Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
This is a difficult time in Washington and for the American people. Among many other issues we are dealing with is a new war in Libya (in addition to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq), much-too-high unemployment, the implications of a nuclear meltdown in Japan, a crumbling infrastructure and continued dependence on foreign oil.
In the midst of all of this, I hope Vermonters don’t lose focus on an issue that affects every single American: the need to develop a federal budget that properly addresses our national priorities and is fair to all.
I recently held town meetings in Barre, St. Albans, Bennington and South Burlington – all of them very well attended. What I heard from Vermonters was disturbing. Many working families are struggling to afford basic necessities or send their kids to college. More and more working families are seeing a decline in their incomes. Some now have to go to food shelves to feed their families.
The experiences that Vermonters talked about at the town meetings reflect what’s going on across the country. Nationwide, nearly 44 million Americans are living below the poverty line — the largest number on record. The official unemployment rate has been stuck at 8.9 percent or higher for 22 consecutive months, the longest since at least 1948. Average working families have lost more than $2,500 in income over the last decade.
Meanwhile, while the middle class is sinking and poverty is increasing, those at the very top are doing extremely well. The Wall Street executives who caused the worst economic crisis since the 1930s are now making even more than they did before we bailed them out. American corporations are enjoying record-breaking profits. The wealthiest people in this country have seen their incomes more than double over the last 10 years. During a recent 25-year period, 80 percent of all new income went to the top 1 percent of Americans who now earn more income than the bottom 50 percent.
While all of this is happening, we also have a record-breaking $14 trillion national debt and an unsustainable $1.6 trillion deficit. How do we turn that around? Will we reduce the deficit in a way that is fair and economically just? Those are the questions that Congress is struggling with right now.
House Republicans have given us their answer. They recently approved an extremely unfair budget for the rest of this year that would cause substantial pain for millions of ordinary Americans. Their plan calls for balancing the budget on the backs of middle-class families, children, the elderly, the sick, the disabled and the most vulnerable. What’s more, their plan would cost 700,000 American jobs.
Here are just a few of the draconian cuts they passed:
In the midst of a crisis in early childhood education, the Republican proposal would cut $1.1 billion from Head Start, throwing more than 200,000 children off of this vitally important program.
At a time when some 50 million Americans lack health insurance, the House Republican plan would slash $1.3 billion from community health centers – denying 11 million Americans access to primary health care.
With the cost of college education soaring, the Republican proposal would reduce the average Pell grant by 17 percent. About 9.4 million low-income college students would lose some or all of the federal support they need to go to college.
While many elderly and disabled Americans already are experiencing major delays in getting their Social Security applications processed, the House Republican plan would cut $1.7 billion in funding for the Social Security Administration. The upshot: delayed benefits for more than half a million eligible Americans.
The Republicans also want to make major cuts in funding to the Environmental Protection Agency, LIHEAP, Planned Parenthood and public broadcasting.
When the middle class is disappearing, poverty is increasing, and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider, it seems clear to me that if we are serious about deficit reduction we need to be talking about shared sacrifice. In other words, all sectors of society must give up something – not just the weakest and most vulnerable and those who don’t make large campaign contributions.
Before we throw low income kids off of Head Start or nutrition programs, shouldn’t we ask millionaires and billionaires, who have received hundreds of billions in tax breaks in recent years, to pay a little more in taxes? Before we ask senior citizens to go cold in the winter or wait longer for the Social Security benefits they are entitled to, shouldn’t we eliminate the tax loopholes which enable large corporations like Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, General Electric and many others to avoid paying any federal income taxes? Before we make it harder for working families to send their kids to college, shouldn’t we stop giving tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs to China and other low-wage countries?
America’s elderly, middle class, and poor have already sacrificed enough in terms of lost jobs, lost homes, lost wages, and lost opportunity. The time has come to ask the people on top to also participate in reducing our unsustainable national debt.
