Legislators left the
Capitol for Easter break and advocates for the poor are still reeling as a
House of Representatives Budget Resolution tears apart social safety-net
programs and creates new tax benefits for the wealthy.
Led by Paul Ryan, the
House of Representatives approved the spending budget for 2014 and beyond,
setting limits to what the federal government’s contribution to domestic
programs would be by “block-granting” set funding amounts to states. This is troublesome because it means the loss
of states’ ability to meet actual need for healthcare, housing, employment, and
food assistance - especially at a time when the economy is still trying to
recover and millions are still out of work.
Ryan’s proposal makes
even steeper cuts to domestic programs (than what is called for) in the Budget
Control Act of 2011. This would require
deep automatic cuts to programs beginning in 2013 if an alternative proposal is
not agreed upon by President Obama and Congress. What’s even more troubling about the House
proposal is it creates new lower tax brackets for the super-rich and slashes
corporate tax rates for companies. The
Coalition on Human Needs is projecting automatic spending reductions will cut
many low-income programs by 20% or more, including job training, WIC, housing, and more.
The House Budget
Resolution would also repeal the Affordable Care Act meaning an additional 30
million people uninsured. By 2050, the
federal government would almost entirely be out of the social safety-net
business aside from Social Security, defense, and some healthcare.
The Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities recently likened Paul Ryan’s approach to conservative
Grover Norquist’s vision in an interview on NPR where he related, “I don’t want
to abolish government. I simply want to
reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the
bathtub.” The vision for a limited
government does not take into consideration the impact of what suddenly pulling
the rug out from under millions of Americans – now, and in the long-term will
do. Many experts have acknowledged what
is needed is a balanced approach to recovery, including revenue increases, so
millions of Americans can continue receiving assistance as the economy
struggles to recover.
President Obama has
also put forth a spending plan to achieve deficit reduction over many years,
acknowledging the important role safety-net programs play in recovery and
people’s day-to-day lives. If no agreement is reached with Congress,
the automatic cuts would go into effect in FY 2013 and by conservative
estimates:
·
75,000 children
would not be able to receive Head Start services· 25,000 children could not receive child care assistance
· 17,000 seniors would no longer receive Meals on Wheels
· 12,200 people couldn’t get vital AIDS drugs
· 460,000 special education students would receive fewer or no services
· 1.3 million college students would lose or face reductions in their supplemental education
grants
· 734,000 households would no longer receive help paying for their home heating or air conditioning
It is imperative that
we work with our own congressional leaders and urge them to adopt a proposal
that does not hurt those things we care deeply about. America’s social safety-net is a critical
component of our economy and its programs are a part of how we all live. Without federal assistance and guidance,
states will be more likely to end critical programs or reduce them to such a level
that millions will remain (or become) homeless, hungry, unemployed, and
sick.
We can do much better
than the Ryan plan to gradually reduce our deficit through a plan acknowledging
the important role the federal government continues to play in stabilizing the
economy - and assuring all children and
all families have a bright future.
The Ryan message is not
representative of who we are and what we want to be as a nation.
