his support for right to life{which I also do}congressman Ryan is completely at odds with Catholic social principles.For those who are not familiar with the basis of Catholic social doctrine,I would suggest a reading of the great papal encyclical,Rerum Novarum{Leo 13th]would be educational.

• harp579 | Aug 13, 2012, 12:34 PM EDT

  with apologies to any readers of german or english ancestry, his wiki entry says, . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "[Paul Davis] Ryan was born and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin, the youngest child of Elizabeth A. "Betty" (née Hutter) and Paul Murray Ryan, a lawyer.[6][7][8] He is a fifth generation Wisconsinite.[6][9] His father was of Irish ancestry and his mother is of German and some English descent, according to the Freepages website at Ancestry.com.[10].....................................................................................................http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ryan#cite_note-ancestry-9

• PhlutiePhan | Aug 13, 2012, 12:25 PM EDT

  As an Irish American independent and military veteran, I am open minded about Paul Ryan. The Irish American Democrats are pro gay marriage, pro unlimited abortion, and world marxist socialists just like their "daddy". How is that supportive of Catholic principles? There is no doubt of the movement to merge church and state, the same in Gerry Adams Ireland, under the beliefs of both Lenin and de Chardin. Ryan is a capitalist Catholic. That is what the radical Irish Catholic Democrats do not like. The idea is to destroy the doctrinal efforts of the Catholic Church in the name of social justice or world socialism. Malachi Brendan Martin wrote all about it in his books on politics in the Vatican. The infiltration news of the Vatican within the last two days is only the tip of the iceberg according to the Irish seer.

• 71regiment | Aug 13, 2012, 12:21 PM EDT

  Where was the Irish American Democrats when Obama wants the Catholic Insititutions to pay for their employees birth control, abortions and the like which is against Catholic principles. As since when is Joe Biden a staunch supporter of all the rest of Catholic principles, check out his stance on them. Where would the Catholic Church be with out all the support it receives from the American public. Yes it has had its problems and it is finally doing some thing about it. But with out capitalism all churches in America would be hard put to support all the poor and sick people that they do. If you also read about Ryans thoughts on reforming the ever costly Medicare,and the like, it needs to be reformed just as our tax code needs to be reforemed, as well as having a balanced budget. No American family could survie if it ran itself the wasy our federal governments does. The current admistration is on a runaway train of spending money we do not have. And Obama care is just around the corner.

• katiemac | Aug 13, 2012, 12:17 PM EDT

  Many Irish-Americans, like myself, whose family's traditionally voted Democratic, have migrated away from the party specifically because the party no longer represents the moral values that are so much a part of Irish-American culture.

• handsome68 | Aug 13, 2012, 12:11 PM EDT

  I like what Rachelgaffney said, and second that e-motion. The liberal omadhauns at the (IAD) seem to be the new No-Nothing Party. Am not certain, but they might have the Stockholm syndrome.

• handsome68 | Aug 13, 2012, 12:10 PM EDT

  I like what Rachelgaffney said below, and second that e-motion. The liberal omadhauns at the (IAD) seem to be the new No-Nothing Party. Am not certain, but they might have the Stockholm syndrome.

• Springfield9 | Aug 13, 2012, 12:06 PM EDT

  First, they scream "someone is bringing HIS religion to our government". Next they sream he is not. Ryan should keep his religion to himself and the IAC should shut their ignorant mouths.

• JimmyJK | Aug 13, 2012, 11:57 AM EDT

  http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Paul_Ryan.htm/ Go to above on his voting record... It is shocking!

• CitizenWhy | Aug 13, 2012, 11:50 AM EDT

  prefer to keep religion, left or right, out of politics. As for "Catholic" principles they can be twisted one way or the other. Ryan represents the ultra-conservative Acton Society (Catholic), an advocate of laissez-faire capitalism. It has been very instrumental in converting many Evangelical preachers and some Catholic bishops to laissez-faire capitalism (they call it liberty).

• BGAndersson | Aug 13, 2012, 11:49 AM EDT

  You guys are such schills for left-wing Democrats. Gee, it's politics, I can't imagine Democrats bitterly attacking the Republicans.... or visa-versa. But I do know this: you will NEVER be objective. EVER.

• crny925 | Aug 13, 2012, 11:42 AM EDT

  Is this a joke or what???? Democrats questioning Paul Ryan's Catholic Principles? This is just pathetic... They are the biggest bunch of hypocrites!!!!! If Satan ever laughs, it must be at hypocrites; they are the greatest dupes he has; they serve him better than any others, and receive no wages.

