Bannon's War Room - WarRoom Battleground EP 968： US Catholic Bishops Should Be Fighting Dem Governors Far Harder Over Parental Choice Restrictions

00:00:00.000 This is the primal scream of a dying regime.

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00:00:38.440 If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved.

00:00:44.760 War Room. Here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon.

00:00:48.060 friday 13th folks friday 13th and no domini 2026 harnwell here at the helm on steve

00:01:03.440 bannon's war room um unlucky some people think this day is i'm not a particularly superstitious

00:01:11.520 person let's see if it's going to be unlucky for our guest today as we dive in to the huge debate

00:01:17.920 that's taking place right now over the U.S. Federal School Choice Tax Credit Programme.

00:01:23.820 Our guest is going to be navigating the issue today is Anne Lamonica, who's the Associate

00:01:29.280 Director for Education at the Connecticut Catholic Conference. Anne, thanks very much

00:01:34.480 indeed for coming on the show today. I know this is a big thorny issue in the United States

00:01:40.300 right now, pretty much dividing the country into the two equal halves, I think, between

00:01:45.160 democrats and republicans um why don't you just i have some questions which we're gonna go into

00:01:51.980 about how this and why how this affects catholics and why i think catholics should be interested in

00:01:58.540 this but i think it's a wider issue to do with parental choice parental responsibility the right

00:02:04.120 of parents to choose the formation of their children that obviously includes a largely

00:02:09.460 evangelical audience as well why don't you just just give me two minutes before we go into this

00:02:15.200 just break down what this issue is to do with the the federal tax credits and how it works

00:02:20.980 because it's not totally understood by everyone um and why why what makes this different from

00:02:28.140 in terms of the the the tax write-off ability when you make a standard when americans make

00:02:35.600 a standard donation to a 501c3? Thank you, Ben, for having me. This is different than a standard

00:02:44.600 tax deduction. In fact, it's a tax credit, which means that you'll have a dollar for dollar

00:02:49.720 reduction in what you owe to the federal taxes starting in 2027 for up to $1,700 in donations.

00:02:59.180 Now, the way it works under the law, which passed under the one big beautiful bill, is that there is a tax credit for up to $1,700 for donations to scholarship organizations.

00:03:18.180 And then those scholarship organizations then go out and hand out scholarships to kids in need.

00:03:24.360 Now, there's an income requirement. The children's families have to make under 300% of the gross median income. And in Connecticut, where I am, that's roughly $250,000 to $300,000 would be 300% of the gross median income, depending on your zip code or demographic area.

00:03:46.680 So the one problem with this tax credit is that when it was drafted and passed that the parliamentarian was involved and as a result, the Senate parliamentarian was involved and as a result, it changed a little bit and governors have to opt in their state scholarship organizations in order to receive donations.

00:04:14.800 So anybody in the country can make a donation to a scholarship organization.

00:04:19.840 So if I'm in Connecticut, I can donate to an organization in Florida or Arkansas, and they can receive it and give out donations in their state.

00:04:31.620 So here in Connecticut, we have to wait for our governor, Governor Ned Lamont, to sign in and opt our organizations in so that they can receive donations from all over the country.

00:04:44.300 and those donors will receive the tax credit it's not the children that are receiving tax credits

00:04:50.240 they're receiving scholarships and the scholarships are not limited to 1700 that's the limit on the

00:04:56.020 tax credit to the donor and right now sure sorry carry on no go ahead go ahead um

00:05:06.780 i'll take the breathing pause that you give to come in and ask a question that a natural

00:05:15.440 observer might ask where were it not so politically loaded already but isn't the idea

00:05:23.180 of giving states their own opportunity and decision to opt into this something that people

00:05:30.260 on the right of the spectrum would broadly welcome which is which is basically freeing

00:05:35.120 as it were, states from the Federal Department of Education's dictatorship over educational

00:05:42.920 responsibility and authority. Well, actually, that's a great point. And I agree with that.

00:05:48.760 And fortunately, this program is not run through the Department of Education. It's purely a tax

00:05:53.820 credit. The Department of Internal Revenue Service will be administering the tax credits

00:05:59.940 to taxpayers across the country. So this does not involve the Department of Education at all. It does

00:06:05.080 not involve any federal funding, any state funding. It's all purely donor private donations.

