This year’s Tax Day came at a time of intense debate about the moral dimension of the federal tax code. The outcome of this struggle has huge implications for our nation’s future. On Monday afternoon all but one Senate Republican (along with one Democrat) filibustered the Buffett Rule, blocking a vote on a bill that would have ensured people who make more than $1 million per year no longer get away with paying lower tax rates than middle-class American families.
The Buffett rule is fair, practical and responsible. Thousands of the wealthiest Americans pay lower effective tax rates than middle-income households. This is especially wrong when conservative ideologues are using the budget deficit as an excuse to cut off protections for the middle class and the poor, as well as defunding investments in future generations.
The arguments against the Buffett Rule are weak. Some say it’s “class warfare.” But if making sure hedge fund managers don’t get away with paying lower tax rates than teachers is class warfare, what does a class ceasefire look like? Others say it would hurt the economy by hitting small businesses and so-called “job creators.” Republicans and some conservative Democrats say this every time anyone proposes slightly raising taxes on rich people, but the facts simply do not bear it out.
The most common refrain from Republicans is that the Buffett Rule is a “gimmick” that won’t solve our national debt. No one claims the Buffett Rule alone will balance the budget – it’s simply one step in the right direction. And those who support Rep. Paul Ryan’s federal budget proposal really have no grounds to accuse others of fiscal gimmickry. The Ryan plan would practically dismantle the federal government other than the military and entitlements, and it relies on wishful claims about closing unnamed loopholes that supposedly offset the cost of still more gigantic tax breaks for millionaires.
Republicans make these empty arguments because the Buffett Rule exposes their true values. If you look at deeds rather than words, their most core political principle is an unbending dedication to making sure the richest Americans never see their taxes go up one cent. It’s nothing less than anti-tax fundamentalism.
Last week 59 Catholic theologians and social justice leaders rebuked Rep. Ryan for defending his radical budget plan on theological grounds, and yesterday the US Catholic Bishops slammed Republican leaders for eviscerating the safety net. Now that Republicans have voted yet again to put tax breaks for investment bankers before our fiscal health and the needs of American families, I expect the faith community’s drumbeat for economic fairness to grow even louder.
The drumbeat is building. Last week 59 Catholic theologians and social justice leaders rebuked Rep. Paul Ryan for arguing that his federal budget plan is consistent with Catholic social teaching. Today the US Conference of Catholic Bishops called out House Republicans for making harmful cuts that flout church teaching about protecting poor and vulnerable people. The Hill’s Jonathan Easley has the story:
In a letter to the House Agriculture Committee, the bishops say the budget fails to meet certain “moral criteria” by disproportionately cutting programs that “serve poor and vulnerable people.”
A second letter sent Tuesday to the Ways and Means Committee criticizes a provision that makes it more difficult for illegal immigrants to claim child tax credits. The Bishops called the credit “one of the most effective antipoverty programs in our nation.”
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In their letter, the bishops urged lawmakers to reject “unacceptable cuts to hunger and nutrition” programs for “moral and human reasons.” They said spending cuts should instead be made to subsidy programs that “disproportionately go to large growers and agribusiness.”
Lawmakers should “protect essential programs that serve poor and hungry people over subsidies that assist large and relatively well-off agricultural enterprises,” said the letter, signed by Bishop Stephen E. Blaire.
“Cuts to nutrition programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will hurt hungry children, poor families, vulnerable seniors and workers who cannot find employment. These cuts are unjustified and wrong.”
This is a strong step toward holding lawmakers accountable for aggressively pushing a budget that brings more suffering for the poor, less security for the middle class, and more money for the richest Americans – especially in light of Rep. Paul Ryan’s attempt to justify this agenda on Catholic theological grounds.
It’s crucial for prominent leaders such as the bishops to speak out against this cruel, cowardly vision. As church leaders have demonstrated on other issues, they are capable of exerting considerable political pressure. Hopefully today’s letters to Congress presage a forceful campaign to rebuke the GOP’s immoral budget priorities.
This post has been updated to reflect an update of Easley’s story.
Highlighting the way the Ryan budget violates the Bishops’ own standards for the framework of a moral budget and makes draconian cuts to crucial safety net programs, DeLauro presses upon the Cardinal the need for Catholic leadership:
The Catholic Church has greatly contributed to the national discourse in this country by expressing a consistent moral framework and by providing a safety net to those individuals whoa re most in need. Given the substantial moral standing of the Church, it is critical that you and other bishops raise your voices on behalf of the poor and vulnerable by personally addressing the devastating impact of this budget and communicating your views to every Member of Congress. It is critical to voice vigorous opposition to these cuts and make the case that the federal budget is a document that should reflect our values and advance the moral responsibilities of government.
In an interview in the Christian Post today, Rep. DeLauro further explained the way her faith influences her politics and pushed back on Rep. Ryan’s implicit argument that the immorality of debt necessitates these cuts:
When you start to address the debt, because debt is a big issue and one has to be concerned about it, the issue is where do you start? And, the tax cuts for those people making $250,000 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stop paying the richest corporations in the nation to take their jobs overseas, eliminate the subsidies to the oil and gas industry. The issue is, on whose back do you put the debt?
The Ryan budget does not address debt nor fiscal responsibility. What it does is take care of the very wealthy at the risk of the middle class and people who are poor. That is contrary to Catholic teaching.
Reverend Michael Livingston, director of the National Council of Churches Poverty Initiative, went on Fox News Live last week to talk about the Church’s fight to end hunger and poverty in America and how the House GOP budget actively undermines those efforts.
Despite having to deal with the factually challenged bias of anchor Lauren Green, Rev. Livingston did a great job making the case for the need for a strong partnership between churches and government to address these challenges.
One of the most poignant parts was Rev. Livingston’s discussion of how child poverty statistics highlight that the problem has serious structural and economic causes rather than simply being a result of individual moral failure:
LIVINGSTON: It’s about 16 million children living in poverty — most of them are in families with parents who are working. That’s a part of the tragedy of this situation. The parents simply aren’t earning enough in order to be able to support their families. And this will only worsen if the budget that the house just passed — the Ryan budget that the House just passed — is actually enacted. It will make things worse for children and families.
As the Senate votes prepares to vote on the “Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012″ (also known as the Buffet Rule) insuring that America’s highest earners don’t pay a lower tax rate than working class Americans, support for the proposal continues to grow.
We believe that a basic premise of the promise of America – no matter what your political party – is that everyone should contribute their fair share. The richest Americans have benefitted from enormous increases in wealth in recent decades, while everyone else has struggled to make ends meet. S. 2230 represents a modest but important step for addressing rising inequality.
There is no reason that Washington should subsidize millionaires and billionaires. Continuing the array of tax loopholes that the Buffett Rule seeks to address adds to the deficit and requires middle-class Americans to make up the difference – either through higher taxes or through reductions in funding for Medicare and Medicaid, public
Faith in Public Life signed the letter as well as the following faith groups: Catholics United; Heaven in View Outreach Ministries; IIRON; National Council of Jewish Women; NETWORK; PICO National Network; St. Vincent de Paul Society; United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries; Xaverian Brothers; Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network; Sisters of St. Joseph; and Sisters of St. Francis.
This year’s Tax Day came at a time of intense debate about the moral dimension of the federal tax code. The outcome of this struggle has huge implications for our nation’s future. On Monday afternoon all but one Senate Republican (along with one Democrat) filibustered the Buffett Rule, blocking a vote on a bill that would have ensured people who make more than $1 million per year no longer get away with paying lower tax rates than middle-class American families.
