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February 22, 2005
Without
vision the people perish
by Jim Wallis
On
Monday, February 7, President Bush released his 2006 budget proposal. As
convener of Call to Renewal, Sojourners' partner organization, I issued
the following response to the budget.
The biblical prophets frequently spoke to rulers and kings. They
spoke to "the nations," and it is the powerful that are most often the
target audience; those in charge of things are the ones called to
greatest accountability. And the prophets usually spoke for the
dispossessed, widows and orphans (read: poor single moms), the hungry,
the homeless, the helpless, the least, last, and lost. They spoke to a
nation's priorities.
Budgets are moral documents that reflect the values and priorities of
a family, church, organization, city, state, or nation. They tell us
what is most important and valued to those making the budget. President
Bush says that his 2006 budget "is a budget that sets priorities."
Examining those priorities - who will benefit and who will suffer in
President Bush's budget - is a moral and religious concern. Just as we
have "environmental impact studies" for public policies, it is time for
a "poverty impact statement," which would ask the fundamental question
of how policy proposals affect low-income people. We could start with
this budget and do a "values audit" to determine how its values square
with those of the American people. I believe this would reveal
unacceptable priorities.
The cost of the deficit is increasingly borne by the poor. The budget
projects a record $427 billion deficit, and promises to make tax cuts
benefiting the wealthiest permanent. Religious communities spoke clearly
in the past years about the perils of a domestic policy based primarily
on tax cuts for the rich, program cuts for low-income people, and an
expectation of faith-based charity. We must speak clearly now about a
budget lacking moral vision. A budget that scapegoats the poor and
fattens the rich, that asks for sacrifice mostly from those who can
least afford it, is a moral outrage.
Low-income people should not be punished for the government decisions
that placed us in financial straits. Rather than moving toward a "living
family income," the budget stifles opportunities for low-income
families, which are vital for national economic security. Our future is
in serious jeopardy if one in three proposed program cuts are to
education initiatives (after a highly touted "No Child Left Behind"
effort), if there will be less flexibility to include working poor
families with children on Medicaid, and if reductions in community and
rural development, job training, food stamps, and housing are accepted
as solutions for reducing the deficit. Cutting pro-work and pro-family
supports for the less fortunate jeopardizes the common good. And this
while defense spending rises again to $419 billion (not including any
additional spending for war in Iraq).
These budget priorities would cause the prophets to rise up in
righteous indignation, as should we. Our nation deserves better vision.
Morally-inspired voices must provide vision for the people when none
comes from its leaders. We must believe that such vision can change the
hearts of those needing new grounding and direction.
The Bible talks often of the need to repent - to turn and go in
another direction. If we do not now "Write the vision; make it plain
upon tablets" (Habakkuk 2:2), others cannot follow. If we do, we act to
secure the future of the common good.
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