Page 2 The Skanner May 31, 2017
Challenging People to Shape
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SPECIAL
EDITION
Opinion
Trump’s Budget: Wrecking Ball Aimed at Black Communities
T
rump’s budget propos-
al for fiscal year 2018
is in many ways an at-
tack on communities of
color, specifically African
Americans and those who are
low-income.
In the budget plan re-
leased this week, Trump pro-
poses cutting $800 billion
from Medicaid, the govern-
ment-funded program for
low-income people. Medicaid
is by no means a program set
aside for Black people. But,
because we are more likely to
be low income, African Amer-
icans are more likely to use
this benefit.
Similarly, Black people are
twice as likely as Whites to
have used the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Pro-
gram, commonly known as
food stamps. Thirty-one per-
cent of African Americans
have used food stamps while
15 percent of Whites have
used the benefit.
Trump’s planned gutting
of the social safety net didn’t
stop at housing and health
care but also involves slash-
ing $3 billion from the De-
partment of Housing and
Urban Development’s budget
allotted for rental assistance
and set aside to help dis-
tressed neighborhoods with
public housing.
In September, during the
presidential
campaign,
Trump called Flint’s water
problem “a shame” and vowed
to fix it quickly and effective-
ly. But, instead of committing
Keith
Rushing
NNPA
Columnist
resources to address lead poi-
soning, a national problem
affecting millions families
in the United States, Trump
plans to cut the U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency’s
budget for the lead-risk re-
duction program.
Lead poisoning is a seri-
“
between ages 1 and 5 are more
vulnerable to lead exposure
than any other racial group,
according to the U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency.
In a recent conversation,
Dr. Mark Mitchell, a co-chair
of the National Medical As-
sociation’s commission on
environmental health talked
about what lead does and how
it impacts Black children.
“This [lead problem] mat-
ters because of the effects of
lead on the mental health and
development of children,”
Mitchell said. “Reductions in
IQ, the inability to learn and
Instead of committing resources
to address lead poisoning...Trump
plans to cut the [EPA’s] budget
ous national problem. The
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention reports that
at least 4 million U.S. house-
holds with children have el-
evated levels of lead, which
can cause long-term harm to
brain development and the
nervous the system.
A recent investigative re-
port identified 3,000 areas of
the country with lead poison-
ing rates that far exceed na-
tional water safety standards,
reminiscent of Flint, Michi-
gan’s catastrophic water con-
tamination that first garnered
national attention in 2015.
This crisis is particularly
relevant to African Ameri-
cans because Black children
attention deficit disorder are
associated with lead even at
low levels.”
“African Americans are
more likely to live near coal-
fired power plants and more
likely to live in urban areas
where lead tends to line busy
streets,” he said. Mitchell ex-
plained that one reason for
high lead exposure involves
lead weights used to bal-
ance tires that fall off and get
crushed into dust that gets
tracked indoors. Older hous-
ing and rental housing are
also more likely to have old,
peeling paint that falls off and
contaminates homes.
Mitchell was part of a na-
tional coalition of scientists,
health professionals and chil-
dren’s advocates that called
on the Trump Administration
last week to develop a plan to
protect children from lead ex-
posure within five years and
put an end to the toxic hazard
by 2030. The group, Project
Tendr, said society would ben-
efit economically by address-
ing lead aggressively given
that the savings in healthcare
costs would outweigh the cost
of ridding our society of lead
contamination.
In some corners of the
Trump administration, there
seemed to be some real con-
cern about lead exposure in
recent months. In January,
during his confirmation hear-
ing, Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development Secre-
tary Ben Carson said dealing
with lead would be a priority
for him — not only abating
lead, but also establishing
clinics to address lead expo-
sure. But all he did this week
is defend Trump’s planned
cuts to his agency.
