In an Aug. 3 statement issued in response to the bill signed by President
Obama the previous day, Parsons said the budget package “does little to
address the underlying causes of our mounting deficits.”
The bill, which won congressional approval after weeks of haggling and
impasse, will increase the debt-ceiling by more than $2 trillion and cut a
roughly equivalent amount of spending from the U.S. budget.
In his statement, Parsons wrote, “While I am pleased that the nation no
longer faces the impending financial peril of default on our national debt, I
am deeply troubled by the deficit-reduction package that Congress passed to
get us to this place.”
He said the budget package “does little to address the underlying causes of
our mounting deficits.”
Parsons had joined a number of religious leaders in Washington the previous
week to urge Congress “to enact a deficit-reduction plan that would require
a greater contribution from those who have been blessed with plenty, and
not to sacrifice the poor and vulnerable on the altar of political ideology or
deficit reduction.”
The ecumenical and interfaith leaders had also said religious communities
and charitable organizations lack the resources to make up the difference
between the spending cuts and the “growing and monumental need caused
by a severe recession, anemic recovery, and systemic inequity.”
Parsons’ statement said private charity “needs public partnership in order to
answer our call to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked,
care for the sick, and visit those in prison.”
The Stated Clerk acknowledges helpful measures within the bill –
exemptions for low-income programs, as well as and a reduction in military
spending, which will help to push the country toward seeking “new and
innovative initiatives for peace around the world.”
His statement invites Presbyterians to join the effort. “United by our shared
commitment to Micah’s call to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly
with our God, and to the common good for our brothers and sisters around
the world, we must urge our elected leaders to protect the vulnerable and
restore equity in a society where imbalance of wealth has become the norm.”
The full text of the Stated Clerk’s statement:
This week, Congress approved and the President signed into law a bill
that couples a $2.1-$2.4 trillion increase to the U.S. debt ceiling with about
equivalent spending cuts. While I am pleased that the nation no longer faces
the impending financial peril of default on our national debt, I am deeply
troubled by the deficit-reduction package that Congress passed to get us to
this place. With the enactment of this bill, we see ahead a few rays of light in
an otherwise bleak landscape.
Together with our ecumenical and interfaith partners, the PC(USA) has
been firm in calling on decision-makers in Washington to enact a plan for
a just and compassionate budget. Last week, I joined other faith leaders to
meet with Congressional leadership and their staff. During those meetings,
we urged them to make responsible decisions that would protect the most
vulnerable at home and around the world. We asked them to enact a deficit-
reduction plan that would require a greater contribution from those who have
been blessed with plenty, and not to sacrifice the poor and vulnerable on the
altar of political ideology or deficit reduction.
In addition, we reminded our elected leaders that we who engage in
ministries of charity and mercy cannot meet the overwhelming need alone.
Private charity needs public partnership in order to answer our call to feed
the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and
visit those in prison. As earnestly as we will try to fill gaps in services left by
government spending cuts, we simply do not have the resources to respond
to the growing and monumental need caused by a severe recession, anemic
recovery, and systemic inequity.
The new law of the land is far from answering these concerns. On the
contrary, it does little to address the underlying causes of our mounting
deficits, while making severe cuts that will harm millions of people who
depend on our humanitarian aid and the social safety net. It contains no
increased revenues, fails to address the inequities in our tax code, and does
not attempt to control growing health care costs. It places the burden of
deficit reduction on programs that not only serve low-income and vulnerable
people in the U.S., but also that provide international humanitarian aid,
protect God’s good creation, conduct medical research, ensure food safety,
and strengthen our transportation infrastructure. In short, programs that serve
the common good are bearing the cost.
On a positive note, a significant portion of the spending cuts will likely
come from the defense budget, thereby pushing our nation toward rethinking
our defense strategy and seeking new and innovative initiatives for peace
around the world. Likewise, exemptions for some low-income programs
have also been included in the “enforcement” part of the bargain, protecting
some important programs like Medicaid, Food Stamps, and Unemployment
Insurance from bearing the brunt of deficit reduction.
If nothing else is clear from the rancorous debate that culminated in this
week’s final deal, it is that we still have a good deal of work to do. This
deficit-reduction package sets up several deadlines by which Congress must
meet more deficit reduction targets. This means that the Appropriations
process ending in September as well as the deliberations of the new
bipartisan, bicameral Joint Committee, which will meet throughout the
fall, will be opportunities for us to continue raising the voice of the poor
and vulnerable at home and around the world. In achieving exemptions for
some low-income programs and in convincing Members of Congress to
consider “the least of these,” we have achieved much. We must build on this
success to lift up programs and services that make a difference in the lives
of people across the world: people in our pews, in our neighborhoods, in our
partner churches, and in our global community.
I invite Presbyterians to join me in this effort. United by our shared
commitment to Micah’s call to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly
with our God, and to the common good for our brothers and sisters around
the world, we must urge our elected leaders to protect the vulnerable and
restore equity in a society where imbalance of wealth has become the norm.