00:06:12.380 So with respect to states' rights, well, I've heard a lot about the lack of representation

00:06:21.660 in New England in particular, the diversity of thought in our congressional leadership,

00:06:27.900 you know, in the Senate and the House. There's not one member that supported educational choice

00:06:33.620 in new england and that was a huge um block for us to get through last summer when the bill passed

00:06:41.080 we realized that we had nobody to talk to in connecticut nobody would take our calls

00:06:46.520 nobody would meet with us about it at the federal level and as a result we decided hey let's put

00:06:54.580 together a petition we'll petition the ways and means committee before it comes out of um the

00:07:00.080 committee to let them know we need this in new england new england is completely underrepresented

00:07:06.400 and i think it would serve conservatives social conservatives especially very well to understand

00:07:12.920 that there are people in new england that would support school choice and other initiatives

00:07:18.460 um with the exception of jared polis i think in in colorado this is broadly worked out to be

00:07:27.600 a partisan split has it not and uh in that republican governors opting in to the program

00:07:35.900 and democrat voters are opting out on that basis can you just say a few words on why this is of

00:07:45.420 interest specifically um to parents trying to get their kids into catholic school for example

00:07:52.280 well at catholic schools we in the catholic schools we uh educate the children's whole

00:07:58.060 body mind and spirit not just their minds and bodies we try to involve um faith obviously

00:08:06.020 in their daily lives we don't well relegate faith to just sundays we relegate in everything we do

00:08:12.180 in all our studies um and in our working lives we try to you know live out our faith in freedom

00:08:19.900 and without the restrictions of the state

00:08:24.760 or the imposition of state curriculum.

00:08:29.340 So specifically in terms of Catholic parents, though,

00:08:34.180 what I mean is this, okay, normally,

00:08:36.940 and this is a moment I'm going to build on over the rest of this hour,

00:08:40.660 there has been a progressive drift in the United States since the 60s

00:08:46.660 in terms of embracing broadly progressive leftist issues

00:08:53.540 outside of the life issue.

00:08:56.740 And therefore, there's a somewhat, I would suggest,

00:08:58.560 a tension here between, say, the Catholic Bishops' Conference,

00:09:03.260 which has tried to poke around a little bit around the edges

00:09:07.480 in favour of parental rights,

00:09:10.820 because it's obviously in the interest of the Catholic Church

00:09:13.140 in keeping its formation up for the reasons

00:09:15.580 that you were just mentioning amongst the youth.

00:09:17.800 But it's basically forcing the institutional U.S. Catholic Church

00:09:24.520 to take a public policy position flat in face of where the majority

00:09:31.020 of the Democratic Party is on this.

00:09:35.780 I'd like you to address that, if you could, to tie those things together.

00:09:42.860 Well, that is true.

00:09:44.400 Unfortunately, it has become a political issue, and that's why school choice is not passed in Connecticut.

00:09:51.000 We're primarily, you know, a blue state through and through.

00:09:57.020 We're outnumbered.

00:09:58.340 There's a supermajority in the state legislature.

00:10:00.580 We are unable to pass school choice here for the past several years.

00:10:04.220 We have representatives and legislators who one-on-one at the state level are supportive of our Catholic schools.

00:10:12.100 They want them to thrive.

00:10:13.120 They understand the benefits that we have. But when it comes to voting on a measure, they'll vote against it or it just won't make it out of committee.

00:10:22.880 You know, a bill might just not be raised and made out of committee. That's that's the reality that we're living in in Connecticut, in a blue state.

00:10:31.880 So that is and that is also a problem for us in Connecticut is getting Democrats to support us at the local level.

00:10:40.180 We have plenty of parents who are Democrats and Republicans. We try to focus on the children, not to make this a political issue.

00:10:48.220 And unfortunately, that's where we it is a political issue, but we're trying to make it not a political issue.

00:10:53.040 We want it to be about the proper education of children at the direction of their parents.

00:10:57.780 of course i i get that but it is a political issue you know as pretty much everything that

00:11:05.380 the state does vis-a-vis parental responsibility individual responsibility you have a philosophical

00:11:11.680 difference here of whether the the formation of the the state the public provision of education

00:11:17.680 is part of what should be bracketed under the the public good uh sort of the the the the formation

00:11:25.640 of the nation's children together for social cohesion.

00:11:30.600 Or you have a different philosophical approach

00:11:33.920 which basically treats education like a commodity available

00:11:37.900 on the free market, and therefore that would push

00:11:41.220 very much more an individualistic, purchaser-led approach.

00:11:46.200 Of course, the debate itself, as much as one tries to take it

00:11:49.640 out of the hands of partisan politics,

00:11:52.200 it is inherently a political situation,

00:11:54.780 and people will come down on different sides on this.

00:11:58.080 And this is really what my question to you is.

00:12:00.360 I'll ask it now, and perhaps we'll pick up just in a moment after I do a quick ad read for one of our sponsors.

