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ILLINOIS CONFERENCE OF CHURCHES One in Christ - Together in Mission
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Amos 1:6-7a – “Thus says the Lord: … ‘I will not revoke the punishment; because they sell the righteous for silver, and he needy for a pair of sandals – they who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth, and push the afflicted out of the way.’”
In a recent Zogby Poll, two issues were identified as being significant moral issues in the US today: 37% named “greed and materialism” and 31% named “poverty and injustice”. Thus, the President’s proposed FY 2006 budget raises serious questions about the values of a nation. The FY 2006 budget appears tilted toward permanent tax cuts and military spending, while targeting domestic programs for budget cuts or spending caps. The budget axe is being swung to reduce the deficit by seeking to curtail expenditures for human needs programs for the poor, children, and elderly such as TANF, Food Stamps, WIC, Child Care, Head Start, Medicaid, and Medicare. State budgets will be directly impacted if federal funds are cut for block grants.
In Illinois, for example, state funding for KidCare and Family Care may be forced to be reduced that will put low-income families at risk and pushed over the edge into severe poverty if they no longer have the security of health insurance. It is interesting to note that about the same number of people who are economically poor in the US also do not have health insurance. We are talking about 40 million people (15% of the population). In a Families USA report, published in June 2004, one in three people in Illinois are without health insurance (3.5 million). Among the uninsured, 75% are employed, but 59% are low-income families at or below 200% of the federal poverty level ($ 37,320 for a family of four). In addition, Hispanics and African-Americans make up a higher percentage of the uninsured in Illinois. Federal budget cuts or spending caps will do nothing but increase the number of people in need.
The bottom line is that the most vulnerable in our nation -- the poor, children, disabled, and elderly – should not be forced to bear the burden to reduce the national budget deficit. Although it may appear that a proposed budget that calls for spending caps is a responsible way to control federal spending, nevertheless, the criterion of federal spending on domestic social programs should be measured against the actual need and the cost associated with it. Otherwise, spending caps become arbitrary and will contribute to an increase in human need and poverty, not its elimination. The federal budget is a mirror of a nation’s values, and thus a moral issue. The federal budget battle may in the end be less about appropriations than the cost to the nation’s soul. The painful truth is that the churches and related social services agencies, despite their generosity of spirit, do not have the capacity to minister to the growing number of poor in the nation. The churches need to call the government to account that it too shares a moral obligation to care for people who are more fearful of the terror of poverty than the threat of terrorist attacks.
If you want to learn more about how federal budget decisions will directly impact the quality of life for people in our nation, please check out the following websites: 1) Healthcare (Families USA): www.familiesusa.org; 2) Other Human Needs Programs (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities): www.cbpp.org; (Coalition on Human Needs): www.chn.org.