Ryan: It’s ‘wrong’ people live in poverty

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Wednesday portrayed poverty as a moral issue, saying the country has a “problem” when it comes to economic mobility.

“We have a problem of getting opportunity into the hands of the people who need it,” Ryan said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

{mosads}“The point is, it’s not good enough,” he added. “Let’s just agree that 45 million people living in poverty today is wrong, and we should do something about it.”

Ryan, the GOP’s vice presidential nominee in 2012, argued that ignoring poverty would run counter to some of the nation’s “core principals.”

“We believe in opportunity,” Ryan said. “We believe in upward mobility. We believe in redemption.

“And we believe in the American Idea, which is the condition of your birth doesn’t determine the outcome of your life,” he added.

Ryan, who is now chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee in the House, has put an emphasis on poverty since the 2012 presidential campaign, when his partner on the ticket, Mitt Romney, was hounded by accusations that he only cared about the wealthy. 

Ryan unveiled a sweeping anti-poverty proposal last year, and urged his fellow Congress members on Wednesday to focus on actions rather than ideas.

“Let’s make our efforts focused on actually getting people out of poverty, not by treating symptoms of poverty and making it more tolerable, but by breaking the cycle of poverty,” he said.