Budget Policy Choices

Do you ever wonder what would have happened if we had used the trillions given to the financial industry to fund hunger, education and medicine, not only in our own country but around the globe?

Then do you ask, what would our quality of life be today if we had used the money that went to fighting two wars in Iraq, to build a light-rail public transportation system?

Every day, every year, we are making choices. What kind of choices are we making? What kind of world are we creating?

The New York Times today reported that 75 Catholic professors publicly criticized house speaker John Boehner for promoting budget cuts that most impact the poor and vulnerable and therefore, are inherently anti-life and against Catholic teaching. Boehner claims to be Roman Catholic. The article states:

“House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican who grew up in a devout Roman Catholic family in Ohio, is scheduled to give the commencement address Saturday at the Catholic University of America in Washington, a prestigious venue in church circles for its affiliation with the nation’s bishops.

But now Boehner is coming in for a dose of the same kind of criticism previously leveled at some Democrats – including President Barack Obama – who have been honored by Catholic universities: the accusation that his policies violate basic teachings of the Catholic Church.

More than 75 professors at Catholic University and other prominent Catholic colleges have written a pointed letter to Boehner saying that the Republican-supported budget he shepherded through the House will hurt the poor, the elderly and the vulnerable, and that he therefore has failed to uphold basic Catholic moral teachings.

‘Mr. Speaker, your voting record is at variance from one of the church’s most ancient moral teachings,’ the letter says. ‘From the apostles to the present, the magisterium of the church has insisted that those in power are morally obliged to preference the needs of the poor. Your record in support of legislation to address the desperate needs of the poor is among the worst in Congress. This fundamental concern should have great urgency for Catholic policymakers. Yet, even now, you work in opposition to it.’

The letter writers go on to criticize Boehner’s support for a budget that cut financing for Medicare, Medicaid and the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, while granting tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. They call such policies ‘anti-life,’ a particularly biting reference because the phrase is usually applied to politicians and others who support the right to abortion.”

You can read the full article here.

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