What's in the budget for the nation's poor?

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May 2001

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What's in the budget for the nations' poor?

What's in the budget for the nation's poor?
The 2002 national budget is slowly taking shape in Washington. The president has submitted his proposal, members of Congress are searching for compromise points, and the special interests have all added their two cents. But among the thousands struggling to influence the final version are the social justice advocates, and they're worried this budget will ignore the needs of the country's most vulnerable.

The centerpiece of President Bush's initial proposal is a $1.6 trillion tax cut. Several weeks ago the Senate passed a plan dropping the cut to $1.2 trillion, but the House has yet to OK its own version. Once it does, both chambers of Congress and the White House will have to reach a consensus, probably somewhere close to $1.4 trillion.

"Even that is very troublesome though," says Sister Anne Curtis RSM, a lobbyist for the Washington D.C.-based Catholic social justice group Network. "The tax cut has really shaped the way the rest of the money is being allocated. Because it's so huge it has required very stringent spending amounts in other areas."

The structure of the president's tax cut benefits wealthier citizens most. The government must cut programs to pay for such a cut and it looks like social programs will be hit hard, Curtis predicts.

Public housing, Medicare, and Social Security are top areas of concern at Network. In the White House plan the Public Housing Drug Elimination Program, a $309 million initiative that helps fund drug-intervention programs, will be "completely zeroed out," Curtis says. Funding for Section 8 housing vouchers, which allow poor families to purchase private housing, will also suffer under the Bush proposal. "The president wants to halve the number from last year; we're advocating an increase," she says.

On Social Security the president's budget provides $600 billion over 10 years for possible changes to the system, such as a campaign promise to let workers use a percentage of their Social Security taxes for private investment accounts. Financial analysts estimate that if people use 2 percent of their current Social Security contributions for personal accounts, the government would lose $1 trillion.

Medicare would receive $153 billion for prescription drug insurance for the elderly and disabled under the White House proposal, but the Congressional Budget Office estimates this would cost $400 billion over the next decade.

"This budget puts in great jeopardy the shoring up of the future of these programs," Curtis says.

Military spending is another point of contention for social justice advocates. The current budget proposals allocate $324 million for military spending, a placeholder amount likely to change after the upcoming strategic defense review. This money does not include plans for a national missile defense system, a project President Bush appears to favor.

The Interfaith Alliance (TIA), a politically moderate, clergy-led organization that attempts to use religion to encourage civic participation and activism, opposes any increases in defense spending. "Our tax dollars should be distributed in a manner consistent with our values as a society," says the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, executive director of TIA. "How can we increase military spending when 14 million children go to bed hungry, when there is a critical lack of affordable housing and when public schools lack basic resources like textbooks and teachers?"

Finally, social justice activists worry the 10-year $5.6 trillion projected surplus that the tax cut plans are based on will not materialize. "We don't know if the money is actually going to be there," Curtis says. "Plus, is there really a surplus when you have people in this country whose needs aren't being met?"

Curtis says concerned citizens should contact their members of Congress to express support or opposition to specific areas of the budget proposals, even after preliminary versions are passed. "The process will continue to go on," she says.—Anne Graber

More info:
Office of Management and Budget's Fiscal Year 2002 Budget
Congresional Budget Office
Yahoo's Full Coverage
New York Times Budget Archive

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