00:12:06.640 But I have to ask you this question, Ann LaMonica, and it's this.

00:12:11.260 Do you think that decades of leftward drift for the institutional Catholic Church

00:12:18.000 has somewhat enfeebled its ability here to come down very strictly on a parental rights

00:12:26.400 side in this policy debate. Well, in Connecticut, I would say that has not happened. Our archbishop

00:12:34.020 and our bishops have been fully supportive of parental rights. We have actually made several

00:12:41.860 pleas to the state government, the state legislature, about public education, how

00:12:49.580 we need to respect parental rights in public education, include parents in what's happening

00:12:55.080 with their children in terms of mental health consultations. We need to be aware of what's

00:13:00.060 happening to the kids at our schools. And so we've fought for that repeatedly at the guidance of our

00:13:04.920 bishops. And I just don't see that happening here in Connecticut. I feel like the bishops have

00:13:11.280 you know they they have you know we do have um more or less a social justice catholics and then

00:13:18.020 we have you know the other ones that are involved in um more the pro-life issues but that's okay

00:13:24.420 that's the diversity of the catholic church we welcome both sides and there's there's value and

00:13:30.680 good to both so we just have to you know concentrate our efforts where we can and make the changes that

00:13:36.540 we can. And I think that the bishops have been fully supportive of this educational choice in

00:13:42.620 Connecticut, especially. I'll come back for the wider US picture in just a couple of moments.

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00:15:34.520 back with Anne Lamonica who is the assistant director for education at the Connecticut

00:15:42.380 Catholic Conference Anne so you're saying that your bishops in Connecticut have been pretty

00:15:48.180 resolute on this issue regarding the wider national position however um coming soundings

00:15:55.920 coming up from the catholic bishops conference let me put it like this i don't see the same

00:16:01.580 intervention in the media uh as i see for example on the immigration issue uh where i would think

00:16:10.500 the bishops have spoken far more clearly on that what what do you make of that difference and do

00:16:16.680 Why has the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Conference, if we're putting the immigration issue down as a model to measure it against, why isn't the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Conference doing a full-throated throwdown here on the Democratic governors who are obstacling Catholic parents to take scholarships at Catholic schools?

00:16:43.760 um that's a great question i would defer to the usccb on that um but i can tell you i've worked

00:16:51.800 with um the education office at the usccb uh during the time that this bill was passed and

00:16:59.220 i think it's just so so much has happened and that they are kind of swamped with um regulation

00:17:07.040 forming right now so they're working they've been working on the regulations but that's a great

00:17:10.620 question. They've tried to intercede on our behalf, but they leave it up to us at the states.

00:17:16.460 We know our states better than they do. Why at the national, just, you know, why doesn't it

00:17:22.460 receive as much press or why don't we hear about it more? I think that's just a matter of the media

00:17:32.440 picking up on the stories. I think immigration is more of a hot button issue than a tax credit,

00:17:37.140 unfortunately. But I do want to add that these tax credits, these scholarships can be used in

00:17:43.400 Catholic schools, but they could also be used for homeschooling. They could be used for tutoring.

00:17:47.480 They could be used for special needs services. And public school students could benefit too.

00:17:53.480 And as Bishop Frank Caggiano had said, this is for all students. And it's not just for Catholics.

00:17:58.080 It's for all students. But we have our interest at the Connecticut Catholic Conference, obviously,

00:18:03.360 with our Catholic population here.

00:18:07.140 Would you like to see church leadership challenging more frontally the democratic governors who are blocking this tax credit program in their state?

00:18:22.360 I think I don't know how helpful that would be, actually.

00:18:25.800 We shouldn't I don't want to, you know, I don't want anybody undermining our bishops coming from outside.

00:18:31.420 I think they have full control of what they can do here.

00:18:35.600 I do think it might be slightly helpful, but I question whether, you know, the governor would actually listen.

00:18:43.260 So we don't want to go too heavy, I suppose.

00:18:46.620 Just for the sake of clarity, you said you wouldn't want to see people undermining your Catholic bishops from outside.

00:18:55.580 I shouldn't say undermine. That was a poor choice of words.

00:18:57.960 I should say, you know, I think they can handle it.

00:19:01.820 They have the reserves to handle it on their own.

00:19:04.200 And I think they they should be allowed the freedom to do so.

00:19:09.300 So you're not suggesting to be clear about this, you're not agitating the the the Connecticut Catholic Conference isn't agitating here for for the U.S.

00:19:24.100 Catholic Bishops Conference as an entity to be intervening more vocally, more strongly

00:19:30.300 in individual states where Democrat governors are blocking the program?

