This commentary is by T. Elijah Hawkes, an educator and author who lives in Middlesex.
Politicians in D.C. often tell us that balancing the national budget is like running a household. Sometimes you have to cut spending to pay your debts; sometimes you must spend less on X to afford Y.
Many people question the validity of this analogy, but still, the statehouse-as-household comparison has power in its simplicity.
Whether you’re a politician or a parent, you have duties to protect, feed and shelter people. Balancing these duties can be challenging. And sometimes there are imbalances that need to be corrected, like when our representatives vote for the largest defense budget in history while Vermont children are being made homeless.
On May 31, Becca Balint, my progressive Democratic U.S. representative, after “leaning no,” then voted “yes” on the debt ceiling budget, including $886 billion for “the largest nominal defense budget in history.”
The very next day, June 1, hundreds of Vermonters were evicted from emergency shelter in hotel rooms. It was said to be the “first of several waves of evictions planned for this spring and summer.” Many are families with children, a category of the homeless population that has recently increased “by a stunning 36%.”
News coverage doesn’t link the national budget vote and our local evictions. But these events are connected. Our nation is going to struggle to address domestic problems as long as we continue to excessively fund the defense industry. Congressional representatives need to see this truth and act on it.
Minority power
The workings of the U.S. House and Senate require bold stands in the moment as well as strategic, long-term planning. To be effective, one must build coalitions and also, at times, go it alone, wielding power that can come with being in the minority.
This is especially true in a divided Congress. Centrist and right-wing Democrats, like Sen. Joe Manchin, certainly understand how to gain great influence with their lone vote.
Our progressives must be just as willing to wield power like this. Congresswoman Balint says that she was “elected to serve the people, not get wrapped up in partisan brinkmanship.” But sometimes the people she’s serving need her to push negotiations to the brink.
Like Congresswoman Balint, Sen. Welch voted “yes” on the debt ceiling deal; Sen. Sanders voted “no.” Sanders argued that President Biden had the option of invoking the 14th Amendment, which requires the government to “pay its debts in full — as long as those debts had been authorized by law.” Biden refused to consider it.
I have been critical of Welch in the past for his votes. Here I focus especially on Congresswoman Balint, for two reasons. First, she is courageous. We need such courage in confronting the nation’s enthusiasm for warmaking. The U.S. has 800 military bases around the world, compared to 30 for Britain, France and Russia combined. We can be safe without such excess.
Second, Welch and Sanders have been in office for decades, and their priorities are already established. Balint is new, with habits still forming. She truly seemed unsure of how to vote on the debt ceiling.
The pressure to accept Biden and McCarthy’s deal must have been immense. Balint said she was faced with “two bad choices” — but sometimes the people who support neither choice need to wield their minority vote to force different terms.
We need look no further than Montpelier for an example of progressive legislators doing just this for the sake of vulnerable children and families facing homelessness. These legislators are taking a stand against the leaders of their own party, working for a different compromise, one that is more aligned to progressive priorities.
The local is national
Congresswoman Balint and our other national leaders must look to Montpelier for another reason as well: because our local troubles are connected to their D.C. votes, especially votes that sustain the out-of-control defense budget.
Whether it’s fixing our school buildings, creating affordable housing, retaining primary care doctors, sustaining local EMS and fire departments, providing universal child care, finding sources of low-carbon energy, or repairing our bridges, Vermont solutions will only be found as part of national efforts that prioritize the basic needs of the people.
I don’t know if there is a connection between Congresswoman Balint’s deciding to vote yes on the debt ceiling and her subsequent appointment by party leaders to a “plum post” on the House Judiciary Committee, but I know there’s a connection between voting yes to endless war abroad and children being hungry and without shelter at home.
