B lack H istory M
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onth
s p e c ia l
c o n e ra a e .
F e b ru a ry 23. 2 0 0 5
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
Keep Kids from Gangs
Budget falls
short of
promise
by
U.S. R ep . D iane W atson
In his State of the Union Ad
dress, President Bush touched
on the growing threat of youth
and gang violence and made ref
erence to new initiatives to keep
young people out of gangs. Un
fo rtu n a te ly , the P re s id e n t’s
rhetoric is out of sync with his
actions. Let’s look at the facts.
This month the President sub
mitted his new federal budget to
C o n gress. S u rprisingly, the
President’s budget calls for the
elimination of many important
youth violence and gang pre
vention programs.
Among the casualties are fund
ing for Byrne Grants to help state
and local law enforcement con
trol violent and drug-related
crime; community policing pro
grams to hire additional officers;
U.S. Rep.
Diane Watson
How are we to meaningfully
address the growing threat o f
youth and gang violence when
the President's budget
eviscerates most o f the
government’s gang
prevention programs? i .
Juvenile Accountability Block
Grants to help states and locali
ties improve theirjuvenile justice
systems; and programs designed
to reintegrate youthful offend
ers.
Every one of these important
programs has been zeroed out of
the federal budget to the tune of
almost $ I billion dollars.
In my mind. President Bush is
practicing fuzzy logic. How are
we to meaningfully address the
growing threat of youth and gang
violence when the President’s
budget eviscerates most of the
governm ent’s gang prevention
programs
In its most disturbing manifes
tation, the reach of gangs has not
just become national but interna
tional in scope.
We all must be on guard and
concerned by these disturbing
trends.
Youth violence solves noth
ing, but the President's budget
will do nothing to solve youth
violence.
U.S. Rep. Diane Watson, D-
Calif. serves Los Angeles and
Culver City, Calif. She is a mem
ber o f the Congressional Black
Caucus.
Tax Cuts for Rich Should Be Repealed
Balancing the
budget on the
backs of the poor
by
J udge G reg M athis
The $600 billion tax-cuts enacted a
couple of years ago resulted in drastic
reductions in social programs that ben
efit the poor and working class and has
failed to jum p start the economy as
promised. Furthermore, with the bud
get cuts proposed last month to 150
more people will have to :
endure the hardships of pov- ■
erty for years to come.
A six-month study con-
ducted by the Detroit News HBL
rescaled some eye opening
realities. The tax cuts in-
Bush
will mcvii.tblv cause nn>ie
working poor,
Federal programs, such
as social services, job
J l H R training and housing are
under funded because of
. .
the tax cuts of Bush s first
'/ I J r ^ H term, fax breaks that ben
efited the wealthiest 10
percent
s^^^H
impoverished
vvoik
Today, nearly $36 million
,
„
....
Americans who were poor
or 13 percent of Americans
b
b
lost more in services than
live in poverty, not including the tens they saved in taxes. One example is the
of millions who are considered the federallysubsidizedchildcareprogram.
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During the Clinton administration,
funding for this program increased by
49 percent and moved more than 2.5
million people into the workforce. Con-
trarily, under the Bush administration
there has been only a 5 percent increase
in childcare funding, barely enough to
keep up with inflation.
While the wealthy will benefit from
tax breaks totaling $ 148 billion this year
alone, government will spend only half
of that amount on childcare programs,
job training, public housing, meals for
the needy, welfare, and college Pell-
grants.
Congress should repeal the tax cuts
so that additional programs won’t have
to be cut from the federal budget. We
should not try to balance the budget on
the backs o f the poor, while the wealthy
continue to enjoy huge tax-cuts.
Congress must be willing to advo
cate not for 10 percent of Americans,
but for the majority who will benefit
from appropriate funding that will re
store the economy of America.
Judge Mathis is chairman o f the
Rainbow PUSH-Excel Board and a
national board member o f the Southern
Christian leadership Conference.
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