WHO
SPEAKS FOR THE POOR
When Rep.
Paul Ryan first proposed weakening the social safety net in a budget proposal
in 20,12 ,the Catholic Bishops called it “immoral”. That was
even before Pope Francis reset priorities of the Catholic Church to care about
the poor. Ryan’s newest budget passed by the House this month (and DOA in the
Senate), reduces food stamps by $125 billion and restricts access of
the near poor to health care by repealing Obamacare and reducing Medicaid.If
his first proposal was immoral, the 2014 version is beyond immoral. Who
is speaking for the poor these days?,
Not The GOP,
many of whom oppose even raising the minimum wage, so low now even full time
workers live in poverty. Not Republicans who support laws making
it harder for the poor without affordable and easy access to drivers’ licenses and
birth certificates or convenient voting hours to raise their voices .Not the GOP
House members including the GOP Colorado Representatives who voted for Ryan
budget this month, that would have cut food stamps while cutting taxes for the rich.
Growing up in Oklahoma in the 1950’s, I heard many rationalize opposing
government assistance by blaming
the poor themselves, opining African
Americans were lazy or undeserving.. Racist
attitudes coloring opposition to welfare
still linger into recent times per a study of many public opinion polls reviewed by Arizona
State University.
Pres. Johnson’s War on Poverty and
civil rights legislation were the reaction to the injustice and fueled by the long hot summer riots of the
late 1960’s . America learned that the poor could get attention even if they
did not have a political voice. But there were also abuses as some gamed the
new welfare system .
Reality
check: Welfare reform in the 1990’s put
more to work. Those left receiving food stamps now, per the US Department of
Agriculture, are mostly kids (47 percent are under age 18)and elderly
(8%). . Three-quarters of food stamp recipients are families with children.
The charity community is doing
what they can , but sometimes the food bank cupboard is bare..Hunger plagues 1
out of 5 kids who do not know where the next meal is coming from and government
through school lunch programs and food stamps make up part of the difference.
Many of the states with the largest number of poor have
state houses dominated by the GOP yet whose budgets are the most
dependent on federal money for social programs. They have the greatest
need and the least will to provide .Leaving states to use their own
resources with federal block grants masking diminished federal
contributions to Medicaid, as Ryan’s budget does, would further divide
this country between the have and have nots..
Even the Democratic
Party has focused priorities on issues supporting the middle class.
The voice of the poor was further overwhelmed by recent
Supreme Court decisions that gave
corporations the same right as individuals to contribute political campaigns (Citizen's United),
and a recent decision (McCutcheon v FEC) that made it much easier for the
wealthy to spread their influence around.
So who is left as the strongest voice for the poor? Some in
the faith community and Pope Francis and
God bless them.
Sources tapped for this blog:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/1/paul-ryans-final-federal-budget-cuts-5-trillion/ http://www.asu.edu/mpa/Bartels.pdf
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/19/AR2010111906872.html http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/23/us/cnnheroes-hungry-children/
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