A Travesty of American Governance

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. 

---

[1] Coalition on Human Needs, Impacts of Sequestration, www.chn.org.

[2] http://www.offthechartsblog.org/congress-addresses-flight-delays-but-leaves-other-sequestration-problems-unsolved/

[3] http://www.offthechartsblog.org/congress-addresses-flight-delays-but-leaves-other-sequestration-problems-unsolved/

[4] http://poverty.ucdavis.edu/faq/what-are-annual-earnings-full-time-minimum-wage-worker

Leslie Woods hosts "Faithful Budget" conversation on Ecclesio.com

This week, OPW's own Leslie Woods, Representative for Domestic Poverty & Environmental Issues, has been guest-hosting a conversation about "A Faithful Federal Budget" on ecclesio.com.

Read her article laying out the need for a Faithful Budget and her colleagues' invited responses:

www.ecclesio.com

A Faithful Federal Budget: What Does it Look Like and Why Does it Matter?
by Leslie Woods, Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public Witness
"The federal deficit is not this nation’s most pressing problem. While it is a long-term problem that needs a long-term solution, more urgent are the problems of rising inequality, economic injustice, contempt for the common good, and a startling lack of civility that allows us to demonize the “other” while avoiding responsibility for our collective sins and our complicity in our unjust systems.  Indeed, much more important than the fiscal deficit is our human deficit, where need, hunger, and insecurity result from our lack of investment in people and the community structures that keep people safe, healthy, and happy."

 

Challenging the False Notion of Scarcity
by John Hill, United Methodist General Board of Church and Society
"How can it be that in the midst of the greatest jobs crisis since the Great Depression, with millions unemployed and millions more underemployed, our leaders in the hallowed halls I had just ridden past seem more concerned with cutting spending and protecting privilege than building community and more justly sharing prosperity?...
"I fear we have so bought into the notion of scarcity that is being peddled – mostly by those who have plenty – that we fail to recognize its fallacy, ask faithful questions and embrace God’s economy of abundance."

The Federal Budget Deficit: the foundation of a healthy economy and prosperous nation that can pay its debts
by Edith Rasell, United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries

"Putting people back to work and back to paying taxes; strengthening the economy to reduce spending on unemployment benefits, food stamps, Medicaid, and other safety net programs; and raising taxes on those who have most greatly benefited from the last 40 years of skewed economic gains are the best way to reduce the deficit...

"Unemployment, not the deficit, continues to be the nation’s main problem."

Tax Reform: The Next Big Thing in the Federal Budget Debates 
by Amelia Kegan, Bread for the World
"The fiscal cliff ended with a deal that raises about $620 billion in new tax revenue over the next decade. Some say that the tax decisions were made and behind us. But for those of us who care about our country’s ability to address hunger and help people move out of poverty, the fiscal cliff deal cannot be the last word on revenues. As Congress struggles to find another one to one and a half trillion dollars in deficit reduction, we absolutely need more revenues if programs that reduce hunger and poverty are to remain effective and funded."

Read these and many more thought-provoking conversations and articles 
on www.ecclesio.com.

Stated Clerk to Congress and the President: Principle, not Politics

December 10, 2012

Addressing the Moral Concern of Deficits through 

Principle, Not Politics

A Statement on the Fiscal Cliff from 

Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly

I write as Congress considers a solution to the so-called fiscal cliff.  The fiscal decisions we make at the national level indicate where our priorities are as a community.  So, I urge members of Congress, as well as President Obama and his Administration, to put first and foremost in their negotiations those people who are already struggling with poverty, inequality, and injustice.

In 2008, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly said of the U.S. budget crisis: “creat[ing] ever-increasing debt and unfunded or underfunded obligations for future generations of Americans are a grave moral concern as well as a clear danger to the republic.”  The same Assembly further “call[ed] upon the church and the nation to study the policies and practices that have created this grave moral and economic crisis, to repent of the sins of greed and of stealing from future generations who cannot defend themselves, and to call upon our citizens and national leaders to make the sacrifices necessary to begin to solve this problem before it is too late.”

