The Sequester is bearing down on us!! This Friday, March 1, terrible cuts are due to be made that will seriously affect those in our communities who are barely able to provide food and shelter for themselves and family members. Many members of the House of Representatives are now saying: Oh, it isn’t so bad; its effects are being blown out of proportion by the administration.

Well, the administration is now one of at least three well-respected national groups outlining what the cuts will actually mean – on the ground, in YOUR STATE. As the sequester is designed, cuts would be made at a program level – not at a broad department level. So, cuts are specific to things like Head Start, not to a large entity like the Department of Education or Department of Health and Human Services. So, real children will lose their teachers and aides, and locations will be closed. This is only one of MANY examples.

If this happens, the cuts will be felt by everyone!

Check out the three views of the state level impacts:

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/sequestration-state-impact/?hpid=z2
• http://www.chn.org/background/save-state-fact-sheets/
• http://costofwar.com/publications/2013/sequestration-pentagon-and-states/

New “solutions” to the fiscal crisis continue to emerge. Congress and the president continue to volley possible plans to avoid the “cliff.” Speaker Boehner and even the president are beginning to focus on one area of savings objected to by advocates who know what it is: a benefit cut to Social Security beneficiaries.

The “Chained-CPI” is a way to define the basis for inflation, slowing it – which affects the tax base – and more importantly it defines the annual rate of increase in Social Security benefits and veterans’ benefits. The election seemed to clarify that most of the public does not approve of cuts in benefits to our elders or to those in the greatest need, in order to support tax breaks for those with greater wealth. But, many do not recognize the actual effects of this change, if it is made.

CHAINED CPI, Our Elders and Our Veterans

New attention is being given to a measure of inflation termed the “Chained-CPI.” Currently, a formula for calculating inflation is based on a set of typical items in a market basket – the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The “Chained-CPI” differs in that it makes substitutions in the basket – so that is one product goes up in cost at a greater rate than most of the others, a lower priced item would be substituted. This makes the cost increase of the basket be less. So, the inflation rate would be less. Many government programs, as well as tax rates, are based on this index.

This impacts Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) for recipients of Social Security, Veterans Benefits and many other programs. Robert Greenstein, Executive Director of the Center for Budget Policy Priorities (CBPP) addressed this in a recent interview on National Public Radio. For seniors at a Social Security rate of $1000, under the current CPI it might rise to $1080 for the next year. However, using the Chained-CPI, it might rise to only $1030. They would receive $50 per month less in Social Security benefits. This amount would be significant for seniors on fixed incomes, or for veterans recovering from the trauma of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan.

For seniors, neither the current CPI, nor the Chained-CPI is a good match for where they spend their money. Seniors generally make significantly more health care purchases than does the general public. These purchases are not well represented in either “market basket.” The Chained-CPI would make the situation even worse for our elders. This leads to limited-income seniors bearing the weight of savings for the general population.

Negotiations are moving slowly on means to avert Sequestration (known as the Fiscal Cliff). It seems it is up to Representative Boehner and the president to come to some agreeable compromise.  Although there is a tremendous amount of speculation about what will be the final deal; there is far more misinformation based on assumptions.

What we have, from the White House and from Representative Boehner’s own statements, appears on this chart.

COMPARING GOP ALTERNATIVES TO SEQUESTRATION WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA’S PLAN

(ALL ARE OVER 10 YEARS)

* Since establishment of the Budget Control Act (BCA) Discretionary Programs have already been cut by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. By 2017, non-defense discretionary spending will be at the level of 1962, with far fewer seniors and less wealth disparity.

** This is insufficient to offset even the cost of extending the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% in our nation.

Sources:

http://www.speaker.gov/sites/speaker.house.gov/files/documents/letter_to_wh_121203.pdf

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/11/29/the-white-houses-fiscal-cliff-proposal/

This chart will be adapted as more information becomes available. Keep an eye on it.

Last Thursday (5.10.12) the House of Representatives took another whack at slashing the social safety net, ensuring that millions of members of our communities would go hungry, live on the streets, be in more crowded classrooms, be unable to work for lack of daycare, and become sicker as Medicaid funding would be more limited. All of this while working to ensure that those with the greatest incomes will still receive the highest percentage tax breaks given.

Of course, we trust that Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012 (H.R. 5652) will neither be passed by the Senate, nor signed into law by the president. But the leadership and many members of the House are putting their true values out for all of us to see. Remember, the budget is a moral document, and where you put your money shows what you value.

This legislation is not the only an attack on those who are vulnerable, who are ill or have lost jobs. The most recent budgets, and certainly the Budget Control Act of 2011 (which kept us from exceeding the debt limit) have resulted in attacks of the lowest-wage earners.

Check the chart (EFFECTS OF PROPOSED FUNDING CHANGES IN 2013), which compares what would have happened as a result of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (Sequestration) and what is occurring in the appropriations negotiations being deliberated in the House and Senate right now. As things change, the chart will be updated.

On March 29, 2012, the House of Representatives passed the budget proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan, a Catholic who seems to have missed the tenets of Catholic Social Teaching in his education.  In the big picture, this budget would unravel the social safety net, increase military spending and provide even greater tax breaks for the wealthiest individuals and corporations in this nation.  On Tuesday, April 10, in an interview for the Christian Broadcasting Network, Ryan tried to make the case that his budget is based on Catholic Social Teaching.  It is laudable that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference is among those making strong statements contradicting this contention.

