Rep. Paul Ryan holds listening sessions in southeast Wisconsin

MOUNT PLEASANT -- You've heard Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan say we as a nation are in debt; we need to cut spending. But on Friday, May 4th at a listening session in Mount Pleasant, protesters were attacking him over religion.

Ryan's budget proposal is called "The Path to Prosperity." He's calling for restraint in federal spending.

"When we keep going down this path of spending more - which is all borrowed money - we're taking that money out of the private economy. We're saying we're gonna have to raise your taxes later to pay for this borrowed money," Ryan said.

Outside of the listening session, a group called Community for Change protested Ryan's appearance. They take issue with Ryan using his Catholic beliefs as a foundation for his political stance.

"He says he's very much influenced by his Catholic faith. I think he should really think about what Catholicism teaches and he should go read some of the New Testament and see what Jesus has to say about taking care of poor people, children and the elderly," Nikki Aiello, a Ryan protester said.

Ryan says it's not he, but rather the Obama administration, that is putting some groups of people before others.

"I don't think our government, let alone our president, should be speaking to people as if they're stuck in some station in life, fixed in some class and the government is here to help them cope with it," Ryan said.

Ryan says he is trying to uphold the Christian principal of looking out for the poor. He argues the problem is the Obama administration is encouraging people to rely on government aid. He says current programs should do more to get the unemployed back to work.

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