"In the old budget paradigm, the concept of scarcity is an overriding feature. If we believe that scarcity is real, the possibilities shrink and we can come to believe that not much change is possible. A belief in abundance, however, opens the door to many different outcomes: anything is possible."
From Women and the U.S. Budget
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One concrete thing you can do to assist working families this tax season, is to make sure they know about tax credits that help them make ends meet. The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) is collaborating with state child care advocates to conduct a Tax Credits Outreach Campaign for the 2007 tax filing season. The goal of the Campaign is to inform millions of families about federal and state tax benefits for which they may be eligible, with a special emphasis on reaching families through child care services networks. They have a kit available in several languages on the web and you can plug into outreach efforts to reach as many people as possible.
President Bush released his fiscal year 2008 national budget on February 5 and it will not surprise you that it continues the same policies that have led us to growing economic disparity in the U.S. It also adds hundreds of billions of dollars to the military budget, at a time when the vast majority of the American people want an end to the war in Iraq.
Each year the President’s budget is a proposal from the executive branch to launch Congressional debates and decisions on what will be included and what will be left out of the huge U.S. budget each year. This is a watershed year because some democrats in leadership of Congress will attempt to turn the huge ship around from its destructive course. Results will be mixed but it is still a time of possibility and hope.
Continue reading "President’s FY 2008 Budget: More of the Same " »
The raise in the minimum wage is a perfect example of economic policy that is crucial for moving to more equity in the
Mother Nature definitely got a bad rap for the tragedy that unfolded from the recent powerful hurricanes. I was struck by the way “killer” and “deadly” were repeatedly used to describe Katrina and Rita. Yes, these are powerful storms that are indifferent to what is in their paths. However, the forces responsible for the unnecessary loss of so much life and property are to be found in the human realm. Global warming, racism, classism, lack of emergency preparedness, lack of infrastructure investment, rampant coastal development without thought of the future, and disorganized and downsized government all played a part. Budget priorities reveal a deadly calculation: divert money slated to reinforce the New Orleans levees to the war in Iraq, and we see people losing their lives in both places.
The Congress is moving swiftly to finally finish the national budget for Fiscal Year 2006. (The Fiscal Year begins October 1 so they are late.) Because they did not pass the budget by October 1, they have put everything into an omnibus piece of legislation that makes it very difficult to make any changes once they come to floor votes in the House and Senate.
Conservative Republicans have used this truncated process, the excuse of a deficit they created, and the emergency funding needed to assist victims of the hurricanes, to ram through cuts to Medicaid, food stamps, student loans, and child support enforcement. This is insane public policy at the exact moment when more women and children, and elderly need Medicaid and when more people lack food security. The Senate has already voted for billions of cuts, but the House wants to cut even deeper.
Continue reading "Budget Alert: Key Programs for Women in Danger" »
1. The Republican majority in congress is cutting back vital programs for women, children and working families.
These include Medicaid, food stamps, home heating assistance, child support enforcement, student loans, foster care, and supplemental security income for disabled people. This is insane public policy when we are dealing with the hurricane crises and rebuilding and when so many families in this country still need assistance to have basic needs met.
They are using the excuse of the deficit but this is what David Stockman, Reagan’s first budget director called a strategic deficit – it is created for the purpose of forcing cuts that they wanted to make anyway and this is a deficit they themselves created through their huge tax cuts and increases in military spending.
Continue reading "Five Things Every Woman Needs to Know about the U.S. Budget " »
The budget for fiscal year 2006 (the fiscal year we are in that started on October 1) still has not been passed. The final votes will be at the beginning of February. The fact that it has taken this long is a testament to the controversial nature of the budget bills that the congressional republican leadership has been trying to force on the country. Huge tax cuts for the rich combined with large cuts in programs that serve low-income people creates a toxic brew that the vast majority of Americans do not want to drink.
The House of Representatives leaders – who came up with the most cruel cuts – used a parliamentary gambit called “martial law” which manipulated and blindsided us all. They rushed the House to a vote on the spending cut reconciliation bill before members of the House, the press or the public had a chance to examine the legislation and understand what it would do. The vote was taken at 5:43 a.m., only four hours after the 774 page bill was filed in the House. This made it impossible for members to understand the latest changes from the conference with the Senate, much less leaving time for us to exercise democracy by communicating with our elected representatives.
Congress finally passed the budget for Fiscal Year 2006, five months late. Their pay should certainly be docked, since this is their main responsibility. The lateness of the budget is symbolic of the congressional leadership’s disregard for the public good. The budget cuts programs that are vital to working families, women and children, and to elderly women. At the same time, tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, and increases in money for the war in
As Congress begins the budget process for the next government fiscal year (FY 2007 to begin October 1, 2006), it is obvious that we continue to be plagued by congressional power brokers who cannot act responsibly as stewards of our resources. The first part of the budget process is for the House and Senate budget committees – and then the full House and Senate – to pass a Budget Resolution that gives overall numbers on spending and taxation that will guide the work of the individual committees as they decide on program budgets. The Senate has passed its resolution (there will be a conference committee with the House when they do theirs).
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