I, therefore, urge Congress to address this grave concern of long-term deficits by making decisions based on principle rather than politics.  We abhor the prospect of leaving a legacy of mounting debt to future generations, and likewise believe that it would be equally irresponsible to leave the same descendants a legacy of increasing poverty and inequality.

It is clear that we cannot achieve comprehensive, just, deficit reduction only by cutting spending. Even significantly re-envisioning our military priorities, which is also essential, will not be enough.  We must have new federal revenues to address our long-term deficits – new revenue that must be raised through a more progressive tax code.  In this way, we can both reduce our federal deficit and ensure adequate resources to make necessary investments for future generations.

We further challenge the notion that entitlement reform must contribute to deficit reduction.  We believe that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are part of our social insurance system, a compact between generations that must be preserved for future beneficiaries, as well as current ones.  The goal of any reform to these essential programs must be their long-term fiscal sustainability and improved efficiency.  Should deficit reduction result from well-intentioned reform – all the better – but these programs are not the primary contributors to the deficit, nor should they be primary sources for deficit reduction.  Again, we believe that the grave moral concern of the federal deficit must be addressed in a balanced and comprehensive way.

As Presbyterians, we are anxious that our national decisions reflect our commitments as a people. We are called by a loving and gracious God to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.  We know that we are responsible to each other and, as the Gospel of Luke teaches us, “from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required.”  We, therefore, urge a solution to the fiscal cliff and federal deficit that ensures long-term fiscal stability; deficit reduction; just, new revenue; long-term integrity for entitlement programs; and a priority on the most vulnerable in society.

Advent Expectation and the Fiscal Cliff

Advent Expectation and the Fiscal Cliff

By Leslie Woods

At this time of year, as we turn our attention to the waiting and the preparation that characterizes this holy season, and to the hope for the future that will arrive on Christmas morning, we join with you as we wait and hope.  And yet we know that God has called us to be in the world and to call the world to better account.  In the church, and especially during Advent, we have responsibilities outside of the walls of our houses of worship.  We have responsibilities in our families, in our communities, and in our nation.

In Washington, it is also a season of waiting and hoping.  As Congress addresses the very pressing issues our nation faces during the Lame Duck session, we all wait with baited breath – what solutions will they bring to bear? Click here to send a message to your Members of Congress today.

Most pressing among the many items of business before this lame duck Congress is the looming so-called fiscal cliff – the convergence of a number of policies that will automatically take effect in January, 2013.  In this time of intense partisanship and long-term fiscal crisis, it is essential that the church’s voice be loud among those seeking to influence our national decisions.  The nation’s fiscal decisions reflect the collective priorities that share – our commitment to the common good, our call to be keepers of our brothers and sisters, and our call to be in solidarity and support of “the least of these.”

We continue to exhort Members of Congress to bear in mind to common good when making fiscal decisions.  We join in concerns about leaving a legacy of mounting debt to future generations, but so too do we abhor leaving a legacy of rising poverty, inequality, and under-investment.  As the national dialogue centers around ways to reduce the federal deficit, it is first important to remember what created our deficit (see chart) and second that there are only two ways to reduce it: cutting spending and raising tax revenue.  To date, all deficit reduction measures ($1.5 trillion) have come from spending cuts, mostly from the section of the budget that is not responsible for our ballooning deficit.  We cannot cut our way out of our deficit – new revenues must be part of any solution that seeks to reduce the deficit in a just way.

The Fiscal Cliff

Absent action from Congress, on January 1^st, a series of deep automatic spending cuts ($1.2 trillion) and the expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts will converge to create the so-called fiscal cliff.  These policies together will significantly reduce the deficit, but as blunt tools they will also do harm.  Combined with the pending need to increase the federal debt ceiling again and the expiration of Unemployment Insurance Benefits for the long-term unemployed, these policies have the potential to cause severe contraction in the economy and the labor market, even as a sluggish recovery from the Great Recession continues to provide too few new jobs to meet the demand of those seeking work. 