Fortunately, Trump’s pro-
posal is unlikely to find much
support in Congress. But it
does show us who he is, re-
vealing his incredible lack of
empathy for the most vulner-
able in our society. And with
allies like Carson, the lone
Black cabinet member, there’s
no one in the Trump adminis-
tration to look to.
We must look to ourselves
for the solutions we seek. And
resist all efforts to set our
communities back.
The Mission of the Democratic Faith Working Group
G
rowing up in a church
parsonage, the eldest
son of a fundamental-
ist Christian minister,
grounded me securely in
faith and family. My dad’s ser-
mons, which were based in
Old Testament scriptures as
often as they were in the New
Testament, offered up pretty
big doses of Judeo-Christian
doctrines that still guide me
today as Chair of the Demo-
cratic Faith Working Group
(DFWG) in the United States
House of Representatives.
The Old Testament lesson
found in Micah 6:8 calls upon
the reader to do justice, be
merciful and walk humbly. In
Matthew 25:45 the reader is
instructed that we are judged
by the way we treat, “the
least (among us).” These are
the principles that guide the
members of the DFWG. We
are composed of significant
strains of the great diversity
of faiths across our nation
and in our Caucus. Our val-
ues reflect these faiths, and
our faith perspectives are the
lenses through which we see
the great challenges of our
times.
Whether the issues are com-
batting poverty, providing
accessible, affordable health
care; creating jobs that pay
Rep. James
Clyburn
Senator
(D-S.C.)
livable wages, rebuilding our
infrastructure, tax fairness,
environmental stewardship,
comprehensive immigration
reform, or any other matters
important to the common
good of our people, the mem-
“
4 — would exacerbate the in-
come gap in our society by
lavishing massive tax breaks
on the wealthiest few at the
expense of working people.
There is not justice, mercy or
humbleness in such action.
In my home district alone,
more than 270,000 South Car-
olinians under Medicare age
have pre-existing conditions.
Repealing the Affordable
Care Act would subject this
population to higher costs
and loss of care. According to
a recent Joint Economic Com-
Repealing the Affordable Care Act
would have devastating effects on
‘the least of these’
bers of the DFWG are utiliz-
ing our faith-based perspec-
tives in our pursuit of “a more
perfect Union.”
The members of the DFWG
are actively opposing Repub-
lican efforts to “repeal and
replace” the Affordable Care
Act. Repealing the Affordable
Care Act would have devas-
tating effects on “the least of
these.” It would violate the
golden rule of “do(ing) unto
others as you would have
them do unto you.” The Repub-
lican bill — that was passed by
the House on Thursday, May
mittee Report, the Republi-
can Plan will cause 104,954
South Carolinians to lose pri-
vate coverage in 2018, with
their premiums increasing
by $727 to $970. Additionally,
we would see increased costs
of over $94 million in uncom-
pensated care to hospitals in
South Carolina.
The plan also includes a big
transfer of wealth from low to
middle income Americans to
the wealthiest of Americans.
It provides $274.9 billion in
tax cuts for the highest in-
come Americans, with over
half of the tax cuts going to
millionaires. In 2020, 61 per-
cent of the cuts go to those
earning more than $1 million
a year. To pay for this, Repub-
licans cut Medicaid by more
than $880 billion. To add
insult to injury, health care
CEOs are big winners in this
legislation; it cuts taxes by
$400 million for insurance
company executives.
I have long maintained that
the Affordable Care Act is the
Civil Rights Act of the 21st
Century, basically because
it outlaws discrimination
against sick people, most es-
pecially those with pre-exist-
ing conditions. Repealing the
ACA and putting discrimina-
tion back into the health care
system is a step history will
not forgive. Public policies
that do not square with the
admonition of Micah 6:8 or
the lesson of Matthew 25:45
are offensive to our moral
responsibility to do the most
good for the most people.
The members of the DFWG
will continue to use our
shared values found in the
fundamentals of our faiths
to inform and guide us in
our efforts to keep the public
informed as we address the
most pressing issues con-
fronting our nation.