In the beginning of August we wrote about the debt-ceiling deal and what was in it and what was not. As Congress comes back after Labor Day, we will need to be focused on many issues. The “Super Committee” will be meeting to craft a deal for 2014 and beyond. The “regular order” will be used to finish the Fiscal Year 2012 budget and appropriation process. We imagine that sometimes it will be difficult to keep clear which aspect of the work we are talking about in our alerts. We will do our best to keep you up-to-date on all of this.

The Super Committee has a few clear dates. They must adopt any recommendations by majority vote (7 votes) by November 23, 2011. If they make recommendations, then both houses of Congress must vote on them by December 23, 2011. If Congress fails to adopt a plan to cut the debt and deficit, then there are automatic cuts that take effect January 1, 2012, called “sequester.” However, it should be noted that while the “sequester” takes effect in 2012. the cuts do not go into effect until January 1, 2013. This means (at least theoretically) that Congress could keep working on some way to solve the debt and deficit problem during 2012. There are some advocates who expect the Super Committee to fail and the matter to finally be resolved in a lame- duck session after the 2012 election.

We at NETWORK want the Super Committee to be responsible and do their work in a way that protects the low income working poor people of our country. We need to be able to create opportunity for all people of our nation, not just the corporate owners.

Last week, in a Pentagon news conference, Secretary Leon Panetta indicated that the proposed $500 billion cuts in Pentagon spending would bring about serious national security consequences which he termed a “doomsday mechanism.”

The Washington Post, August 16, had a lead article: Great Falls Reflects Big Windfall – highlighting residents of Great Falls, VA.  A high proportion of them work for corporations reliant on military contracts. The median income of the area has increased by 32% in the last ten years.  Sixteen percent of this community of 15,000 earns more than $500,000 per year, with over half earning at least $250,000.

The juxtaposition of these two reports presents a possible source of savings in military spending, without serious national security consequences.

In “Where’s Your Budget, Mr. President,” (Wall Street Journal, 8/3/11) House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan wrote that President Obama had failed to present any plan to deal with the long-term debt and deficit.  This is only one of the untruths in his article.

However, in April, the President laid down a framework for $4 trillion in deficit reduction, describing responsible reforms to Medicare and Medicaid and closing tax loopholes.

The President initiated and led meetings, examples being:

• the Biden Group
• multiple times with all 8 Congressional leaders
• two rounds of talks with Congressman Boehner – which Mr. Boehner walked out on.

Mr. Ryan claimed that the Republicans had gained everything in the final deal; there are a number of things they have been attempting to achieve – which they have not:

• They were not able to voucherize Medicare, or to make Medicaid into a disastrous block grant program
• They were not able to cause damage to the Social Security program
• They were not able to force Congress to spend another several weeks or months attendingonly to the debt crisis – in a mere six more months.
• They were not able to force ALL the cuts to come from non-security programs

Mr. Ryan again told the untruths about the effects of the Affordable Care Act, and contradicting the assessments of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in truth:

• The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was fully paid for
• The ACA is scored to reduce the deficit by $200 billion over the next 10 years, and more than $1 trillion in the following 10 years.
• The ACA will provide health care coverage for 34 million Americans and will extend the life of the Medicare trust fund.
• The ACA WILL NOT cause the $6,400 annual increase in health costs for seniors – which would have been the result of the Ryan plan.

The biggest, and worst, deception is promoting the idea that the budget can be balanced and deficits reduced without any tax increases.

NETWORK believes that there is a direct correlation between the dreadful deficits faced by our nation – and the huge chasm called the “wealth gap.”  Continued payments to the wealthiest members of our communities through tax incentives, compensated for by higher taxes paid by low-income households, continue to widen this gap.  In justice, those who are most able to support this nation must be held accountable to do so. To learn more about the wealth gap, visit “Mind-the-Gap” at: www.networklobby.org/campaign/mind-the-gap.