However, the current “fiscal cliff” does include some saving grace – the Budget Control Act which put in place these automatic spending cuts, also known as the “sequester,” includes specific and explicit protections for many mandatory programs that serve low-income people, including Food Stamps, Medicaid, SSI, and many other.  In addition, the sequester’s $1.2 trillion in spending cuts will be evenly split between military spending and non-military spending.  So, while the automatic spending cuts will be severe and promise to be painful for the recipients of important government programs like WIC and affordable housing, there is nonetheless some protection built into it. Indeed, Congress must only agree on an alternative to the current fiscal cliff if the new solution does a better job of protecting our shared priorities – reducing poverty and inequality, and making sure there is a strong safety net to catch people when times are difficult.

On the question of the expiring tax cuts, it has been clear since the enactment of these policies in 2001 and 2003 that they disproportionately benefit the top of the income scale.  While almost all taxpayers gain some benefit from these tax cuts, proportionately, the bottom 20% of wage earners receive only a 3.7% tax cut while the top 20% of wage earners receive a 5.8% tax cut.  And when the top of the income scale is further dis-aggregated  the top one percent’s tax cut is 7.2% (see chart).  In truth, there are numerous proposals to bring in new revenue, many on which the PC(USA) has not taken a position, including allowing some or all of these tax cuts to expire.  But regardless of the policies used to achieve the end of increased revenue, it is clear that we must have new revenue and it is essential that it not be raised from those who are already struggling.

For slides from a recent presentation on the fiscal cliff, click here.

Take Action

Even in this time of waiting and thanking and hoping and praying, we know that we have so much work to do, both still to come this year, and as a New Year begins.  But we engage with Members of Congress, and with you, during this Lame Duck season with hope and thanksgiving, trusting in our God who calls us into the public square, requiring us to bring our religious understandings of compassion, peace, and justice, to the decisions we make as a nation.

Send a message to your Member of Congress today – make sure they know to protect the poor in a fiscal cliff deal.

In the next few weeks, the Christian community will prepare for the arrival of the Christ child. The advocacy community will prepare, advocate, and wait for the resolution of many policies that will affect us for years, perhaps generations.  In the Office of Public Witness, we are present and we invite you to join us in lifting up our voices. 

As the Lame Duck session continues, we will alert you to other important PC(USA) priorities that still require action by Congress.  So stay tuned and get ready for a busy season, not one of shopping and consumption, but of advocacy for that which matters most – a better world, a hope for the future. 

The Human Cost of Sequestration

The Sequester will enact $1.2 trillion in across the board spending cuts - half of which will come from defense spending and half from non-defense - and is set to go into effect this January, 2013. If the Sequester goes ahead unchecked, the massive spending cuts will seriously compromise programs that serve those who most need the services of our nation's safety net.

While the exact consequences of sequestration for safety net programs is not yet known, it is clear that they will be severe for those who need those programs the most. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) estimates that sequestration will result in 100,000 fewer children receiving Head Start and Early Head Start services and 80,000 fewer children receiving child care assistance. An estimated 12,000 fewer veterans will be served through the Jobs for Veterans program. Hundreds of thousands of people will lose nutritional benefits through the WIC program. The HHS Health Care for the Homeless program will be able to serve nearly 12,000 fewer people and nearly 187,000 people will lose Section 8 tenant-based rental assistance.

Our approach to upcoming sequestration needs to be rooted in our values – a balanced approach that addresses the deficit crisis with justice and compassion. On the one hand, we need to be good stewards of the resources we already have, making judicious cuts to defense, earmarks, and other wasteful spending, while preserving that which is most important for the good of all. On the other hand, we must increase revenue, in order to ensure that this nation can meet our need to operate a fair and just economy, which serves all of our human community. The nation’s deficit crisis cannot be solved through spending cuts alone – new revenues must be part of the solution. The need is great and the resources are abundant. The budget choices we make must reflect this reality.

