Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 10 February 2011 — Page 34

Page 34 • The Muncie Times • February 10, 2011

GOP's budget plans would tear country asunder, leaving many outside safety net

By Sandy Sorensen WhenI think about the U.S. House of Representatives’ plan to cut $100 billionin nondefense discretionaryfederal spending over the next 7 months, I am reminded of the oldadvertising slogan, “You can pay me now, or you can pay me later.” Cutting federal spending and reducingdebt might sound good at face value, but we would do well to consider carefullythe longer-term consequences and costs. And some of those costsmight be difficult to calculate with numbers alone. The budget proposal wouldmean cutting most federal programs by 30 percent, including programs such as HeadStart, energy conservation for low-income communities, food safety inspection,transportation infrastructure improvements, veteran’s assistance, and keysocial safety net programs, such as food stamps and unemployment benefits that havekept millions more Americans from falling into poverty in the midst of economicrecession. Hard hit would be statebudgets, many of which are already facing severe budget crises and which standto face reductions in federal government grants and support. Take thestate of Arizona. Facing a $1.1 billion shortfall, Gov. Jan Brewer’s budget proposalwould cut nearly 280,000 from the state’s Medicaid program, includingthousands with mental illness-

es or disabilities. Mental health advocates fearthat such cuts would mean reducing already overburdened services for those withmental illnesses. This is an especially sobering scenario in the wake ofthe tragic shooting outside a Tucson, Ariz., Safeway store on Jan. 8,that killed six people and wounded 14 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Investigations into that attack show mounting evidence that the alleged gunmandemonstrated signs of mental instability, but did not appear to be receivingmental health care. During last week’sState of the Union address, membersof Congress broke with the tradition of sitting by party affiliation and,instead, Republicans and Democrats sat side by side, to symbolize the need toreach across our differences and come together to face the challenges beforeour nation and the world. But it will be nothing more than an emptygesture if our public policy decisions do not reflect a similar commitment tothe common good, or what the preamble to the U.S. Constitution calls “thegeneral welfare.” In his speech to thenation, following the tragedy in Tucson,President Obama called upon all of us to expand our moral imaginations. If ever there was a time for moral imagination, it is now. It is all tooeasy to imagine individual interests and quick fixes. It is all too easyto pretend we may not be affected by distant budget cuts to distant socialpro-

grams that seem to have no relation to our own lives. But the late Dr. MartinLuther King Jr. had it right: we are all “caught in an inescapable networkof mutuality.” When some of us are left behind, all of us fallbehind.

Sandy Sorensenis director of the Washington, D.C., officeof the United Church of Christ has more than 5,300 churchesthroughout the United States. Rooted in the Christian traditions of congregational governance and covenantalrelations hips, each UCC set-

ting speaks only for itself and not on behalf ofevery UCC congregation. UCC members and churches are free to differ onimportant social issues, even as the UCC remains principally committed to unityin the midst of our diversity.

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