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"Will of the People"

The heart and soul of the Constitution was boldly bypassed recently. With the exception of law enforcement workers and gun control advocates, many Americans were looking the other way when, on September 15th, Congress quietly allowed a ban on assault weapons to expire. Enacted in 1994 as what would become an effective crime-fighting regulation, the ban had included public use of multiple models of military-style rifles. It also reduced their capacity for triggering mayhem by prohibiting mounts for grenade launchers and bayonets, reducing the number of bullets contained in a round, and making them more difficult to conceal. While not hampering sportsman, the legislation had served as a deterrent against street crime and--more recently--terrorism.

Ironically, according to a University of Pennsylvania survey, a overwhelming majority of Americans favored extending the ban. Yet, with all those obstacles, why will uzis and their militia-style cousins soon be back on the market and the marketplace more hazardous?

You guessed it: the NRA! Without much chamber-rattling, this unified, dedicated, and savvy group was able to muzzle politicians. Recognizing a void in organized popular opposition, Senate Majority Leader Frist announced “the will of the American people is consistent with letting it expire.” Chiding Republicans for being controlled by gun lobbyists, yet Democrats were also unwilling to be “profiles in courage.” While John Kerry did chastised President Bush for his lukewarm willingness to put his signature to without effectively advocating for the ban, neither candidate allowed himself to become a clear target for these high-powered marksmen. They may have remembered that Al Gore likely lost Tennessee, Arkansas, West Virginia and the last election because he stood up to the NRA.

But the real issue here is not so much the power of gun lobbyist. These kinds of peculiar, unpopular, and not-in-the best-interest-of-the-public decisions are too often too predicable. For instance, were you aware of a similar failure on September 30th when the deadline for Congress to act on preserving $1.1 billion in federal funds for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was allowed to expire. The program which focuses on insuring the kids of the working poor would have insured 750,000 children, including 11,400 in Ohio. Who would leverage legislators to deny medical care to kids?

Or again on October 12th, where was the congressional backbone or the public outcry when the Senate gave final approval to the most significant corporate tax giveaway in nearly 20 years? As human services are severed and the national debt explodes, $143 billion of well-do-to welfare over 10 year will drastically cut taxes from domestic manufacturers, builders and even Hollywood studios. The measure provides scores of tax breaks for interests ranging from such priorities as tackle box makers to Native Alaskan whaling captains. It also means a $10 billion buyout for tobacco farmers which was included without a provision to grant the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate cigarettes.

These political shenanigans again remind us of our options, certainly in an election year, but constantly. We may prefer only to whine about being outmaneuvered by powerful interest groups. We might become disillusioned about democratic process and bail out. Or we could commit ourselves to matching the kind of resourcefulness and relentlessness that, otherwise, will determine the future of all we care about and the direction of our country. Our causes of conscience and choice of candidates will require whatever it takes from us to reclaim a government truly “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

Bob Erickson

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"Challenging the Budget"

A Committee established late last year to advocate an earlier-than-scheduled repeal of the state’s temporary one-cent sales tax increase is adding a new twist. It is pushing a constitutional amendment designed to limit state spending. Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, chief spokesperson for the newly-renamed Citizens for Tax Reform (CFTR), said that this initiative doesn’t mean the group is dropping its effort to advance the repeal of the sales tax increase which has been tied up in the courts.

The amendment, with many provisions already pending before the legislature, would

According to Blackwell, “the CFTR will lead a constitutional amendment effort to establish the fiscal restraints on government. These are essential if the private sector is to grow the state’s economy and create the jobs our citizens need and deserve.”

Meanwhile, the Campaign to Protect Ohio’s Future, has held 10 of 12 scheduled workshops throughout the State to provide information on Ohio’s current and upcoming budget situation. Concerned for Ohio’s “vulnerable populations,” 357 (and still counting) human services and advocacy organizations are reminding state leaders and concerned citizens about the human dimensions of the State’s financial crunch currently as well as the anticipated extraordinary challenge facing the 2006-2007 budget. Without increases in revenues through tax collections or reform, severe cuts are in store for most programs affecting low income families. These range from nearly every educational, mental health, senior citizen, children’s services and child caring organization as well as food supplement institutions in the State.

For endorsement forms and opportunities to become involved in protecting Ohio’s future, contact the Campaign at 216.781.2944 or www.communitysolutions.com. 

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OPP!