The next move by House leadership has begun: presenting appropriations bills and a Ways and Means Committee bill putting flesh on his budget.  On Wednesday, April 18, the following actions were taken in the House:

The Ways and Means Committee on 4.18.12, marked up a bill which, if passed, would:

• Permanently repeal the Social Services Block Grant (currently $1.7 billion a year).
• Eliminate millions of immigrant children of workers in the United States from receiving assistance through the Child Tax Credit,

The House Agriculture Committee voted, April 18, to cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by $33 billion.

We hope that Representative Ryan, will consider the impact of the proposals he is making, in light of the Gospels and of documents such as ECONOMIC JUSTICE FOR ALL: Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy, by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1986.  Also, attend to the letters sent to the House of Representatives this month by the Conference of Catholic Bishops, concerning this current House Budget and related actions.

This morning in Congressional Quarterly was an article about the president’s 2013 budget proposal which began by saying:

Democrats are saying it is a balanced approach, and
Republicans saying it is a blueprint for more spending and higher taxes.

Yes, it is a blueprint for higher taxes. More revenue is critically needed. Effective tax rates are far lower than they have been any time in the last 60 years, at a time when demographics and corporate greed demand more spending on what will allow seniors and those with less economic power to live in some level of dignity.

It is also a time when our roads, bridges, public hospitals and schools, built when there was sufficient revenue to pay for them, are now crumbling. The highway trust fund is unable to keep up with patching our interstates, much less provide improvement to unsafe bridges. Taxed exist to provide for what all members of our society rely on and use. Many corporations pay little if any taxes in some years. Yet, these very corporations use and cause wear and tear on the very infrastructure paid for by taxes paid by others – while they enjoy outrageous profits.

Higher taxes would be detrimental to the economy – only in reducing these outrageous profits to a more just level.

There is something amiss in this system.

The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, commonly referred to as the Super Committee, is now three weeks from its deadline for providing a plan to the House and to the Senate. They have held many closed meetings, and on November 1 will hold their fourth open meeting.

Differences about increased revenue versus spending cuts continue to be as contentious as they were in previous budget negotiations. Republicans continue to push NO NEW TAXES, or NO TAX INCREASES. Democrats are pushing for a surtax on those earning over $1 million/year. Republicans are pushing for additional cuts to discretionary programs, severe cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, and changes to Social Security which would result in increasingly reduced benefits to beneficiaries. Democrats are working to protect safety net programs, including Medicaid, SNAP and other areas that help people live with dignity.

This week, the leadership of the House and the Senate are stepping in, as the panel has been unable to make progress in resolving the tax issues. The hope is that by working with the leadership, a framework can be developed this week. Then the panel (Super Committee) would spend the following days incorporating legislative details. The Super Committee has MANY ideas from which to develop these details. They have met with the Gang of Six, with the Biden Commission, and others who had previously designed means of reducing the deficit – none of which was entirely accepted by Congress. Taking pieces from each, and doing additional creative work, may lead to an agreement.

If no agreement is reached by November 23, when it is due to the House and to the Senate for an up-or-down vote, an automatic “sequester” will be accepted. However, once accepted it does not go into effect until January 1, 2013 – giving Congress a year to make changes in sequester as it was passed in August.

The Super Committee will need to complete its work well before November 23, as any agreement will need to be scored by the Congressional Budget Office. This will give advocates for every issue time to study the plan before it goes to the House and to the Senate. NETWORK looks forward to seeing this document.

National Prayer Vigil:  In solidarity with people in poverty, we prayed for a just budget balance plan, but faith without works is dead. (James 2:17) Barbara Baylor challenged us: If further deprivation of justice for your marginalized brother and sister makes you mad, then refuse to take it anymore.

On September 14, 2011, Faithful Reform in Healthcare sponsored a telephone Prayer Vigil for the Nation, led by five nationally renowned faith leaders. More than 500 people/groups of people called in to raise their voices in solidarity and prayer. Participants prayed that God would open the ears of those in Congress so they might hear the cries of people in poverty. Each of the prayer leaders called for a compassionate and just response as Congress deliberates the future for safety net programs in their budget sessions.

Sr. Simone Campbell, SSS, Executive Director, NETWORK, summoned God’s light to shine forth in our lives with a practical recognition of our divinely decreed interdependence. Simone bid Congress to respect that “we are all better when the common good is at the core of our decision-making.” Reverend Sandra Strauss, Director of Public Policy, Pennsylvania Council of Churches, and ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), followed with a prayer for the realization of a society “where each person is afforded health, wholeness, and human dignity simply because they are created in the image of God.”

Finally, Barbara Baylor, Minister for Health Care Justice, United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries rallied us to become “mad as hell” and to “refuse to take it anymore.” She beseeched the faithful  to appreciate and respond to the restlessness of their hearts concerning  “what is happening today in our nation as the attack on poor, low-income, elderly and disabled women and children continues without any signs of letting up.”  In closing the prayer service, she challenged us to revolutionize our stated prayers into prayers of practical advancement of real justice. Call, write or email your members of Congress and demand, “Do not balance the budget on the backs of [those who are] poor.”