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Two religious groups are taking the lead in the fight for justice!
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Yesterday in Toledo and Cincinnati, today in Columbus, and tomorrow in Cleveland: it's not the kind of bus you'd expect to see every day. "Nuns on the Bus," organized by NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby, is traveling through nine states to protest federal budget cuts proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in May.
Their principal point: Mr. Ryan's budget would have a particularly negative effect on already struggling families. They cite tax breaks to wealthy individuals and decreased funding for health insurance programs for low-income individuals as two of the main problems in the proposal. Their mandate for taking on this cause: that nuns have always reached out and provided programs for low-income groups. And they believe that the Ryan budget breaks the circle of protection around the poor and vulnerable.
They conclude their 15-day tour on next week in Washington where chaos clogs civil discussion and the outcome remains uncertain.
Less likely to pass in the Senate and promising a Presidential veto if it does, the Ryan/House plan reflects the mired state of congressional leadership these days. His and other pending legislation forecasts a bleak outcome for especially for persons who, unable to get work in the private section, depend upon government support with food, health care, and housing, jobs, etc.
For further evidence check out the Farm Bill, just passed in the Senate, about to be taken up in the House, and seemingly going downhill for struggling families. Despite the efforts of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York to keep food stamp programs intact, they were cut by $4.5 billion over 10 years. And these reductions are predicted to worsen in the House version.
Meanwhile The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is offering information and assistance organizing against the devastating effects of these and other public policies.
Read the full story
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“The Hunger Games”! Sure, it's a currently captivating movie based on a recent novel. But it's also an apt description of what's happening with public policies impacting people who are, indeed, hungry. As a result of these shenanigans, many could be at ever greater risk of hunger.
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We are contacting you again this quickly because our elected officials have just lived up to our worse fears. Committees in both Houses of Congress have done what we asked them not to do last week through catastrophic budget cuts that will eviscerate supplemental food assistance programs.
Why? Largely because not enough of us took a stand against their actions. In response to our pleas for contacting them, as of Monday, we are told that only 38 calls were made to Senator Brown and 21, Senator Portman (*). Without public outcry for protecting nutrition for low income Americans, legislators will defer to their own devices, swayed by their estimation of the “other side.” Opposition to maintain these critical programs comes in several forms including apathy and anger toward those in poverty, preference for pitting military spending over feeding families, and otherwise disinterested dedication to balancing spreadsheets.
What can we do? Not accept these interim decisions before they become law. Simply stated, we must ACT…and NOW!
Read the full story
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At this very moment, two major decisions before congress could have catastrophic consequences for Americans at risk of hunger and malnutrition.
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One is the proposed fiscal year 2013 budget being debated today by the House of Representatives. It features a proposal by Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee which would severely and disproportionately cuts programs for hungry and poor people.
The second, integrated into the first, is reauthorization of what's known as the Farm Bill. This comprehensive piece of legislation includes, among other items, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or SNAP, formerly food stamps).
Foodbanks and hunger programs throughout the country rely on federal nutrition programs to help feed hungry Americans. Charity can do a lot, but foodbanks cannot fill the gap if these critical programs are in jeopardy.
Hunger is a national problem, and it needs a national solution that combines the resources and strengths of both private charity and a strong federal safety net.
Read the full story
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Just before noon today, the Senate and the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan deal extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits while also avoiding a Medicare fee cut for doctors for the rest of the year.
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The bill cleared the Senate in a 60-36 vote less than an hour after the House approved it by a 293-132 margin.
A majority of House Republicans and Democrats voted in favor of the bill, though 91 Republicans and 41 Democrats in the chamber voted no. Senate Democrats voted overwhelmingly for the bill while Senate Republicans largely opposed it.
President Barack Obama has promised to sign the legislation as soon as it reaches his desk.
While not a "perfect" bill from any standpoint, it will protect many Americas facing severe hardship and reduce chances of others becoming more dependent.
