Debt Ceiling Debacle Proves Lawmakers Have No Shame: Cuts For Poor and Elderly Middle Class Not Billionaires/ Faithful America Stand Up For Justice

by Tom Fox/ National Catholic Reporter
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today
..."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. "
Bridget Mary's Reflection:
"Whatsoever you do to the least of my sisters and brothers, that you do to me" Matthew 25
Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people. (Isaiah 10: 1-2)
As people of faith, we should come together to create a lobby that will shift the dynamics in Congress that favor billionaires. As people of faith we should demand justice for the poor and oppressed as a core social justice value that the majority of people of faith share.
People of faith, it is our duty to hold lawmakers accountable for the debt ceiling debacle. The unfairness of these draconian cuts will hit the poor and the elderly by gutting their safety nets, while the billionaires won't won't even have a modest tax increase! Something is really unjust and ungodly here and we need to work together to change it! Let us create a new movement of the Spirit that cuts across party lines, religions, and unites people everywhere to work together for justice and compassion for all including the most vulnerable among us. Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, 703-505-0003, sofiabmm@aol.com