• pilib04 | Aug 13, 2012, 11:40 AM EDT

  This is all just cover so Romney can hide the fact that he paid no taxes for ten years while "earning" millions.

• pilib04 | Aug 13, 2012, 11:37 AM EDT

  Susan, I believe they are magic boxerbriefs.

• pilib04 | Aug 13, 2012, 11:35 AM EDT

  I suppose since Romney raised the religious question (he is one of the Good Angels - Romney speaking of Ryan)then it's ok for others to point out religious error. However, I personally don't like religion involved in politics. There is something unsettling about quoting "men" who hide pedophiles and at the same time try to silence nuns. The American bishops still have a long way to go before they have any moral creds whatsoever. Bishops paying pedophile priests thousands of dollars do not have any moral highground not matter what politician they are attacking.

• bob40wil | Aug 13, 2012, 11:24 AM EDT

  Irish American Catholics, please give me a break, your Church has it's own moral problems, keep your religion out of politics.

• Porickseantuny | Aug 13, 2012, 11:23 AM EDT

  Anyone throwing biblical references must acknowledge the second letter to the Thessalonians. I one will not work he should not eat.

• JoeRoan | Aug 13, 2012, 11:14 AM EDT

  Democrats have spent the last decade demonizing religion, Catholics and other Christians, in particular. To have them now step up and say that Paul Ryan is not following his Catholic teachings, is laughable. To have a group which is closely tied to the Clintons is equally so. Joe Biden, while being a good guy, is hardly the poster boy for the Catholic Church. Carrying rosary beads doesn't make you a good Catholic any more than carrying a gun makes you a Marine. Having the Democrat party give instructions on how to be a good Christian is like asking a vegetarian how to cook a roast. The Romney/Ryan team knows that making changes in the medicare and other areas of spending, is NEEDED. It MUST be done. To do nothing, as the Obama/Biden team has done, is putting us into a deeper ditch. It is time to let the adults in the room take over and get America back on the right track.

• FastEddy | Aug 13, 2012, 11:05 AM EDT

  fierce ... Mmmm. Is it over yet?

• Skibberrean | Aug 13, 2012, 11:03 AM EDT

  This is such an ignorant article. The Democrats will say, do anything, lie, and completely ramrod truths. The Marxist in the White House and all his little Marxist soldiers need to go. I am so tired of Irish Central stirring the pot like the Dems with propagandist garbage. We need to save our Republic at any cost.........plain and simple!

• susan724 | Aug 13, 2012, 11:02 AM EDT

  Ryan just sealed the deal for Obama. Of course narcissist Romney would pick someone who is in hi image - Ryan even looks like Romney did a few years ago! Romneyhood - steal from the poor and pay for the rich. Ryan's March budget proposal does just that. No Catholic charity here, only Mormonism "magic panties" (LOL) !

• GabrlOSullivan | Aug 13, 2012, 10:57 AM EDT

  Excuse me, BUT "Catholic Bishops felt compelled to send a letter to Congress saying the Ryan budget failed to meet the moral criteria of the Church," AND Obama is meeting those needs? HOW? I never knew there was such a group called the IAD, but we are to think they have a lot of power and say because Mr. O'Shea thinks go? Since when? Never heard of them. The Irish Catholics in America are more liberal in my view and more in tune with what suits their country and lifestyle, as they should be. If memory serves, Mr. Obama's pro-abortion, pro-gay, anti-Catholic agenda should be a wake up call to all Catholic Democrats that something be amiss with Mr. O, because what he proposes does not fit the Catholic viewpoint it goes against it. I was under the impression that Irish American Catholics had adjusted their views to a more liberal Catholicism in the U.S., but I didn't think they had gone THAT far...YET.

• Rachelgaffney | Aug 13, 2012, 10:55 AM EDT

  Thank GOD he does NOT represent the catholic traditions I was raised with... The new catholic has begun to learn that we can in fact..'think for ourselves' and make inforemd decisions...not be ruled by fear and brutality.. he has my vote!

• racallahan | Aug 13, 2012, 10:54 AM EDT

  worse than Biden or anyone named Kennedy....once Catholics get into power, they pretty much do whatever they want.

• weeknocky | Aug 13, 2012, 10:52 AM EDT

  Key word is Democrats!

