By Bob Allen
The Alliance of Baptists is among national organizations asking Congress to make budget choices with an eye toward needs of the poor.
The 125-church Alliance joined Bread for the World, Children’s Defense Fund, Faith in Public Life, the National Council of Churches and about 1,300 other organizations from every state in the nation in a March 24 letter asking lawmakers to approve a budget that adheres to four basic principles intended to reduce poverty and spur broadly shared economic growth.
The coalition called Strengthening America’s Values and Economy (SAVE) for All urged members of Congress to make budget choices that: (1) protect low-income and vulnerable people; (2) invest in broadly shared prosperity that raises incomes across the economic spectrum; (3) increase revenues from fair sources; and (4) seek responsible savings by targeting wasteful spending in the Pentagon and elsewhere.
Specifically the letter called on Congress to strengthen federal safety-net programs including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and protect vital services for low-income people by ending the sequestration cuts scheduled to resume next October.
The group said there are many ways the federal budget can promote economic growth that leads to decent-paying jobs, but one lesson is clear.
“Merely continuing or expanding tax cuts for upper-income individuals or corporations is not an effective means of increasing access to good middle-class jobs,” the letter said. “Such policies have helped those at the top to increase their income and wealth, but have done far too little to promote shared prosperity. In fact, by reducing federal revenues needed to fund investments, these unfair tax cuts have denied opportunity to low-income people and worsened inequality.”
SAVE for All says current House and Senate budget committee proposals are far from what low-income Americans need. The 2016 House budget calls for $5.5 trillion in decreased spending to balance the federal budget within 10 years and boosts defense spending above levels requested by President Obama.
The Senate voted down Obama’s budget 98-1 on Tuesday and is poised for lengthy debate over a GOP blueprint aimed at increasing defense spending and repealing Obamacare.
“The House and Senate Budget Committee proposals are the opposite of what the nation needs, and should be rejected,” said Deborah Weinstein, executive director of the Coalition on Human Needs, an organization that has helped to convene SAVE for All. “Instead of protecting low-income people, their budgets increase poverty for millions. Instead of investing in economic gains for all, the House and Senate budget proposals slash trillions of dollars from health care, education, housing, and most other domestic needs.”
“A truly responsible budget will raise the revenues needed to invest in a stronger economy for all, and will redirect funds from wasteful areas such as Pentagon excesses to the services and rebuilding our nation needs,” said Weinstein. “The Budget Committee majorities have made their top priorities tax breaks for the wealthy and more military spending than the Pentagon has even asked for. The SAVE for All letter tells Congress that organizations across the country seek responsible investments, not harsh cuts.”
The Alliance of Baptists, formed in 1987, upholds principles including: “The proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ and the calling of God to all peoples to repentance and faith, reconciliation and hope, social and economic justice.”
This year’s annual gathering of the Alliance, scheduled April 17-19 at Northside Drive Baptist Church in Atlanta, celebrates 25 years of international mission partnerships that began with the Fraternity of Baptist Churches of Cuba.
Scheduled speakers include Paco Rodes, a retired Fraternity of Baptist Churches pastor; Rusudan Gotsiridze of the Evangelical Baptist Churches of the Republic of Georgia; Alliance founder Mahan Siler; and Karen Thomas Smith, chaplain to the Christian community at Al Akhawayn University in Morocco since 1996.