Opinion
‘Ryanomics’ Assault Poor, Hungry Children
D
ietrich Bonhoeffer, the
great German Protestant
theologian, who was exe-
cuted for opposing Hitler’s
holocaust, believed that the test of
the morality of a society is how it
treats its children. I agree and am
deeply ashamed that the United
States of America flunks Bonhoef-
fer’s test every hour of every day
as our policies and priorities per-
mit 16.1 million children – more
than 1 in 5 – to live in poverty in
the richest nation on earth and 7.3
million to live in extreme poverty
according to the new Census
poverty data.
Children under five are our
poorest age group with one in four
infants, toddlers and preschoolers
– who did not choose their parents
– poor during their years of great-
est brain development. The U.S.
Agriculture Department recently
reported that a record number of
families in America are struggling
to put enough food on the table
and that one in five children live in
a food insecure household. Mil-
lions of Americans, many of them
hard working parents, have only
food stamps to keep the wolves of
hunger from their door.
Yet, the Ryan budget passed by
the House of Representatives not
only would do nothing to decrease
epidemic poverty, hunger and
homelessness during this time of
economic downturn and parental
joblessness, it would increase their
struggles by taking away food and
other essential supports. Rya-
nomics is an all-out assault on our
poorest children while asking not
a dime of sacrifice from the richest
2 percent of Americans or from
wealthy corporations.
Ryanomics slashes hundreds of
millions of dollars from child and
family nutrition, health, child care,
education, and child protection
services, in order to extend and
add to the massive Bush tax cuts
for millionaires and billionaires at
a taxpayer cost of $5 trillion over
10 years. On top of making the
Bush tax cuts permanent, the top-
income bracket would get an
additional 10 percent tax cut. Mil-
lionaires and billionaires would on
average keep at least an additional
quarter of a million dollars each
year and possibly as much as
$400,000 a year, according to the
Citizens for Tax Justice.
The Ryan budget does not name
or touch any of the many expen-
sive tax incentives, tax loopholes
or tax subsidies that help the pow-
erful and the wealthy. It doesn’t
close tax loopholes or rein in
incentives to corporations invest-
ing or taking jobs overseas,
several of which alone could gen-
erate $129 billion over 10 years. It
doesn’t touch the tax advantage
for private equity partners that
now provides a $15 billion wind-
fall over 10 years or the tax
preferences for oil and gas compa-
nies that cost about $40 billion a
year.
Ryanomics widens the already
huge wealth and income chasm in
our nation and only benefits the
richest Americans and powerful
corporations while ripping apart
already porous safety nets for vul-
nerable children. Ryanomics
masquerades as a fiscally respon-
sible deficit-reducing budget plan
to preserve our children’s future.
C HILD
W ATCH
Marian
Wright
Edelman
In reality, it is Robin Hood in
reverse – stealing from babies to
benefit billionaires and increasing
the deficit.
To come up with a portion of the
Ryan budget’s savings require-
ments, the House Agriculture
committee chose to cut more than
$33 billion from food stamps but
left subsidies to large profitable
corporate farms intact. By reduc-
ing benefits and changing food
stamp eligibility rules nearly 2
million children would lose bene-
fits, about 22 million children
would be in households with
children and families to pay for from denying coverage for chil- all great faiths to protect the poor
massive government handouts for dren with pre-existing conditions, and vulnerable. The U.S. Catholic
rescinding coverage when chil- Bishops in a letter to every mem-
the wealthiest. It:
Does away with child tax cred- dren get sick, and ensures young ber of Congress on May 8, 2012
its 5 ½ million low income adults can stay on their parents’ said: “Deficit reduction and fiscal
children, primarily in immigrant health plans until age 26. The responsibility efforts must protect
families because of a new require- repeal would put 14 million chil- and not undermine the needs of
ment that taxpayers must include dren at risk for losing health poor and vulnerable people” and
their Social Security number on coverage by ending the mainte- declared that the proposed cuts in
the House budget “fail this
tax returns to claim the child
basic moral test.” The
tax credit. Working families
Hungry child,
much-publicized “Nuns on
with incomes averaging
I didn’t make this world for you.
the Bus,” Catholic Sisters
$21,000 a year would see
You didn’t buy any stock in my railroad.
committed to fighting
their taxes raised about
You didn’t invest in my corporation.
poverty, challenged Rya-
$1,800;
Where are your shares in standard oil?
I made the world for the rich
nomics declaring: “We
Eliminates the $1.7 billion
And the will-be-rich
insist on a Faithful Budget
Social Services Block Grant
And the have-always-been-rich.
that affirms the life of all
(SSBG) that funds critical
Not for you,
God’s children – not just the
services for the most vulner-
Hungry child.
wealthiest few.” And Albert
able populations, primarily
— Langston Hughes, “God to Hungry Child”
Camus, Nobel Laureate,
low and moderate income
speaking at a Dominican
children and adults who are
elderly or disabled. SSBG serves nance of effort protections that monastery in 1948 said: “Perhaps
roughly 23 million people, about prevent states from cutting chil- we cannot prevent this world from
half of whom are children. If dren from the Medicaid and being a world in which children
SSBG is repealed, 4 million chil- Children’s Health Insurance Pro- are tortured. But we can reduce the
number of tortured children.” He
dren would lose child care and gram rolls;
Turns Medicaid over to the described our responsibility as
states in the form of a federal human beings “if not to reduce
block grant and cuts spending by evil, at least not to add to it” and
$810 billion over 10 years, giving “to refuse to consent to conditions
states the power to slash eligibili- which torture innocents.” He said,
ty, benefits, and payments to “I continue to struggle against this
doctors and hospitals while raising universe in which children suffer
costs on the poor. Today, Medicaid and die.”
And so must all of us including
provides comprehensive health
and mental health coverage to our political leaders of all parties.
nearly 36 million children and has
Marian Wright Edelman is pres-
helped to reduce the number of
uninsured children as employer ident of the Children’s Defense
child protective services for 1.7 sponsored coverage has eroded Fund whose Leave No Child
million children and child abuse and families have struggled during Behind® mission is to ensure
every child a Healthy Start, a
prevention and intervention for the economic down turn.
Ryanomics is not only poor Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe
640,000 children would be dis-
arithmetic, it is also poor morality Start and a Moral Start in life and
rupted;
Repeals the Affordable Care Act and gross injustice that turns successful passage to adulthood
that prevents insurance companies upside down the requirements of with the help of caring families
Children under five are our poorest
age group with one in four infants,
toddlers and preschoolers – who did
not choose their parents – poor
during their years of greatest brain
development
reduced benefits, and 280,000
low-income children would lose
free breakfast and lunch at school.
Ryanomics equals more hungry
poor children.
Ryanomics has no trouble nam-
ing cuts to programs helping poor
Week on the Web
Federal Government
Finds Cheating on State
Highway Construction
Contract
…in NW News
For The Skanner News
on your smart phone
go to www.
theskannermobile.com
or scan this QR code
with your app.
Department of Jus-
tice: Portland Police
Used Excessive Force
Against People with Mental Illness
…in NW News
Weekend Events Will Observe
150th Anniversary of the Emancipa-
tion Proclamation
…in NW News
Selena Gomez: The ‘Hotel Transyl-
vania’ Interview
…in Entertainment
Gary Johnson: An Uphill Battle to
Catch a Wave, Win the Presidency
…in US News
www.
The Skanner.com has the latest news from Portland and beyond, on your mobile or your desktop, it’s your go-to place for the
news you won’t see in mainstream publications. It’s your community. It’s The Skanner.
September 19, 2012
The Portland Skanner Page 5