Thus, with all that we've shared so far and--if you wish--supplementary detail in links below tracing today's actions, the simple thrust of this alert is twofold:
- expressing appreciation to Congress
- for future reference, recognizing the strength of the kind of advocacy that persuaded legislators about the importance of this bill (HR 3630). Your contacts are critically important. They--and YOU--DO make a difference!
Read the full story
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Do you believe it? Both houses of congress are poised to compromise! That is, they are close to actually agreeing on something significant: legislation impacting both very vulnerable, lagging middle class, and those who supply--and receive--poverty-level health services.
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But, you know about horseshoes and this is not yet a “ringer.” It's more like a “leaner” which, without some extra gumption, could flop.
Read the full story
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OK, it's Christmas! Don't we get a break from trying to do something
for someone else? Haven't we done enough?
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No to both! This was my reminder.
During a time of giving thanks before our family Christmas meal today,
adults and children were unanimous in their gratitude for the basics:
food before us, shelter around us, and love for each other within us.
This scene was especially poignant for me after spending much of the
morning at a church which hosted hungry and homeless visitors for an
annual Christmas celebration and meal. Witnessing these two
contrasting Christmases, I couldn't restrain myself when it came my
turn around the table, to share a special helping of appreciation for
our abundant blessings. But then I added my grief for those I had sat
with earlier in the day. For they who had received an only temporary
reprieve, literally, from little to eat and from being back on the
streets. For they left those tables and warm surrounding this
afternoon without any of our assurances about the day after
Christmas--and the foreseeable future.
Read the full story
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What IS going on in Washington these days? Not enough given what needs to happen by the weekend!
With millions of Americans--whether currently working or temporarily unemployed--at risk, what are members of Congress discussing?
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Shutting down the government…Again!
This is the third time this year that Congress has “danced on the edge of catastrophe.” What makes this one more acute is that leaders are in a simultaneous standoff about these two other major pieces of legislation-whether to extend pay roll taxes and unemployment coverage.
At this moment, both sides are at odds about how to pay for extension of a payroll tax reduction for almost every worker-- something that both sides claim to want. They have only until the end of the year to work it out. Most economists say this tax increase would further damage the nation's fragile economic health by taking money out of consumers' pockets.
If an agreement on the spending bill does not come by midnight Friday, the government will be unable to pay any of its bills unless Congress tries to buy time by passing another temporary financing bill.
Read the full story
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In November, Ohio Senator Capri Cafaro (OS 32), called “all Democrats; all Republicans” in the Senate to join her in cosponsoring a bill that could drastically reduce poverty in Ohio through putting more Ohioans back to work. Senator Cafaro has been considering introducing legislation based on recommendations made by the Ohio Anti-Poverty Task Force, and the recent report from the Brookings Institute has made such legislation even more relevant to our state. She said that, in addition to providing crucial safety net services to those in need, it is important that we combat poverty at a systemic level by strengthening Ohio's workforce and helping the unemployed and hard-to-employ get back to work.
The Anti-Poverty Legislation that will include:
Creation of an Anti-Poverty Council that would implement Transitional Jobs programs and encourage state contractors to provide Transitional Jobs as employment and training options; the Council would NOT be created for the purposes of study; it would exist to actively combat poverty through such previously studied methods as those recommended by The Anti-Poverty Task Force. It would include state agency officials in order to ensure statewide coordination of anti-poverty measures across state agencies and regions
o Creation of a Social Entrepreneurship Initiative as a one-stop resource for those seeking to start up such ventures that would also serve as a host for micro-lending and loan development for socially-minded small businesses. It would highlight existing social entrepreneurship initiatives and best practice information. And it would coordinate investment strategies at relevant state agencies around innovative and proven social entrepreneurship initiatives.
Read the full story
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The phrase "What would Jesus do?" became popular in the 1990s as a personal motto, especially for of Evangelical Christians. Often abbreviated to WWJD, the phrase was used as a reminder to act in a manner that would demonstrate the love of Jesus through their actions. Behind this slogan was the belief in a moral imperative--whether in life style choices or public decisions-to assume the mind of Jesus and follow our best estimates of what he would have done had he been in our situation.
