A Travesty of American Governance:
Congress
restores cuts to the FAA but leaves the poor and hungry out in the cold
A
Statement by J. Herbert Nelson
Director
for Public Witness, PC(USA)
At the end
of last month, the House and Senate passed a shameful bill before leaving for
their in-district work period – the Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013 (S
853/HR 1765). Rather than replacing the sequester
(automatic, across-the-board, spending cuts) with a comprehensive and balanced
approach to deficit reduction, they passed a sequester fix only for the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA). This
fix is designed to mitigate long delays for airline passengers, including Members
of Congress, while ignoring the true hardship that is being caused by these
indiscriminate and irresponsible cuts.
Rather than standing up for the most vulnerable in our society, they
sided with the privileged, whose inconvenience while traveling was more
important than hunger among families who will not have enough food on the table
this month.
These
spending cuts, known inside the DC Beltway as “the sequester,” not only affect
the airline industry, but most government programs. From scientific and medical research, to
public transit projects, to international humanitarian development funds, to the
social safety net that helps support the lowest income earners in the country.
Programs like Head Start, housing assistance, the WIC Nutrition program, Meals
on Wheels, among many others, have been left with desperate choices of how to
cut their budgets for the remainder of the year. For
example:
- Head Start, an early-childhood education program proven to improve long-term school outcomes for low-income children, is having to cancel summer programs or end regular school year programs weeks early (if not drop children altogether). In total, 70,000 children are expected to be denied Head Start.[1]
- Seniors are losing home-delivered meals, and 140,000 fewer households will receive vouchers to help them afford decent housing.[2]
- Jobless workers are losing their unemployment benefits. Roughly 800,000 workers have seen their benefits cut by approximately 10%. When all of the states implement these cuts, this will affect about 3.8 million unemployed workers. [3]
The
Sequester was designed to be awful. It
is a blunt tool whose indiscriminate, across-the-board cuts were supposed to be
considered so unthinkable, that Members of Congress would be forced to come up
with a more compassionate solution to deficit reduction. But Congress failed to act and we are
now reaping the consequences of their failure.
But a
piecemeal approach to fixing the sequester is not the answer. Certainly the Air Traffic Controllers who
were being forced to take furloughs are benefiting from this congressional
action, but at its root, passage of this bill is a selfish move designed to
benefit the privileged and remove a politically embarrassing news story from
the 24-hour news cycle. While jets are
being filled with fuel, millions of Americans run on empty stomachs. While
business people no longer have to wait in long lines for their flights, the
poor are lining up for housing assistance in the longest lines ever. The cozy
first-class flight from DC to Los Angeles costs approximately the same as one
month's salary for a full-time worker making minimum wage.[4]
Once again,
Congress has missed the mark on what is truly important. We need to replace the sequester, but not in
a piecemeal fashion where the wealthiest beneficiaries and strongest special
interests line up to get their bite at the apple first. Rather, we need a comprehensive replacement to the
sequester that cuts judiciously where we can afford to cut spending (for
example, the pentagon budget), while also bringing in new revenue – tax dollars
from those who can most afford to pay for the good of all, so that we can meet
our shared priorities and make sure that fewer people are hungry, more children
have access to education, and more people find a desperately needed job. This is where the priorities of Congress
should have been at the end of April, and should still be today, not with
annoyed travelers whose inconvenience will leave them annoyed, but not hungry,
thirsty, or homeless.
It is time
to stand up and tell Congress that basic necessities such as food, shelter, and
education are more important than long lines in airports. When I think of what
this bill says about our shared values, I think we must be proclaiming, "Blessed
are the wealthy," completely neglecting Jesus' own words, "Blessed
are the poor." Can we ever proclaim the blessedness of the poor when our
government systemically keeps them in poverty?
Our mission
is not to make the poor become rich; nor is it to demonize the rich. Our
mission is to ensure that the playing field is leveled. Every human being
deserves to have enough. This shameful bill is a travesty of American
governance.
