FOR RELEASE: January 21, 2015
CONTACT: Stephanie Niedringhaus, 202-347-9797 x224, sniedringhaus@networklobby.org

Washington: President Obama’s State of the Union Address last night was an eloquent call to renew our nation’s values. Are we to continue as a country where only the super-rich do well, or one where all have a fair shot? Will we support structures that foster hope, human dignity, equality and community or be a nation mired in fear and divisions? Critical questions, all.

During this time of renewed economic growth, we agree with the president that our tax code must be fixed so all pay their fair share. As he stated, the tax code we have now is filled with loopholes that benefit corporations and “giveaways” for very wealthy people who don’t need them. This exacerbates an economy of exclusion.

In its place, we need a tax structure that raises needed revenue for investments in people, with the greatest contributions from those who have benefitted most from the economy. Simply put, that means closing unfair loopholes that further enrich our nation’s wealthiest people and corporations. It also means increasing taxes on capital gains. It is a fact that just 400 top earners, far fewer than 1% of all taxpayers, earn 12% of capital gains. And yet they are taxed at rates much lower than people who earn far less. That is wrong.

We also strongly agreed with the president’s call for a higher minimum wage and equal pay for women. Nobody working fulltime should live in poverty, and everyone deserves a fair wage. In fact, justice demands that all workers earn a living wage, and we need to move quickly in that direction.

We applaud much of the rest of last night’s speech, including his calls for immigration reform and access to child care, sick leave, healthcare, maternity leave and a dignified retirement, but some portions of the speech concerned us.

We are concerned about his continuing support of new trade initiatives, including fast track. The trade agenda has been fueled by the business community, which is rarely focused on the impact of trade policies on people in local communities. Catholic sisters working in places like Mexico and Central America have seen firsthand how bad trade deals harm families and communities. Unjust trade agreements have fueled migrations in our hemisphere, creating crises on our borders and disruptions in our nation. Any trade initiative deserves a full discussion where all voices are considered, but fast track would short-circuit this need.

Last night, President Obama brought up important steps our nation should take toward a more just society. We at NETWORK believe that all our elected officials need to pay more attention to the moral teachings of Pope Francis. For example, he recently said, “We cannot wait more to resolve the structural causes of poverty, to heal our society from a disease that can only lead to new crises.” At NETWORK, we will continue to press to make that happen.