00:19:36.180 I don't see what benefit that would do, actually. The USCCB has done a great job helping us in the

00:19:43.120 first, you know, get this bill passed at the federal level. We're at the state level now.

00:19:46.860 And I think that whatever they say will just, you know, be combined with whatever we're saying.

00:19:54.880 So it's just going to get lost in the weeds. I don't think it's going to be all that helpful.

00:19:58.600 um okay let me ask you this then if we're um and this is firmly part of catholic social teaching

00:20:08.900 right that the parental responsibility for the educational formation of children and takes

00:20:15.340 precedent over the state's role here um if we're assuming that that is true and i think you and i

00:20:23.780 both take that as absolutely to be true in the natural order of things um the the ability for

00:20:32.320 parents to to have the formation that they want for their children is really um it's a moral issue

00:20:39.800 as well as a religious issue right um rather than just being say a policy issue correct a moral and

00:20:49.360 government would encourage a parent to make the best choice for their child whether it be a

00:20:54.980 catholic school evangelical school homeschool they would encourage that that government would do that

00:21:00.300 and a governor that blocks the program in their state is effectively saying that they know better

00:21:08.780 for the educational formation of the children than the parents correct that's right so if it's a more

00:21:17.060 So if we're taking it as a moral and religious issue, and one here that is at the heart of Catholic social teaching, even though it's very rarely, I think, given the seriousness that it should have.

00:21:30.080 But it was, you know, I think it was it Gravissimus, Gravissimum, the document from the Second Vatican Council on the formation of Gravissimum, was it Educationis?

00:21:46.320 And you have Familiaris Consortio as well from John Paul II.

00:21:50.060 These are serious sort of, there is a strong Catholic provenance here on these issues.

00:21:55.040 I want to come back to the issue why the Catholic Bishops' Conference can't get into this a little bit more strongly,

00:22:05.720 given it's not just a policy issue.

00:22:08.100 If it was simply a political policy issue, I could accept the arguments on prudential grounds that it might be counterproductive.

00:22:14.960 But given that this is, as we've established, a moral issue here,

00:22:19.500 I would have thought there was a wide open opportunity for the Catholic Bishops' Conference to come in and make a very clear case in widening this program, the tax credit program, allowing that in the states where democratic governors have blocked it.

00:22:36.820 And even if that does mean that the Catholic Bishops' Conference is taking a more overtly political position, I think there's enough justification for it to do so.

00:22:45.780 yeah that that would be great i mean i i think it would be helpful i guess i just

00:22:52.060 i do think that the usccb helps direct the state level um the connecticut catholic conference and

00:22:59.480 you know all the states are working together all the the executive directors of the

00:23:04.400 state level um conferences are working together on this issue um and we are at the front lines

00:23:13.420 in the states to make that. And, you know, coming from outside of Connecticut, we're not going to

00:23:18.460 have that. That influence is not going to be as persuasive as local influence here, at least in

00:23:24.660 Connecticut. Maybe it works differently in other states, but we're such a small state that we

00:23:28.640 really, our legislators and our governor is going to listen to the people of Connecticut and they're

00:23:33.320 not going to really pay attention to the people outside. I guess that's the point I'm trying to

00:23:37.500 make. It's that it's more of a local issue here. I would ask Congress if, you know, the USCCB could

00:23:46.120 help us here. I would ask Congress the next reconciliation bill that they consider is to

00:23:52.620 remove this opt-in option for governors. Remove it from the law. It's unnecessary. It's unnecessary

00:23:58.340 to create this division among the states in treating children differently in one state if

00:24:03.660 live in a red state versus a blue state that that would be the easiest problem i think i think it

00:24:11.400 was a requirement wasn't it to getting the the bill passed on that point it was a compromise

00:24:15.740 um in order to get it passed and of course on a on a on a bipartisan issue it is a it is a strange

00:24:23.640 inversion i think uh to have basically the the republicans um um the strange inversion for the

00:24:34.820 catholics i should say uh to be in a situation where they're sort of really pushing for uh a

00:24:43.580 sort of state rights position um whereas then as i as i was saying before earlier on in the show

00:24:51.500 So after many decades, apart from the pro-life issue, the whole push of Catholic representation in politics has been towards state provision, which is, you know, and that's why I think it's my first question was trying to tease out of you whether I think, because it's my belief looking at this, that because of the leftward drift of the institutional Catholic Church since the 60s,

00:25:21.140 since the mid-60s, we're now on this issue of Catholic education,

00:25:25.280 Catholic formation.

00:25:26.340 We're now in the issue of seeing somewhat chickens coming home to roost.