• Portia777 | Aug 13, 2012, 10:49 AM EDT

  Sarge524 It's time for a national discussion on the run away debt, lets not bring the church into it too. It just muddies the waters." You best research on the Vatican and money then and see how they fit together.

• Portia777 | Aug 13, 2012, 10:46 AM EDT

  what principles? child rape, torture,all male hierarchy, fraud, failure to help the poor, theft, murder, etc. etc?

• cheesesteak | Aug 13, 2012, 10:46 AM EDT

  That's funny - I heard that the Irish American Republicans think Ryan is the greatest thing since sliced cheese. This has nothing to do with Irish or not Irish / Catholic or not Catholic. This has to do with small minded tribalism and our guy versus your guy. The IAD is pedantic, predictable and boring - take any topic and you already know their opinion.

• RonSarson | Aug 13, 2012, 10:45 AM EDT

  This is perhaps the stupidest article of the year. To knock Ryan for trying to save the country from a financial meltdown by some obscure shortcoming on Irish Catholicism is ridiculous. This is especially the case when the opposition party is totally hostile to all religions except Islam, favoring birth control, abortions, forcing Christians to participate in activities that are against their religious beliefs, etc.. Let's only publish more adult articles instead of pure bull.....

• JimmyJK | Aug 13, 2012, 10:34 AM EDT

  Paul Ryan dumped his stocks in 2008 AFTER talking to Goldman Sachs, then he picked up Goldman Sach's stock. Newt Gingrich called his budget right wing social engineering...that was from Newt Gingrich! Paul Ryan on climate change " snow is proof that climate change is not real " (look this up) Paul Ryan Voted To Eliminate EPA Limits On Greenhouse Pollution. Paul Ryan voted against embryionic research. Paul Ryan Budget Kept Big Oil Subsidies And Slashed Clean Energy Investment Paul Ryan voted against habitat for endangered species Voted YES on making the PATRIOT Act permanent Voted NO on letting shareholders vote on executive compensation Voted NO on funding for alternative sentencing instead of more prisons Voted NO on $84 million in grants for Black and Hispanic colleges Rated 8% by the NEA, indicating anti-public education votes Voted YES on barring EPA from regulating greenhouse gases Voted NO on $9.7B for Amtrak improvements and operation thru 2013 Voted YES on decreasing gun waiting period from 3 days to 1 Take a Look for yourself -- Wow - http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Paul_Ryan.htm/

• BippyBellito | Aug 13, 2012, 10:14 AM EDT

  What hypocrites these Democrat "Catholics" are!!!! They instead support a man, Obama, who advocates for the worst form of birth control ever introduced to "sophisticated" society, partial birth abortion and now, out of womb abortions. Sorry, guys, it ain't flying. Ryan is a much more honorable man than those who are now criticizing him, including the "shanty Irishman, Joe Biden who is anything but.... Biden has never held a real job (his words) in his life! Another fraud in an administration full of Frauds.

• mikehoulihan | Aug 13, 2012, 10:12 AM EDT

  More lies from the Niall O'Dowd propaganda machine! Any group "especially close" with the Clintons cannot call itself Catholic. This is just another attempt to smear the opposition and distract from Obama's disastrous record.

• Will Hamilton | Aug 13, 2012, 10:09 AM EDT

  Saying he doesn't have the Catholic "values" he was raised with is like saying he'd gotten over a mental disability. If the Catholic bishops are so worried about the poor their organisation might start paying tax like everybody else. Maybe they could begin by paying the innumerable people they've raped, tortured and abused.

• IowaMike | Aug 13, 2012, 10:06 AM EDT

  Don't look now Mr. O'Shea but your liberal political slip is showing. Good grief.......you hammer Ryan on his budget while the Democracts haven't produced a budget in over 3 years....Obama and Biden are in the pocket of Planned Parenthood. If you aren't embarrassed by this piece you should be.

• Madeliene | Aug 13, 2012, 10:05 AM EDT

  After reading"Irish American "Democrart Group" there is nothing left to say. Real Americans sur do not bleieve that obama , the muslim is helping keep Catholic Values, do they? NO We want Our Country restored to Americans tha tbelieve in The Bill of Rights, The Constitution, NOBAMA 2012. If we wanted a Police State or a despot, or a KING we would never have formed America in the first place!Romney/ Ryan 2112,-2020!

