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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Our View: Two-wheel transit ... Guest Opinion: Iran agreement has potential ... Guest Opinion: Build Phillips Field for both sports ... Our View: Two-wheel transit ... Guest Opinion: Iran agreement has potential ... Guest Opinion: Build Phillips Field for both sports ... RELOCATIONS Herb Rothschild Jr.: An appalling budget Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted May. 16, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted May. 16, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News On May 5, the Mail Tribune ran an item in its Nation in Brief section about the federal budget resolution for 2016 that both the House and Senate passed. It ended this way: “The measure sets a potential path for a balanced budget within a decade. It promises to cut domestic agencies and safety net programs like Medicaid and food stamps, carve up transportation spending and student aid, and curb tax breaks for the poor.” What! Slash programs that help, not corporations and the wealthy, but the neediest members of our society? Curb tax breaks, not for the rich, but for the poor? Can this be true? It is. Of the more than $5 trillion of projected savings over 10 years beginning October 1, about 69 percent will come from programs that assist moderate and low income people, such as Food Stamps, Pell Grants for college-goers, Head Start, home heating subsidies, Medicaid and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). And by de-funding the Affordable Care Act, Congress would drop 16.4 million people from the ranks of the medically insured. Canceling the EITC, the Child Tax Credit and the American Opportunity Tax Credit for sending one’s kids to college — all of which help people working in low-wage jobs — will save about $159 billion over the decade. But the savings will be more than offset by the intent to abolish the federal estate tax; that will cost the treasury some $269 billion. Since the tax applies only to estates valued at $5.4 million for a single person, $10.8 million for a married couple, the benefit will accrue to the wealthiest two tenths of 1 percent of us. If you want more details about the budget resolution, go to websites such as the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (www.cbpp.org). I haven’t the heart to cite more. I have become uncharacteristically upset and angry. It’s beyond me how anyone can do such things. Fortunately, you and I can do something else — and we must. The budget resolution sets caps for military spending (which will rise) and the domestic programs Congress annually funds (unlike Social Security). Later there must be appropriations for each of these programs, and bills for any changes in the tax code. In 1995, Bill Clinton faced down the Republican-controlled Congress and refused to pass Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America,” a similar but somewhat less dreadful budget. The government shut-down cost Republicans many House seats in the 1996 election. If Obama will emulate Clinton, the worst may be avoided. Even if he reverts to his “give away the store” deal-making, the projected 10-year budget can only be passed into law one year at a time. We must alert Americans to this major disinvestment in them, and especially in their children. And we must tell them exactly who is responsible: not “government,” not Congress, but the Republicans in Congress. In both chambers the budget resolutions were passed along party lines. Too many Democrats serve the interests of the wealthy, but none of them make war on the poor. Republicans do that. But they don’t want us to know what they’re doing. On May 7 our congressman, Greg Walden, sent an email touting the 100-day accomplishments of “new Republican-led Congress.” He listed four things, among them “Approving a budget that balances and reduces our national debt.” He gave no details. Small wonder. Next week I will recommend a series of actions to expose widely this appalling behavior. Meanwhile, let what I have shared sink into your soul. Herb Rothschild Jr. is chairman of the board of Peace House. DailyTidings.com Writer Posted May. 16, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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