The “debt clock” must have been at 21:58 with minutes clicking on, when the leadership came to a deal.  This afternoon we wait to see if the House and Senate members will cobble together enough votes to pass and send it on to the President for signature.  It is not a deal anyone finds to their liking.  Republicans are grateful that there are no taxes and that the savings come from spending cuts – mostly in discretionary funds ($350 Billion over ten years in Department of Defense, $400 Billion in non-military over the same time).  Democrats are grateful that there is only one required vote – not dragging this out for the next six to eight months and blocking all other congressional work.  And they are grateful that mandated programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, Pell Grants and they are grateful for a bi-partisan commission which is not barred from looking at revenue increases.

Good to have a deal – better if it is passed in both chambers this afternoon.  But, the work is not screeching to a halt!  All the cuts in both defense and non-defense spending will be worked out in the appropriations decisions, particularly for 2012 and 2013.  The next few weeks will be critical in examining the “caps” placed on spending categories and determining what programs we need to put our greatest energies into supporting.

Our work, keeping legislators aware of the impacts of their decisions, will only escalate in the weeks and months ahead.  The work by our advocates in the field is far from over.  Legislators are most swayed by the appeals from their own constituents, who have the power to reelect or not reelect.  So, voices of constituents are needed more than ever in the decisions on how the cuts will be apportioned across programs.  I plead with all those who care about those who struggle to survive economically, to continue to work with us at NETWORK.  Write your emails, make the phone calls and go to home offices as often as you can.

Last night, President Obama and Speaker Boehner addressed the nation about the current impasse. A native Washingtonian, I have lived around political discord all my life. I have never seen it uglier.

This morning’s New York Times editorial got it exactly right when they described the impasse: “…We agreed strongly when Mr. Obama said Americans should be ‘offended’ by this display and that they ‘may have voted for divided government but they didn’t vote for a dysfunctional government.’ “

Holding our nation’s economic health hostage while pandering to the extreme right wing is shameful. It is time for us – the American people – to stand up for reason and compassion.

First, each of us should contact our elected officials to demand that they break the impasse and vote for the greater good.  (You can email them through our website – and follow up with a telephone call.)

Then, we can each take time to pray that our elected officials do what is right. NETWORK is taking part in a daily prayer vigil near the Capitol. Prayers are said at 12:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time each weekday, and you can participate wherever you may be. Here is the prayer service for today. Please take a moment to join us.

Early Thursday morning, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) laid out the Democrats’ plan to simultaneously work towards deficit reduction and promote job growth. With just 54,000 jobs created in May, America’s jobs agenda has a long way to go in recouping all the jobs lost during the Great Recession. When people get back to work and pay taxes however, bleak deficit forecasts will improve, boosted by a broadening tax base from a growing workforce. Senator Schumer believes that Democrats can set a course which makes deficit reduction and job creation complimentary, not mutually exclusive, goals.

Senator Schumer also stated that Democrats are currently seeking a three-pronged approach to any deficit reduction deal, including:

• No cuts to Medicare beneficiaries
• Deficit reduction that must be balanced and shared sacrifice that must be made
• Not ignoring the need to create jobs.

While Senator Schumer stated that Democrats are looking for savings in the Medicare delivery system, he also clearly stated that cuts that hurt beneficiaries should not be tolerated.

Senator Schumer reaffirmed Democrats’ commitment to finding savings in the defense budget as well, which he said may take some pressure off discretionary program cuts and could generate support from colleagues on the far right looking for reductions in defense spending.

Senator Schumer did not hold back on his belief that congressional Republicans are opposing programs they have historically supported (such as payroll tax breaks to encourage job growth) in order to slow down the economy for their benefit in the 2012 elections. It is sad to imagine politicians being so evil as to depress wages and prevent job creations for millions of American people, but in this time of intense partisan politics, in no way unfathomable.

It is a moral imperative at this important point in the deficit and debt debate that all advocates, beneficiaries and people who care about human needs programs continue to push the administration and Congress for increased revenues so the burden of deficit reduction is not placed on the shoulders of people living in poverty through cuts to important safety-net programs. Call the White House and your members of Congress to let them know that any deficit reduction agreement must include a plan to get people back to work. The deficit clearly cannot be solved by cuts to human needs programs alone, particularly with such persistently high unemployment rates. Our elected officials must find ways to both increase revenue and direct that vital revenue to investment in jobs programs. It will be all of our jobs to ensure that the administration and Congress follow through on these vital priorities.

Call the White House and your members of Congress to let them know that any deficit reduction agreement must include a plan to get people back to work.