00:25:31.720 Because in other situations, the Catholic Church as an institution

00:25:36.660 with all the funding that it has and the spot in the public eye,

00:25:40.900 it would be able to bring a great deal of issue, of attention to this matter.

00:25:47.040 And it's not really doing so.

00:25:49.360 And that's my perplexity.

00:25:50.800 And I would suspect, knowing something about the people who tend to populate bishops' conferences, is that they tend to have a left-wing bias.

00:26:02.780 And I'm sort of thinking whether that might be an attention here in the bishops' conference on this issue.

00:26:09.520 Just give me 30 seconds as your reaction to that, and then we'll go into the break.

00:26:13.780 Well, back to the state's rights, I just say let's look back at our representation in New England.

00:26:18.400 it's been an issue on this show. Vice President J.D. Vance has brought it up. And I think if you

00:26:23.600 realize why we have the representation in Congress that we have, it might be a result of other

00:26:29.240 factors. And I'd like to see the Republicans in the House support school choice for everyone

00:26:36.780 and in the Senate to see that there are conservatives across the whole country,

00:26:42.500 not just the red states. They have to look beyond because children in our states might

00:26:46.460 move to their red state eventually perfect point to close and we're back in two minutes don't go

00:26:52.460 away folks back with ann lamonica to discuss the issue of the federal tax credit here back in two

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00:31:44.960 number once again very quickly at the end of the show back to ann lamonica the assistant director

00:31:50.660 for Education at the Connecticut Catholic Conference.

00:31:55.400 And thanks for staying with us as we dig into these issues.

00:32:00.400 Now, it's often commented in the media that Pope Leo is the first American pope.

00:32:10.560 So my question on this is seeing is that the pope is so keen to intervene

00:32:17.120 in U.S. domestic political issues on the immigration issue,

00:32:22.860 specifically dropping all the hints at his diplomatic disposal

00:32:27.980 to indicate he doesn't quite think the Trump administration

00:32:31.060 has understood the subtleties and complexities

00:32:36.200 of Catholic social teaching on the issue.

00:32:38.800 What can we expect, and I know you don't speak for the Pope or anything,

00:32:42.600 But do you think Catholics might reasonably expect the Pope to intervene on this issue in favor of, as you say, not only Catholic parents, but evangelical parents, Jewish parents as well, to help guarantee for them the ability to pick the education that parents want for their children?

00:33:06.380 I do expect that. In fact, you know, Pope Francis had done the same. It took a little while and, you know, a few years, but he was outright and outspoken about parental rights. And I suspect that hopefully it will do the same, probably before the end of the year, I would guess, before this tax credit kicks in.

00:33:29.920 and what um well thank you for speaking so um so positively on that one um what kind of effect

00:33:39.500 do you think that will have on the domestic political situation in the united states right

00:33:44.940 now given the the the various uh positions that people are taking uh generally with regards to

00:33:52.580 partisan split i would expect that would have a bigger effect actually i think that would be

00:33:58.780 the best effect. Not that, you know, the USCCB is just, you know, the Conference of Bishops.

00:34:06.320 They're not the local bishops, you know, in a state, in the archdiocese or diocese. So I think

00:34:13.760 if you hear it from the top, people are going to listen. And Pope Leo, I'm sure, can draw an

00:34:19.240 audience and people will report on it and they'll put pressure on legislators and we'll see what

00:34:25.800 happens. I absolutely agree with you. I think it would be massive were he to do so because no matter

00:34:33.020 how it's framed or how it's positioned or how much Vatican spokesmen or even the US Catholic

00:34:40.060 Bishops Conference say that he's not making a partisan intervention here, it's absolutely clear

00:34:44.940 given the split between Democrat governors and Republican governors in the country that this

00:34:50.480 is that this will de facto be a position far closer to one political side than another.

00:34:55.840 And for the reasons that we mentioned in the first half of the show, very much going against

00:35:00.480 the general trend and current of the Catholic Church's activism in the political sphere.

00:35:07.600 Of course, one criticism that will be made on this is that the reason why the Pope will be

00:35:14.160 intervening on this and taking that particular position which has a particular affinity uh with

00:35:20.460 the gop it's because the catholic and this is the point that the catholic church is desperate

00:35:24.380 really the institutional catholic church is desperate that the point the church is desperate

00:35:29.800 not to generate because the catholic church is is defending uh it has a direct interest in this issue

00:35:36.480 are you suggesting that we're that the catholic schools would be profiting from the tax

00:35:44.040 credit i've heard this i've heard this before and i know it's not you actually actually that's that's

00:35:52.560 not my suggestion my mom though i though it is absolutely though it is absolutely my my position

