"The Budget is a MORAL document"

[Viva_La_Revolution]

This has been running over and over in my head since watching John Edwards on CSPAN yesterday... He is right.

What does it say about the importance of children when we cut 300,000 from child care.

When we cut education

When we cut food stamps

When we cut healthcare



Dembloggers has the video - http://www.dembloggers.com/main/2

"Don't tell me those are good moral values!"

[Tansy_Gold]

1. And for those who believe "God" made poor people poor for a

reason, cutting them off from public assistance is the "moral" thing to do.

I overheard a conversation between two cashiers at the local grocery store the other day, about how they hate dealing with food stamp customers.

"They act like they're entitled to it or something. Even when I was poor, I would never think to ask for the government to help me out. Poverty is God's way of telling you you did something wrong and you'd better shape up. It's not his way of telling you to go out and ask someone else to take care of you."

John Edwards, good "Christian" man that he is, will never reach to the heart of the matter -- that it is his co-religionists who knowingly and intentionally and with righteousness aforethought strip the poor of both assistance and dignity.

[tx_dem41]

2. There are many non-religionists that feel the same way...

as those cashiers. And non-Christian religionists. Just start talking to people. I don't think Christians (or should I say a subset of Christians) have a monopoly on this belief.

[n2doc]

3. Good article in Harper's last month on this (print only, alas)

Back in the early 1800's, in England the leaders who came to power felt exactly this way, that God was punishing poor people and rewarding rich ones. It led to the Irish potato famine in the 1840's, as they cut off all aid to the starving. These people don't read their bible, either.

[melissinha]

4. Don't forget

They cut VA funds... A House Budget Committee is now proposing to cut VA spending by $15 billion over 10 years. AND "The Department of Veterans Affairs received $1.2 billion less than it requested from the White House when President Bush's fiscal 2005 budget was assembled" Secretary Anthony J. Principi told lawmakers...

They underfunded programs to improve homeland security : The federal government recently undermined this urgent task by cutting a $54 million appropriation designed to improve emergency communications around the country. About $6 million was earmarked for New York. yeah you really CARE about those brave first responders in New York, you really do.