Today, President Obama and Vice President Biden will meet separately with Senators Reid and McConnell. Over the last several weeks, the Biden group has made progress in coming to a plan to avoid defaulting on the debt. But all the compromises have been in increasing the number and amount of areas to be cut. Representatives Eric Cantor and Jon Kyle walked out of the negotiations.

Representative Boehner and other Republican members of the House have dug in their heels:

• Everything has to be on the table – except taxes!
• Whatever the amount of the debt limit increase – it must be surpassed in the amount of spending cuts.

$2 trillion as a down payment on debt reduction is being discussed. Perhaps as much as $400 billion might be taken from the military. If this is the end agreement, that would leave $1.6 trillion to come from cuts to discretionary programs, Medicaid, Medicare, food assistance, elder care – and Social Security. There are no other places from which to cut.

No new taxes! That is the mantra. It is good to remember:

• The tax cuts established in 2001 and 2003 were temporary – giving back to the people because we had such a surplus!  They were set to expire in 2009. So, eliminating these temporary tax benefits to the wealthiest in our nation would NOT be a tax increase, and certainly not a NEW TAX!
• The Mortgage Interest Deduction was established to assist middle class families to become homeowners. However, the most expensive homes receive the greatest deduction – certainly not of the greatest benefit to the middle class attempting to purchase a modest home of their own.
• Many of us benefit from employer health insurance, which is a tax break.  However, some of the plans are the highly criticized “Cadillac” healthcare plans covering far more than keeping workers healthy enough to continue in the workforce.  Perhaps some cap on the types of plans / the amount covered would be a just savings, and not truly a new tax.

The Biden group has already agreed to reductions in funding to Medicare and to discretionary programs.  However, there has been no give on the Republican side in terms of bringing in more revenue.

• Revenue, right now, equals 14.8% of GDP.
• Expenditures equal approximately 24%.

Expenditures include the billions of dollars in tax loopholes used by corporations, SNAP, WIC and other nutrition benefits, Pell grants and education for special needs students, nursing home care for the elderly and infirm, and unemployment benefits for those whose jobs have disappeared.

If we as a nation succumb to a debt relief package without revenue increases, we need to be very certain we understand the pain this will cause to those already suffering.

This week will begin the debate for the Department of Defense appropriations. With a military budget of $513.03 billion, set to increase by 3.3% with the FY12 allocations to $530.03 billion, none of these figures even include the funding the DOD will get for war funds (House Appropriations Committee table Compiled by Coalition on Human Needs http://www.chn.org/pdf/2011/HouseCutsFY12.pdf). This is a ridiculous amount of spending, when considering that the rest of the committee budgets will be reduced. Not only is the DOD the committee with the largest amount of appropriations, but it will also be seeing an increase.

The frustrating part of this whole budget ordeal is that people are saying that EVERYONE must feel the pain of budget reductions. Yet, it seems to me by lowering the amount of appropriations to every department except defense, that in fact congress is targeting a very select group of people in our country. Those who are most in need, the elderly, poor, and children are being the ones most affected by these cuts.

I would like to point out that also as politicians argue that most of the money Defense is asking for is going toward soldiers and their families, it is not. Most of the money must not be going to recruitment nor helping families because the amount for these things has not been raised for many years. And actually, the families of soldiers are likely the very families the cuts are hurting, since most soldiers come from middle to low income families. Politicians need to be better educated before they make such promises as saying everyone will feel effects.

Also, a lot of people are talking about streamlining and cutting out inefficient or programs that are not of top priority right now. People are saying this must happen in every area of the budget, yet this is not happening in defense spending. How fair is a budget proposal that is not only forcing cuts but also insisting that programs be reviewed for efficiency, yet the largest chunk of the discretionary budget is left out?

With the debate beginning this week, there is still time to voice an opinion on the DOD. Whether you would like to see large decreases in the military budget or just see a fairer budget, speak up. For most Americans, a strong military is not the top priority, which is exactly opposite of what many in Congress will tell you is our top priority. Personally, I would like to see a government who is more concerned about creating peace than squelching out violence with more violence. So whatever your take may be against the military budget, it is not too late to speak up. Your voice is important in this stressful budget time.