00:36:00.260 um that the catholic that the that the catholic bishops conference has a leftward progressive

00:36:05.860 stance in the political sphere because of the huge subsidies and grants it takes from the federal

00:36:11.800 government um to to deliver its various social uh services but that's not my argument on this issue

00:36:17.080 i on this issue my issue is is that the catholic church will take what is a more individualistic

00:36:23.540 position rather than state-led position on this issue because it has an interest uh in seeing as

00:36:30.580 many catholics formed um as possible and it were it not to be were it not directly an issue

00:36:37.660 affecting the formation of Catholics and Catholic family and Catholic youth,

00:36:42.400 if you took the word Catholic out of that,

00:36:45.220 the Catholic Church would almost certainly be landing up behind 0.97

00:36:47.640 the Democratic governors on this issue.

00:36:51.540 That was my point.

00:36:52.980 No, yeah, well, I know.

00:36:56.380 Detractors will say that the Church will make,

00:36:58.860 that they think that schools will somehow profit from this.

00:37:01.240 They're not going to profit.

00:37:02.460 Our teachers are paid far less.

00:37:04.060 We have very small budgets than the public schools.

00:37:07.240 But in terms of if it weren't Catholics involved, that the church would not be involved, I tend to disagree with that, because the church has a long history of academic and intellectual freedom and supporting intellectual freedom and diversity of thought, you know, 2,000 years worth.

00:37:23.880 They inherited Roman and ancient Greek classical education and preserved it and refined it and use it as a tool for good.

00:37:35.900 So I tend to disagree with that. I think the church would always support educational freedom, or it should if it doesn't.

00:37:43.540 But I feel like that's the history of the church and will continue to do so.

00:37:49.240 OK, then let me push back on that slightly.

00:37:52.340 in that case why does the catholic church have a very different public policy position

00:37:57.580 on the provision of health care from the provision of education in that sense

00:38:02.180 i cannot speak to that i'm sorry

00:38:05.060 um okay but you know but you don't understand why i'm asking the question right i do i do

00:38:12.700 understand that there's a difference i i understand that um all right before we do the

00:38:19.360 move move to the to the next um sponsorship question let me just ask you whether you think

00:38:27.560 that um the church has underestimated somewhat over recent decades the degree to which aggressive

00:38:35.240 secular public systems uh have wanted to compete against religious education

00:38:41.240 oh no and well in fact they're fully they've been fully aware of it as it had happened

00:38:47.740 And in 19, early 1990s in Connecticut, we used to be, the Catholic schools used to be part of an open choice network where students could attend if we had open seats and they could attend for free if they came from cities in need.

00:39:05.800 And in the early 90s, we were removed from that program and magnet schools were created.

00:39:11.620 And those magnet schools had a detrimental effect on enrollment in the Catholic schools.

00:39:18.380 And along with the imposition of a new state income tax, those combined reduced the income of families to be able to send two, three, four children to school, to a Catholic school.

00:39:30.800 And so they chose the magnet schools perhaps instead.

00:39:34.040 So they've seen this effect for several decades now.

00:39:38.660 And we're actually, our numbers are coming back after COVID.

00:39:42.540 I think people have a renewed interest in Catholic education and what we have to offer students.

00:39:49.640 All right. Well, seeing as we're on the issue of taxes right now, perfect time to shout out for Tax Network USA, of course.

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00:40:06.740 now is the time to resolve your tax matters with the national conversation around abolishing the

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00:40:47.860 completely free irs research and discovery call to show you exactly where you stand and what

00:40:54.420 they can stop before it's too late their powerful programs and strategies can save you thousands or

00:41:01.680 even eliminate your debt entirely if you qualify. Don't make a costly mistake. Representing yourself

00:41:08.740 or calling the IRS on your own waives your rights and costs you more money. They are not on your

00:41:16.880 side. So get protected the right way with Tax Network USA and start the process on settling

00:41:24.060 your tax matters once and for all today call 1-800-958-1000 that's 1-800-958-1000 or visit

00:41:36.120 tnusa.com slash bannon for your free discovery call with tax network usa don't let the irs be

00:41:47.260 the first to act. Call 1-800-958-1000. Okay, back towards the closing segment of the show with

00:41:57.500 Anne Lamonica. And I was looking at one interesting statistic here, and I was wondering whether you

00:42:03.440 might just help break this down for me, because it sort of illustrates somewhat the implosion in

00:42:11.060 Catholic formation since the Second Vatican Council, where we go to that final year of the

00:42:17.360 council, the school year of 64 to 65. The nationwide network of Catholic parochial schools served

00:42:25.260 around 5.6 million students. And today, its enrollment has dropped 70% to 1.7 million

00:42:37.000 students today. Given that this is your area of concern, sort of education, Catholic formation,

00:42:43.980 do you think the institutional Catholic Church has truly appreciated the enormity of what has

00:42:52.820 taken place over the last 60 years? Has it directed its resources, its political capital

00:43:00.060 in the political sphere, in engaging in the right issues such as this,

00:43:07.960 or has it been distracted by other political concerns, do you think?