As churches across the country observe Homelessness and Affordable Housing Sunday on August 5, the Office of Public Witness invites you tell you Member of Congress that we need faithful alternatives to the Sequester.  Members of Congress head home for August recess this weekend, so check your members’ websites to find out where they will have town halls and campaign events.  Tell them: if the Sequester goes into effect, hundreds of thousands of our sisters and brothers will lose the services our nation's safety net provides.

The Presbyterian Network to End Homelessness has released a new resource for Homelessness and Affordable Housing Sunday.  Visit http://justiceunbound.org/action-alerts/homelessness-affordable-housing-sunday/ for the PNTEH packet and many other helpful resources.

Oppose House Reconciliation Bill

From a blog post by Bread for the World:

Tell Your Representative to Vote NO on the House Reconciliation Bill



Marie Crise is able to use her SNAP benefits to purchase fresh,
healthy fruits and vegetables at the Abingdon Farmers Market in
Abingdon, VA. Photo by Laura Elizabeth Pohl. From Bread blog.


We need your voice today! Congress has been proposing more cuts to programs vital to hungry and poor people. The latest is a vote that the House of Representatives will take soon on additional cuts to SNAP and Child Tax Credits. 


Call your member of the U.S. House of Representatives today using 1-800-326-4941 and tell them to VOTE NO on the reconciliation bill. Or Send an Email.  Call NOW!  The House may vote as soon as Thursday, May 10.


The House of Representatives is using a legislative process known as reconciliation for the FY 2013 budget. (Reconciliation reduces the federal deficit by changing mandatory programs such as SNAP. It instructs authorizing committees in Congress to change eligibility requirements or benefit levels to save money.)

This reconciliation bill, which the House of Representatives is about to vote on, will have a devastating impacts on hungry and poor people. Please call your representative now at 1-800-326-4941 and tell them to VOTE NO on the reconciliation bill.  Or Send an Email.

Here are the basic talking points:

• We support a Faithful Federal Budget that “act[s] with mercy and justice by serving the common good, robustly funding support for poor and vulnerable people, both at home and abroad, and exercising proper care and keeping of the earth.
• Don’t balance the budget by cutting programs for hungry and poor people.
• SNAP is a lifeline for 46 million vulnerable Americans struggling to put food on the table. Eighty-five percent of SNAP benefits go to families with children, elderly or disabled people.
• The Child Tax Credit effectively lifts millions of children and families out of poverty every year. In 2010, the Child Tax Credit lifted 1.3 million children out of poverty.

If you have more time, you can also use the following points to expand your message:

• Cutting programs that serve poor and vulnerable populations is not the way to reduce our deficits. Congress must take a balanced approach that maintains our commitment to serving those in need.

• SNAP efficiently and effectively delivers food assistance to the neediest individuals and families. A recent study confirms that SNAP not only lifts families out of poverty, but also alleviates the depth and severity of poverty.

• The House proposed cuts to SNAP are tantamount to saying that every religious congregation across the United States needs to come up with an estimated extra $50,000 a year for the next 10 years to make up the difference.

• Food banks have seen a nearly 50 percent increase in demand since 2006. Any cuts to nutrition programs will put an even greater strain on charities and churches providing emergency food assistance.

• A parent with two kids working full-time at minimum wage in our country doesn’t earn enough to keep the family above the poverty line. Refundable tax credits, like the Child Tax Credit, boost earnings so working parents don’t have to raise their children in poverty.

• The bill proposes to cut state funding for services that play a critical role in preventing child abuse, increasing the availability of child care, and providing community-based care for elderly and disabled individuals. In 2009, just some of these funds provided adult protective services for well over 500,000 seniors.

Every time Congress proposes these types of harmful cuts to programs for hungry and poor people, we must loudly oppose it. These types of cuts are unacceptable. We need to continue to put the pressure on the House of Representatives.  So please call today.  

Call your representative at 1-800-326-4941 and tell him or her to VOTE NO on the reconciliation bill today! Or Send an Email.