Budget cuts: All cuts to state and federal programs for health, welfare and education are destructive, undemocratic and dehumanizing. The need for government funds to provide assistance in these areas has long been established and recognized as a basic function of government. According to the Preamble in our Constitution:
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
We clearly hear that the purpose of our government is to provide five basic services for the well-being of people:
When we favor one of those services at the expense of under-serving the other four, it is actually constitutionally illegal.
Here in Portland, public hearings concerning the Multnomah County budget are packed with individuals who each take a turn explaining why an organization or cause they personally support should not be the one selected to endure budget cuts. The speakers and the County Council struggle to prioritize a long list of essential items.
That said, instead of pointing to one of many programs that should not be cut, we need to examine the budget process and how it can best serve our community.
Some government funds go to items that are designed to destroy us. They impair our health, take away welfare programs, diminish the quality of public education and limit our civil liberties. Certain funds are means of giving strength to the wealthy while the poor are made even weaker. The war on terrorism is a national budget item that has put chaos into federal, state and local spending. Before 9/11, health, welfare and education programs were short of funds and resorted to various means of raising money every year to survive. Many programs were dedicated so that the employees endured inappropriately low salaries. The materials and supplies required to function were minimal and sometimes substandard. Teachers, nurses and welfare workers actually chose to take cuts in salary and benefits because they wanted to maintain the highest quality service possible for the community.
After 9/11, budget cuts exploded to such outrageous proportions that many programs limited their services just to endure.
It seems to be time to stop arguing about which cuts to make and take a look at how money is allocated and prioritized. We need to examine our values and goals closely. There is plenty of money still in the United States, but it is being spent on high salaries for executives and the war. Let’s put that money where it is needed.
Here are some suggestions for demands for social services that should be the concern of these public hearings. We must communicate to the public that we demand that no social services be cut. We need to present a demand for other solutions such as:
There are those who favor two methods of redress:
As lobby pressure builds to a majority opinion against elected officials, if they don’t make appropriate changes, then they should be held accountable at elections and nominations. We must vote for candidates who promise to uphold our demands.
I ask you, if as a nation we strive to enjoy being the richest country in the world so that we can support a small group of the ruling elite, or are we willing to participate in reforms that provide an acceptable standard of living for the working class? In other words, should our goal be to help each other and give support to those who need us, or to struggle and sacrifice our deserved standard of living in order to continue the growth of money and power for a few?