00:43:12.880 Well, I can speak to Connecticut's situation.

00:43:16.260 Other than the breakdown of the family over those same years,

00:43:20.360 I think that has a direct effect on attendance and Catholic formation.

00:43:24.660 But that aside, in terms of schools, you know, we did go through a period of contraction where we closed several schools and, you know, combine them into one in different towns.

00:43:37.260 But we are currently in the Archdiocese of Harper. We're opening, I believe, two to three new schools next year.

00:43:44.920 Two of them are classical academies. And that is something that I know there's growing interest in.

00:43:50.680 And it has been. That's been a growing interest for the past, I'd say, 10 years.

00:43:54.200 And I'm glad to see that happening.

00:43:56.560 There's going to be one in New Britain and I believe maybe one in New Haven, Connecticut.

00:44:01.300 And also we have Archbishop Coyne.

00:44:05.800 One of his first goals and one of the first things he did was declare that he was going to reopen a Catholic school in Hartford, the capital city.

00:44:14.820 And they are on their way to opening that up either next year, at the end of this year, or next year.

00:44:21.160 There'll be a new Catholic school in Hartford to serve Hartford residents who wish to attend on an income scholarship basis.

00:44:31.260 the um in the beginning of the show we'd mentioned how the issue of parental choice

00:44:39.700 has often been framed as a conservative issue a conservative policy cause um and we also

00:44:48.520 mentioned earlier on in the show however that the the right of parents to form their own children

00:44:54.300 it's come straight out of catholic social teaching um do you think the church has failed

00:45:00.040 somewhat to lead a debate um where its own principles should uh have dominated um and if

00:45:09.560 you don't want to answer the question like that let me reframe it would you rate the ability

00:45:13.980 would you rate how well the church has uh dominated the debate on parental choice over

00:45:22.660 recent years for me um well let's say uh like i said i'm going to focus on connecticut because i

00:45:30.640 was you know i attended parochial schools here i graduated from catholic high school and i went

00:45:35.500 away to catholic college and came back to connecticut um i would say that it's through

00:45:42.180 no fault of their own that some of you know there's fewer people interested i feel like

00:45:47.200 our education system is driven by property values, which is a whole other issue. People

00:45:54.920 don't want to spend the extra money on Catholic education. And that turns into

00:45:59.700 children without daily reminders of their Catholic faith throughout the day. And that has

00:46:07.160 a long-term consequence. But I would rate it fairly highly. I haven't heard a time, I know

00:46:15.680 the three archbishops, the last three archbishops have always concentrated and

00:46:20.160 promoted Catholic education in Connecticut. And I just, I don't think it's through a fault of their

00:46:28.800 own that people have not followed through and listened. I think regular followers of our

00:46:37.000 Wednesday show, where we break all this kind of the positioning of the Catholic Bishops Conference

00:46:44.260 and the policy positions it takes.

00:46:46.820 I think regular followers of our Wednesday show

00:46:49.240 will probably have an idea of what my private response

00:46:53.880 to that answer might be, but I won't push back too heavily.

00:46:57.680 I will, however, because I'll close with one final question,

00:47:02.600 which really sort of synthesizes everything

00:47:04.580 that we've discussed over the past hour,

00:47:10.220 and that is whether you think,

00:47:12.240 because obviously this is

00:47:14.500 I think the heart of this

00:47:15.500 how much you believe the church has allowed

00:47:18.820 secular political

00:47:20.240 coalitions to define

00:47:22.660 the education debate

00:47:24.260 instead of asserting

00:47:26.800 its own moral

00:47:28.360 vision on parental choice

00:47:30.820 how the

00:47:34.260 Catholic bishops have responded to that

00:47:36.440 or have not prevented that

00:47:37.740 I mean that

00:47:38.480 that's right

00:47:40.840 I think they've responded. They can only do so much. The teachers unions in Connecticut have, and throughout New England, have a lot of control over our legislative leaders, and that's just a fact.

00:47:58.480 And I guess I would think I think they've done their their part as a matter of people going to church, the parents of the students to act and listen to their bishops and perhaps even vote on certain issues a certain way if they could or choose better leaders.

