In fairness to Tim Richardson, this should piss him off.
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National Catholic Reporter
Published on National Catholic Reporter (http://ncronline.org)
Fairness conspicuously missing in deficit reduction legislation
By Thomas C. Fox
Created Aug 02, 2011
* NCR Today [2]
Watching the politically manufactured debt ceiling debate draw
to its sad conclusion, I think of the last stanza of T.S.
Eliot's often quoted poem, "The Hollow Men" …
... Not with a bang but a whimper
However you cut it, there is something quite disturbing -- and
immoral -- about a debt reduction package that calls for cuts
in critical services to the poor while at the same time calling
for no sacrifice from the wealthiest elite in our nation. This,
of course, is one more sign, if any more were needed, of a
well-heeled and finely purchased Congress by the super rich
among us. It's quite sad and should be upsetting to all who
support democracy around the world.
Those in Congress who justify this disproportionate solution to
our nation's financial predicament under the banner of "no
tax hikes" should be ashamed of themselves. However, don't
expect any self examination of conscience soon. These folks swim
in waters of sweet justification and self-satisfaction never
inconvenienced by information or reason. Simple self-justifying
ideology, fanned by those who most benefit from it, the super
rich, propels them either mindlessly or blind to conscience.
After all, they apparently continue to look into the faces of
their children without embarrassment.
Keep in mind the very modest tax increase that was initially on
the table, the long needed elimination of a tax break to the
top one percent of the nation's already very well-off asset
gatherers, was forced off by political reality before serious
negotiations began to take place.
Elementary, if not superficial fairness, would have required
half the savings come from tax increases and half from spending
cuts. But no, the starting point was to cut spending on programs
that have modestly enabled the poorest among us to find food and
shelter for their families during recent years as the gulf
between rich and poor has expanded at an alarming rate.
The median wealth of white households is now 20 times that of
black households [3]and 18 times that of Hispanic households,
according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly available
government data from 2009. Twenty times!
The tax increase proposal that was forced from discussion by the
Republican-controlled House of Representatives would have
modestly raised only three dollars more from every $1,000 among
those comfortably over the $250,000 mark. Fairness, real
fairness, should have required 10 times that amount. But little
that characterizes political discussions in Washington these
days can be characterized by fairness and, I might add, reason
or simple human compassion.
So with cuts in spending on the proposed deficit reduction
agreement bearing all weight one is left wondering how we got to
the point. It is fact, not cliché, those two wars President
George W. Bush initiated -- both of choice as well as across the
board tax cuts, by far the largest of these benefitting the most
comfortable among us -- have caused much to the problem. An
increasingly expensive, complex and inefficient insurance
industry-controlled medical benefit program, has played another
major role.
Check out these figures in a chart
that appeared in Sunday's New York Times.
By the way, those two wars? We have borrowed every dollar that
funds them, passing on the costs to those who will now begin to
feel an even greater pinch to their already insecure
livelihoods, and, of course, to our children and their children.
I call those who have actively encouraged our military
engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan without also having lobbied
for war tax hikes cheap patriots. Yes, cheap patriots. "Send in
the troops," they have effectively said. "But don't ask me
to open my wallet to help pay the price."
Most reasonable people recognize that digging us out of the
financial hole we are in will require common sacrifice. This is
as it should be. Those with greater means, nearly all of whom
have done very nicely in their financial investment portfolios
during the last decade, should also bear the greater burden of
these sacrifices. However, I'm not counting on it.
This would only be fair; it would express common purpose and our
commitments to the common good, so much at the center of our
church's teachings on the social contract and social justice.
However, do not rely solely on me for locating the foundations
of Catholic social thought. Go back to the beginnings and to its
biblical origins. The evangelist, Matthew, wrote the following
in chapter 25, and it is pertinent today.
Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty
and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome
you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in
prison, and visit you? And the king will say to them in reply,
'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least
brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Going forward, were we to keep our eyes focused, as we figure
out the tough choices ahead, on the "least" among us,
we'll have a better chance of restoring fiscal, and moral,
health to our nation.
After all, we're not a poor nation; just a seemingly soulless
one.
Fox is NCR Editor. Can be reached at tfox@ncronline.org.
By NCR Staff
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