Advocates for the poor praise first Obama budget as "dramatic step" in restoring "the common good"

[ClarkUSA]

So much for President Obama being "more like Reagan" or "Bush-lite"...

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Seeing President Barack Obama's first federal budget proposal in his still young administration, Catholic Charities officials and others committed to meeting the needs of the poor are breathing a bit easier.

For the first time in years they are seeing a spending plan that boosts spending for health care wellness and prevention efforts, education, affordable housing, food stamps and Medicaid for cash-strapped states... Hill's comments reflect a growing sentiment across a widening circle of advocates -- especially those outside of faith-based communities -- that government budgets are moral documents that reflect the policy priorities of the nation.

As introduced, the fiscal year 2010 budget proposed by the White House places more emphasis on aiding those most in need while shifting a portion of the tax burden from the poor and middle class to the country's wealthiest earners...As the budget debate unfolds in the coming weeks, the Obama White House has pledged to fight for what it believes best serves the country. Advocates are sharpening their talking points by stressing the importance of supporting the poor and vulnerable, especially in a time of severe economic recession... "This budget debate, we believe, should be seen in a values context," the Rev. Jim Wallis, executive director and CEO of Sojourners, a progressive evangelical organization that addresses justice issues, told the teleconference. "A budget tells us what's most important and what's most valued .... So it's appropriate...to do what's called a values audit of a budget or a moral audit of our priorities... This budget, I think, is a dramatic step in trying to restore some sense of the common good."

The shift in priorities is "exciting," said Sister Simone Campbell, a Sister of Social Service who is executive director of Network, the Catholic social justice lobby which has fought budget cuts in social services..."It is the Obama administration putting down all that they believe in in a focused, concerted effort, not just giving lip service to their policy priorities, but to make it real," she said. "Yeah, there's a big price tag and that makes me nervous. But for once there is a realistic assessment, not halfway measures, and a promise for implementation. It's stunning."

Know hope.

[jwirr]

1. It has been years since some of those programs has been raised.

All of this money will go back into the market because the poor do not have the leisure to put it away or to invest it. We need food, medicines and things like that.

[ClarkUSA]

2. Jonathan Alter (who wrote a best-selling FDR bio) and others describe Pres. Obama as a 21st c. FDR

All of this money will go back into the market because the poor do not have the leisure to put it away or to invest it. We need food, medicines and things like that.

Exactly. Team O understands this and it's one of the reasons they and pro-Obama economists cite for their "anti-trickle down" approach.

[babylonsister]

3. Wow, a president who has genuine compassion? I don't know

how to act. Yes, I do. Rec'd.

[Forkboy]

4. Anyone who thinks he's Reagan lite wasn't born yet in the 80's.

Those of us who remember government cheese know that there is nothing similar about them policy wise towards the poor.

[denem]

11. I seen "Bush Lite" around here

and got locked for calling out. Figures.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

12. My grandma was just telling me how she would put me in the stroller and take my cousin by the hand

And walk us 2 and a half miles to get government food. I guess I would have been about 2 so...around 1985.

[Forkboy]

13. Some of these people should talk to your Grandma.

She knows. Reagan was brutal on the poor, even worse than GWB.

The trouble is that since then the Republican policies have expanded the poor by huge amounts, so while it may not be as directly brutal as it was under Reagan the problem is actually more widespread than it was even then. The middle class has all but been wiped out, and now they're part of the working poor.

Fucking Republicans. :mad:

[Cha]

5. Rec'd~ More need to see the goodness

coming from the Recovery Plan and not just all the bitchiness the corporatemedia catapults.

[firedupdem]

6. Thanks for this positive post. Rec'd n/t

[ZombieHorde]

7. K&R, nice to see. nt

[Naturyl]

8. Well, it's a start, but

I see not a word about cash assistance...

And the "tax cut" strategy against poverty is total nonsense. The truly poor in this country do not even pay federal taxes.

That being said, I'm very pleased to see housing and Food Stamps being addressed.

[FrenchieCat]

9. The truly poor pay payroll tax even when they work only 1 day in a year!

Aside from that, there are other things being done in the budget....

Obama promised a middle class tax cut. That doesn't mean that poor folks that don't work at all
will not benefit from Pres. Obama's programs; they will.

[LynnTheDem]

10. And THAT is EXACTLY why the rightwing pundits hate & fear it.

Rightwing; right wing of the House of Lords.

Leftwing; left wing of the House of COMMONS. Ie WE THE PEOPLE.

"COMMON GOOD"..."THE POOR"... not words the rightwing "Lords" give a shit about.

[ClarkUSA]

14. A Happy St. Patrick's Day kick for DU's "common good"!

:kick: