Note, fellow citizens. There is more to being an informed citizen than worrying about egg prices.
It should come as no surprise that many Trump supporters are learning two lessons that could plague them for years to come in the midst of the continued chaos and instability that Trump and his goon Elon Musk have unleashed on the nation:
Don’t desire for too much. Avoid voting on just one issue.
Both of these sayings must be on the minds of many conservative Christians who supported Trump on the basis of abortion alone, only to see the new administration demand that federal funds for church social service programs provided by nongovernmental organizations be frozen. This is especially true in light of the attack on government agencies and their very missions.
For example, Catholic Charities USA is a national organization that provides services to immigrant and migrant communities through 167 agencies. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is in charge of Catholic Charities’ operations. According to an audit conducted between 2014 and 2023, CCUSA received $797 million in government grant funds, which accounted for more than 90% of its operating income.
While some allies, such as Elon Musk and retired General Michael Flynn, referred to such federal grant support as money laundering and illegal, Trump announced in late January that he intended to reduce NGO support for refugees, despite the organization’s efforts to provide health care, nutrition, and other services to those in need.
Vice President J.D. Vance supported the criticism of the Catholic bishops’ support for refugees, claiming that money was the primary incentive for resettling migrants. New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan was upset with Vance because he was a recent convert to Catholicism. The cardinal, who has been friendly with Trump and sat next to him at the yearly Al Smith Catholic charity gala in October, then gave the invocation during the inauguration on January 20.
That was back then.
A few weeks later, Dolan’s smile has vanished due to budget freezes for immigration assistance, just as it has for a large portion of the Catholic hierarchy that backed Trump in their narrow-mindedness. Dolan described Vance’s vocabulary as vicious and scurrilous, among other word choices.
The Catholic bishops reacted to Vance’s use of the phrase “illegal immigrants” and questioned the validity of his opinions regarding the church’s work with refugees in a statement issued on January 26, just six days into the Trump administration.
With the establishment of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program by Congress in 1980, the U.S. bishops started working with the federal government to provide this service.
While outside of the United States, the federal government verifies and approves each individual relocated through USRAP. The USCCB obtains funding to carry out this work through our agreements with the government, but these funds are insufficient to pay for these initiatives in their entirety.
Because Catholic bishops recently overwhelmingly backed Republicans in a special election in August 2023 in the battle for reproductive freedom, which resulted in the defeat of Issue One that summer, Ohioans are particularly interested in the current attacks by the Trump administration on organizations that aid immigrants.
A ballot issue that would have made amending the Ohio constitution nearly impossible was funded by $900,000 from parish collection baskets contributed by Ohio’s Catholic bishops during that campaign. The measure needed 60% of the vote in all 88 counties to pass. In Issue One, a special election was called in the middle of the summer in an obvious attempt to prevent a reproductive rights amendment from being on the ballot that fall.
The ruse was unsuccessful.
In November 2023, 57% of Ohio voters approved a reproductive rights amendment, which is now a part of the state constitution, following their victory in Issue One in August. If Issue One, which came before it, had been adopted a few months earlier, the initiative would have failed.
Catholic bishops and other groups ought to have realized by now that Issue One is a prime illustration of the dangers of one-issue voting.
For a government to sow disarray among those organizations that feed the hungry, tend to the ill, and offer shelter to those in need is a moral transgression. Those who trusted Trump and were given a notice of layoff or other action that jeopardizes their livelihood are indeed being betrayed.
With the betrayal of the Catholic bishops and other organizations by the Trump administration and the failure of other elected Republicans to push back on the obscene measures that have wreaked havoc on so many Americans in the last three weeks, there is a lesson in being careful about what you wished for, encapsulated in that all-important single-issue that drove so many to the polls while ignoring another single-issue so important in our lives: personal character.
GET THE HEADLINES FOR THE MORNING.
OUR WORK IS MADE POSSIBLE BY YOU.
Eliot Pierce is a dedicated writer for ChiefsFocus.com, covering local crime and finance news. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, Eliot aims to provide his readers with clear and insightful analysis, helping them navigate the complexities of their financial lives while staying informed about important local events. His commitment to delivering accurate and engaging content makes him a valuable resource for the community.