Letter

Letter from Bishop Blaire and Bishop Pates to Senate on President Obama's FY 2014 Budget Proposal, April 23, 2013

Topic
Office/Committee
Year Published
  • 2013
Language
  • English

Letter from Bishop Stephen E. Blaire and Bishop Richard E. Pates to the U.S. Senate on President Obama's FY 2014 Budget Proposal, April 22, 2013

As Chairmen of the Catholic bishops’ Committees on Domestic Justice and Human Development and International Justice and Peace, we have been consistent and vocal in supporting the goal of reducing future unsustainable deficits, but that this must be pursued in ways that protect poor and vulnerable people at home and abroad. While we do not wish to offer a detailed critique of President Obama’s entire Fiscal Year 2014 budget proposal at this time, we do wish to comment on a number of proposals that impact poverty and basic human needs. 

As persistently high poverty and unemployment plague our nation, and war and crushing poverty tear families apart around the world, a just framework for future budgets cannot rely on disproportionate cuts to programs that help people live in a manner worthy of their human dignity. It demands a “Circle of Protection” around our brothers and sisters at home and abroad who are poor and vulnerable, and it requires shared sacrifice by all. This will include raising adequate revenues, eliminating unnecessary military and other spending, and addressing the long-term costs of health insurance and retirement programs fairly. 

As Catholic pastors, we continue to emphasize that while these choices may seem merely economic and political, they have clear moral and human consequences. We offer the following timeless moral criteria to guide you in the decisions that lie ahead: 

  1. Every budget decision should be assessed by whether it protects or threatens human life and dignity.
  2. A central moral measure of any budget proposal is how it affects “the least of these” (Matthew 25). The needs of those who are hungry and homeless, without work or in poverty should come first.
  3. Government and other institutions have a shared responsibility to promote the common good of all, especially ordinary workers and families who struggle to live in dignity in difficult economic times. 

2013-04-22-letter-to-Senate-on-President-Obama-s-fy14-budget.pdf