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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.”

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.

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.