For those of us with less vivid faith or long-range imagination, there was always a backup model of ethical purity personified by “Aunt Pearl.” She is the generic living, breathing, fondly thought of (or remembered) saint in our lives who can provide a more immediate reference to guide our behavior and overall, everyday choices. Her love for others, defense of the most vulnerable, determination to simply “do no harm” dominates her consciousness and every action.
Most of us have an Aunt Pearl semblance of good judgment, ethical soundness, and--perhaps even more personal than an abstract Jesus--example of dedication to humankind.
Read the full story
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With record numbers of families teetering on the verge of homelessness, you wouldn't imagine that legislators would be conjuring up major reductions for the Department of Housing and Urban Development budget which are guaranteed to hurt cash-strapped states and communities in sheltering the most vulnerable citizens.
And, with the exponential growth of families unable to feed themselves--facing malnutrition and hunger-- why would the Senate Agricultural Committee be engineering amendments that drastically cut federally funded food programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/Food Stamps)?
Well in both instances, they are!
Congress is NOW considering bills that could ripe gapping holes in the safety net at a time of rising demand, declining resources, stubbornly high unemployment and record poverty rates.
Mark your calendar and make this Friday a day to remember-and ACT!
Read the full story
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QUICK VIEW: For those who ask, “WHAT'S GOING ON?”
Tomorrow is the deadline for Congressional Committees to submit their recommendations to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (known as the "Super Committee"). Drastic cuts have been proposed including the "orderly elimination" of AmeriCorps and VISTA programs (many of which impact the most economically disadvantages Ohioans), cuts of 22% to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, 20% to The Emergency Food Assistance Program, and severe limitations to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program's (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) ability to expand to meet need and allow for meager savings.
The Super committee will continue working on an overall plan to reduce the federal deficit. Essential programs for low-income and vulnerable people are threatened with cuts: Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP (formerly the Food Stamp Program), the Earned Income Tax Credit, and others. Cutting these programs will make things worse, not better. People will be hurt; more jobs will be lost.
Read the full story
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We're getting down to the wire in Washington these days. Wrangling among political parties (“R,” “D,” and “T”ea) over saving money, which until now has led to little progress, will likely rush to the finish line this week.
At odds have been contentious approaches to extending the ability of the federal government to pay its bills while reducing the deficit, balancing the budget through cutting spending, not raising taxes, and doing all this before the curfew on elevating the debt ceiling on August 2nd. Whew!
Schemes rise and fall daily. One came on strong yesterday entitled “Cut, Cap, and Balance” if you're favorable (or "duck, dodge and dismantle" if not). It passed in the Republican dominated House of Representatives last evening but either be shot down today in the Democrat-controlled Senate or the vetoed-wielding President. Another more promising bipartisan possibility popped up last night. Stitched together by the “Gang of Six” senators and injecting new hope for breaking the stalemate.
However, since any prospective resolution--with promises of radical spending reductions could decimate human services protections--we would better focus upon the impact upon persons in need. These could result in cuts of 50% over the next ten years to programs like SNAP/food stamps and other programs that compose the safety net-the net that has provided modest relief to hundreds of thousands of Ohioans still affected by the recent recession. These proposals would virtually ensure that an economic downturn would end up as a deep depression, erasing any real ability of the government to pursue countercyclical fiscal policies.
Read the full story
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Late last week, the Ohio House of Representatives passed a budget bill. The $112 billion two-year spending plan retains most of Gov. John Kasich's proposals and adds a number of new ones.
The debate now moves to the Senate, where public testimony in the Senate Finance Committee is set to begin the week of May 16.
The budget, which covers fiscal 2012 and 2013, is on track to reach the Governor's desk by the end of the 2011 fiscal year on June 30.
We who are concerned about Ohio's “least of these…” brothers, sisters, and children in need, continue to have an opportunity to influence the outcome. But, we must redouble our efforts to ensure that our message is being heard throughout the state, at the Statehouse, and in the Senators' backyards.