• JohnnyCuredents | Aug 13, 2012, 10:03 AM EDT

  This gang of secularist fanatics is Catholic? Who the hell do you clowns think you're kidding? Ryan may have many failings, but this bunch of faux "Catholics" is in absolutely no position to criticize him for any lack of religious conscience! Stop trying to manufacture news.

• jamthecat | Aug 13, 2012, 10:00 AM EDT

  Paul Ryan is a Randian, not a Christian. The Catholic stuff is just the suit he wears when he's picking your pocket and kicking grandma in the shins, which he woulnd't have to do if you people were rich but since it's your own fault you're not, there's nothing he can do about treating you poorly. So please keep supporting him, een though it's to your own detriment.

• johnshiel | Aug 13, 2012, 09:52 AM EDT

  Little Alice (of Wonderland fame) would feel ever so much at home with this discussion...

• rgray222 | Aug 13, 2012, 09:44 AM EDT

  The Democrats and even the IAD, especially the Clinton group spend a great deal of time trying to tear down religion. The want to remove religion from every aspect of peoples lives and you make them sound like a bunch of Saints. These people are not anti catholic, anti protestant or anti Jew, they are anti religion. It appears that you don't understand that people have awoken to how hard the media spins an article in their candidates favor with total disregard for reality. Look what is happening to time, Newsweek, NY times etc. It is not just the internet that spells their demise,people are finally seeing through the dribble they dish out to the public. Try some honest reporting, even if people don't agree with someones premise they will always respect the truth! Obama did the USA one large favor, when people saw how far the media would go for him they finally realized that honest reporting is a thing of the past! Wake up!

• Sarge524 | Aug 13, 2012, 09:41 AM EDT

  It's time for a national discussion on the run away debt, lets not bring the church into it too. It just muddies the waters.

• Sophium | Aug 13, 2012, 09:38 AM EDT

  Excuse me for a moment. What is this about Mr. Ryan and not being faithful to Catholic principles? Mr. Joe Biden's hypocrisy regarding abortion is egregious. Let the small-brained Irish Catholic Democrats go after that. In a recent article in a Cleveland newspaper, the esteemed Mr. Biden said that when the next republican accuses him of not being religious, he will shove his rosary beads down their throats. Sure....if he can find them.

• DCVietVet | Aug 13, 2012, 09:38 AM EDT

  So, the IAD has close ties to the pro-abortion Clintons????!!!! Enough said about this group!!!! I think they are all igorant as to the budget / spending process, and how to bring them under control. Oh, and by the way, IAD supports obummer, too???!!! You can all go to hell, as far as I'm concerned!!! FYI, I am an American, and Catholic, while my ancestors hail from Ireland, I am an American, through and through!!!!

• johhnyb | Aug 13, 2012, 09:27 AM EDT

  Congratulations Irish Central. You managed a complete about face on Ryan in 2 days. It must be his pro-life stance that swung it.

• TheOldPerfessor | Aug 13, 2012, 09:24 AM EDT

  It's simple. Spend more time reading the New Testament and less reading Ayn Rand or watching Flak's News. Then you will spend less time spreading hate.

• jflanagan | Aug 13, 2012, 09:23 AM EDT

  This group, if it has close ties to the Clintons, supports the charity hating VP Biden and the President who would have forced religious organizations provide abortions and medicines contrary to their beliefs must not be a very good representation of the Catholic religion. Just as the Government should not dictate religious policy, the religious should not dictate Government policy. Both can speak out to, in the case of Government, bring pressure on religious leaders and, in the case of religion, to strengthen morality. Also, they are running on Mitt Romney's budget plan not Paul Ryan's, so what's the problem?

• michaelidaho | Aug 13, 2012, 08:58 AM EDT

  The assertion that Ryan does not represent Irish Catholic values implies that the IAD's candidate (Obama) does. I do not know which is more pathetic - the weakness of the argument or the hypocrisy. Whatever your political persuasion, the facts are: Obama is pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and antagonistic to faith based organizations (e.g. anti-Catholic mandates to Catholic hospitals). These are clearly positions at odds with the Catholic church. The IAD would be more genuine if they simply argued that Ryan's budgetary positions were unfair to poor people and then provide details.

• Maggie47 | Aug 13, 2012, 08:16 AM EDT

  Stella, the poor, homeless all of us will be better off once we send Mr. Obama packing. We need a president who brings jobs back home. the last four years was a disaster. Lets not forget seperation of church and state, stop bringing with your religious nonsense it has no place in politics.