FOR RELEASE: March 19, 2015
CONTACT: Stephanie Niedringhaus, 202-347-9797 x224, sniedringhaus@networklobby.org

Washington DC: NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, today issued the following statement:

The Fiscal Year 2016 Republican budget proposal, A Balanced Budget for a Stronger America, starts off with soft words that mask harsh policies. At NETWORK, we have serious concerns about their claim to promote a better place in which all can live and work. We also disagree with their claim that they need to cut vital programs so they can grow the economy through more tax breaks for the wealthy.

We already have 30 years of experience that their trickle-down economics only served to shift wealth to the top. Pope Francis says that trickle-down theories “have never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings for the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting.”

We at NETWORK are still waiting to see a responsible blueprint for government spending that prioritizes the needs of most of our people over additional preferences for the wealthy.

Republicans assert that their plan will balance the budget in less than ten years – without any increased revenue. Their proposed $1.017 trillion discretionary budget doesn’t balance in FY 2016. However, in 2017 it comes closer as non-defense discretionary spending is cut twice as much as in 2016. Non-defense spending includes vital programs designed to address the needs of people struggling to put food on their tables.

Some may read the GOP budget narrative and perceive it as being for the 100% since they co-opt the language of compassion. However, a more careful reading and comparison between the narrative and funding tables shows that their budget would not bring about a better place where all can live and thrive. They speak about the need for all to have sufficient nutrition, yet they turn SNAP into a state-run block grant, no longer an entitlement program available to all who meet the criteria. This is one of many examples of their language not matching reality.

Our nation needs a federal budget that serves all the people, not just the wealthy. Current Republican budgets do not meet that need.

A more detailed response can be found here. 

NETWORK—a Catholic leader in the global movement for justice and peace—educates, organizes and lobbies for economic and social transformation. Founded in 1971 by 47 Catholic sisters, NETWORK is supported by thousands of groups and individuals committed to working for social and economic justice. ●www.networklobby.org ● facebook.com/NetworkLobby ● Twitter: NETWORKLobby

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