00:48:20.500 um okay that's pretty much all we have time for on the friday show today i have to respond

00:48:31.400 um however we're just like 60 seconds of analysis based on what what you've been saying

00:48:37.360 firstly i wonder thank you and la monica for coming on the war room somewhat because you

00:48:43.300 know we we do take a very very strong position um against the the u.s catholic bishop conference

00:48:48.820 against the vatican at times against the pope at times you have somewhat come into the lion's den

00:48:54.920 today and i'm very grateful for that um for for helping us uh and our audience take a different

00:49:01.800 perspective though i think there's a lot obviously on the issue itself that they're going to agree

00:49:05.580 with you on and that is the insistence on that parents have their um have the first duty over

00:49:12.080 the the formation of their children i when i say um somewhat that you've come into the lion's den

00:49:18.500 I wouldn't be as personally as sympathetic towards the institutional American church for what has been a real collapse, I think, in terms of the provision of Catholic education since the Second Vatican Council has fallen down by about two thirds.

00:49:38.060 If you look at those figures that I gave earlier. And like you, I would very much put that responsibility at the heart of the institutional Catholic Church, the Catholic Bishops Conference and individual Catholics.

00:49:53.340 I think it's been if that kind of decline had taken place in a listed company, shareholders would have thrown out the management and voted in new management a long, long time ago.

00:50:05.960 But that's the Catholic Church that we have. And it's not exactly doesn't respond to market forces, doesn't respond to democratic impulse.

00:50:15.280 Anna LaMonica, very, very grateful for you to come on the show and help chew over this with us.

00:50:21.720 Where do people go to learn more about this issue, perhaps to support the Connecticut Catholic Conference and the great work that you are doing there?

00:50:33.720 Please go to ct4scholarship.org or ctcatholicpac on Twitter and Facebook.

00:50:40.940 great and we've got those up just once again on on twitter what was that where do people go on x

00:50:46.560 to to follow you ct catholic pack that's absolutely perfect and and quickly before

00:50:55.440 the show goes i'd give another shout out to birch gold uh if you put your pen and paper

00:51:00.340 aside earlier is you got a text bannon b-a-double-n-o-n to nine eight nine eight nine eight

00:51:07.140 that's bannon to nine eight nine eight nine eight folks that's the end of the show that's it for

00:51:13.480 friday steve will be back in the chair at 10 a.m tomorrow i'll be back with our weekly roundup of

00:51:20.200 all developments in christianity with our regular wednesday evening gang uh next next uh next week

00:51:27.720 at, I think, at the usual time.

00:51:31.060 In the meantime, stay tuned and have a blessed week.

00:51:36.680 My thanks to Will at Real America's Voice in Denver

00:51:40.700 and the guy who put this show together,

00:51:43.480 Vittorio Santifranco.

00:51:45.400 Take care, folks.

00:51:46.240 God bless for now.

00:51:48.200 Do you owe back taxes

00:51:49.920 or you haven't filed your taxes in years?

00:51:53.020 Now is the time to resolve your tax matters.

00:51:55.900 With the national conversation around abolishing the income tax, the IRS is fighting back and proving it's here to stay by becoming more aggressive than ever before.

00:52:07.380 They're sending out more collection notices, filing more tax liens, and collecting billions more in recent years.

00:52:14.980 If you owe, the IRS can garnish your wages, levy your bank accounts, seize your retirement, and even your home.

00:52:23.080 If you owe or haven't filed, it's not a question of if the IRS will act.

00:52:29.220 It's a question of when it will act.

00:52:32.140 Right now, Tax Network USA is offering a completely free IRS research and discovery call to show you exactly where you stand and what they can stop before it's too late.

00:52:44.560 Their powerful programs and strategies can save you thousands or even eliminate your debt entirely if you qualify.

00:52:51.240 Don't make a costly mistake.

00:52:53.080 Representing yourself or calling the IRS on your own waives your rights and costs you more money.

00:52:58.780 They are not, and let me repeat, the IRS is not on your side.

00:53:03.520 Get protected the right way with Tax Network USA

00:53:06.240 and start the process of settling your tax matters once and for all today.

00:53:12.740 Call 1-800-958-1000.

00:53:15.760 That's 1-800-958-1000 or visit TNUSA.com slash Bannon for your free discovery call with Tax Network USA.

00:53:28.000 Let me repeat, 800-958-1000, tell them Bannon sent you.

00:53:32.580 Don't let the IRS be the first to act.

00:53:36.780 Take advantage of first mover advantage, you move.

Bannon's War Room - March 13, 2026

WarRoom Battleground EP 968： US Catholic Bishops Should Be Fighting Dem Governors Far Harder Over Parental Choice Restrictions

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