Read the full story
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What word is more popular among social activists than “advocacy”? Whether in battles over reducing hunger, reforming health care, providing housing, or defending the gamut of human services, we call on advocates to lead us into the fray.
But what is “advocacy”?
It is traceable to 1400 century Latin meaning to “to be called to stand beside,” to render aid to someone in need. It simply means a direction toward or to add “voc”--call (akin to v_x voice) or voice. Advocates speak and act on behalf of other persons. Advocacy is also known by a legion of handles such espousing, arguing, pleading and embodied in protagonists, champions, intercessors, and even drumbeaters.
Within the Hunger Network in Ohio and companion organizations, advocacy encompasses notions of power relations, people's participation, and a vision for a just society. It represents a series of actions taken and issues highlighted to change “what is” into “what should be” as a more compassionate, decent and fair society.
In anticipation of the about to explode debate (following Gov. Kasich's proposal is introduced next Tuesday) on how Ohio will balance its budget in the next two years, advocates will be especially needed to protect Ohioans whose lives will be most severely impacted by anticipated cuts in human service programs.
Read the full story
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Too controversial to talk about these days? The subject is taboo in Washington
and Columbus. It's out of favor with the public and, therefore, off the table
with politicians.
TAXES!
However, here's a bit of common sense about making available common cents (as in
money that is available to many Americans, especially those who “count their
pennies”).
Many low income earners are unaware about monies-and services--they might have
coming to them. Some are available through tax credits and others may be found
through receiving good advice for reduction of other income taxes.
So, atypically, this column will be directed, not to members of the legislature,
but to citizens employed in minimally paying jobs who might otherwise forfeit
the little they earn. The advocacy needed for this task is toward those with the
least.
Especially if you volunteer in a food pantry, soup kitchen, other outreach
ministries or human service organizations, spread the word. You are in a special
position for informing those on the economic edge about to file their tax
returns this next month and a half that they may have more coming to (or not
taken away from) them. Potentially extra savings and help are available.
Read the full story
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How much more needs to be said about the potential financial crisis loaning in Ohio? Beginning next week, the 129th General Assembly must begin to confront an unprecedented imbalance between revenue anticipation and expenditure expectations. The potential for an $8 billion deficit seems just as foreboding at the approach this new year as it was projected many months ago.
Amid debates over taxes increases and budget cuts, communities and people of faith as well as other committed to social justice and economic compassion are gearing up to protect the most vulnerable Ohioans-those without food, shelter, health coverage, and pivotal to all these adequate incomes.
How do we prepare for the likelihood of triage among those human services on which already struggling families now depend?
Read the full story
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The Hunger Network in Ohio is an advocate for public and private community
groups, along with nonprofit statewide organizations, that providing food for
the hungry. These includes local church and ecumenical outreach ministries
across the State and organizations like Childrens Hunger Alliance and the
Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks (OASHF).
We regularly visit legislators to encourage state support for providers of
supplementary meals and emergency food for suffering Ohioans.
During this season of hope, desperate Ohioans struggle to provide sufficient and
nutritious food for their families (see Wall Street Journal article referenced
below). In anticipation of severe restriction on next year's State budget, a
public policy initiative has been launched using paper plates and pens to ensure
that their voices are heard. Through the "Paper Plate Project" of the OASHF,
those in need are writing to local, state and federal leaders about the
difficulties they face each day in this tough economy.
The goal of the project is to collect more than 50,000 plates to show state
leaders the importance of programs like food assistance and the emergency food
network. So far, 9,000+ have been collected.
Consider how you and your church and/or other groups in your sphere of influence
can contribute to this effort.
Read the full story
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As you prepare for dinner this afternoon (or sometime soon) consider setting an extra place at the table. Beyond your family and friends, leave one vacant space in recognition of a welcomed but unseen guest--be it a vivid sense of Jesus' presence or an imaginary someone who he would invite to share your feast.
Whether you've gone “over the river and through the woods” to grandmother's house, she's come to yours, or whatever travel has been required to bring together those you love, this doesn't require a guilt-trip. Your recognition of a physically absent but, symbolically, very present addition to your inner circle could be, rather, an exercise in consciousness-raising. At best, it would be an act of faith involving a special kind of embrace of a stranger with needs that are not different from your own but for whom this occasion would not be possible.
Read the full story
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The latest official data from the Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture reveal that 49 million people were living in households facing food
insecurity-the government phrase for families struggling with hunger. More than
16.7 million were children.
When coupled with just released statistics on the more recent overall rise
poverty, the news is just as bad and forecast worse.
The year 2009 brought a large increase in national poverty, with poverty rates
jumping to 14.3 percent from 13.2 percent in 2008. In Ohio, poverty rose from
12.5 percent in 2008 to 13.5 percent in 2009 with 117,000 people joining the
ranks of the poor.
Read the full story
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Upset about offsets:
As early as tomorrow, congress could begin debating the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (S. 3307). It sets new nutritional standards and provides an additional $4.5 billion over the next decade for child nutrition programs, including healthier school meals. It would also expand the number of low-income children eligible for free or reduced-priced school meals.
However, lawmakers face a dilemma about whether it makes sense to stand and fight for principle
or to accept a compromise.
Read the full story
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We can do better!
Katherine Kuck’s confidence is infectious. Upon
learning about the mission of the Hunger Network in Ohio (to end hunger in Ohio
through changing conditions causing poverty), this legislative aide to Ohio
state Representative Sandra Harwood, began to radiate her own remedies. Then, as
I was leaving, she shared with me a scrap of paper listing her notions about
“best practices” for reducing poverty. Generated over her years working in human
services, Katherine offered common-sense ideas for lessening economic miseries.
Read the full story
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A version of the adage, “robbing Peter to pay Paul,” is being played out in Congress. You may have heard on the news these last couple of days that the US Senate had passed a provision to extend Medicaid health care benefits and keep in place a variety of public employees-including teachers, fire fighters, and police-whose jobs had been rescued earlier through the stimulus program. However, of the $26 billion relief that HB 1586 will bring to state budgets, nearly half will be extracted from a recent boost in food stamps for needy families.
Read the full story
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What?
“I was hungry” is a calendar-can wrapper of quotes for Hunger Awareness Month,
September 2-29, 2010. They are intended for daily reflection, family devotions,
congregational gatherings, etc. on the theme of overcoming hunger. They resonate
common themes from four otherwise diverse faith traditions--Bahai, Islam,
Jewish, and Sikh.
Why?
Most of us rarely spend a day with nothing to eat. Yet hunger is an everyday
fact of life for millions of people everywhere. Lack of food and malnutrition is
increasingly a problem for many of our neighbors—nearby and far away.
How?(scroll
down to the second page)
Electronic
Public Policy Network: HungerNetOhio
In order to make
information about hunger-related issues
more readily available, the Hunger Network in Ohio recent initiated an
Electronic Public Policy Network. It is designed to be in touch with
interested persons as soon as public policies are introduced and prime
opportunities are available to influence legislators. It also offers
background information and reference to parallel efforts of other
organizations as well as invites comments, questions, and interaction.
Because of
increasing restrictions on this way of
communicating these days, we need to be sure that you want to receive
our messages and we need a request directly from you. So please, email
us immediately at info@hungernetohio.org if you are interested in becoming part of "HungerNetOhio."
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Hunger Network in Ohio Info
Director:
Bob Erickson
HungerNetwork in Ohio
82 East 16th Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43201
Phone: 614-424-6203
Contact Us
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Would you like more information about hunger or ways to make a difference?
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Do you need help
developing social justice ministries in your congregation?
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Have you concerns
which you would like help exploring?
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info@hungernetohio.org
Want to be on our mailing list?
please send an e-mail to info@hungernetohio.org,
and put "Add to mailing list" as the subject line.
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