The State of Ohio reportedly either lost, hid, or simply “dropped the ball.” Federal moneys intended to be spent on the poorest of the poor were instead stashed. Two block grant allotments for Temporary Assistance to Families in Need (TANF)--$431 million in unobligated funds and $383 in committed moneys--were never used to provide the service for which they were given. This $814 million represented a 40% padding of the state’s reserve while county officials and human service providers scraped and scrounged to offer critical help and meet cash flow obligations.

What happen? Reasons given include declining caseloads (although poverty continues to increase). As the welfare reform has shifted the emphasis from providing cash assistance to education, training, and self-sufficiency, some rules for spending were not adjusted to allow support to go to these more progressive programs. Also, as funds poured into Ohio in the late 1990’s, attempts were made to accumulate a “welfare rainy day fund” as a guard against more drastic conditions in the future. The increase in the reserve also reflects an effective but ultimately illegal practice by Ohio to use federal grants—not state funds as required by law—as match money in order to draw down additional federal funds.

What’s next? The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services is now confronted with multiple face and money-saving tasks. First, it must pay back inappropriately used money. It might also designate extra funds to underfunded programs such as the Child Care Development Fund would target especially vulnerable populations in the State and reduce the chances of losing these revenues altogether. With human services programs drastically strained, advocates have been calling for the State to maintain its obligations toward providing increased attention to increasingly needy Ohioans.

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Tidbits

Poverty Up Assistance Down

The Department of Health and Human Services recently announced a 1.8 percent decline in welfare caseloads. At the same time, poverty increased in 2003. Children accounted for most of the increase and represent more than a third of all people in poverty. According to The Brookings Institution, more poor parents who qualify for assistance are not getting it. Moreover, the numbers underestimate the poverty rate because they do not incorporate the impact of child care expenses, increases in housing expenditures, or regional differences in cost. (“Welfare Series: Time for Congress to Act,” WomensENews, September 15, 2004)

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Slippery Step from the Bottom Rung

Efforts to expand and preserve tax refunds for poor families was recently defeated in Congressional negotiations between the Senate and House. The tax credit in question, made law in 2001, allows a poor family to claim a child credit worth as much as 10 percent of their earnings over $10,000. The law stipulates the threshold rise with inflation and now stands at $10,750. For families whose income does not keep up with inflation, the higher threshold effectively lowers or eliminates their refunds. Of the 11 million families claiming the child tax refund, more than 4 million — with 9.2 million children — will see their credit shrink or disappear in 2005. Following the failure of his amendment which would have severed the tax credit’s link to inflation and set the threshold back to $10,000, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) countered, “I am continually astounded that some members of Congress don’t understand how challenging it is to raise a family in today’s economy...While the cost of everything from milk to laundry detergent continues to rise, tax relief for low-income working families decreases.” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43278-2004Sep22.html) 

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US Refuses to Back World Hunger Battle

“The greatest scandal is not that hunger exists but that it persists even when we have the means to eliminate it. It is time to take action,” said a declaration signed by 110 nations and adopted recently at the close of a World Leaders Summit on Hunger held at United Nations headquarters. The United States was criticized for failing to join these countries and a new campaign to raise an extra $50 billion annually in aid to combat global hunger. More than 50 heads of state and government joined the debate on ways to finance the war against poverty. Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and French president Jacques Chirac both criticized the US: “You cannot in the long run emerge victorious by opposing an idea that is backed by 100 countries, creating a new political situation.” (The Scotsman, September 21, 2004, http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1107822004) 

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Rising Food Costs Leave WIC Program in Need of Funding

An unexpected increase in program participation and inflated dairy pricing have left the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program scrambling to seek additional funding for Fiscal Year 2005. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, WIC administrators increased their funding request by $300 million dollars on July 14 in an effort to compensate for elevating price and participation trends. Milk and cheese products make up more than 40% of the food support that is offered through the WIC program. Despite the sharp increases in dairy prices during 2004, average costs for these foods are expected to go up even higher during FY 2005. Data suggests that an estimated 450,000 eligible women, infants, and children would be turned away from the program if WIC were forced to operate at the original funding level.
(http://www.cbpp.org/9-13-04fa.htm)

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Hard Times for Recent Graduates

The Economic Policy Institute reports that, from 1979 to 2003, the inflation-adjusted hourly wages earned by recent high school graduates (one to five years past graduation) have fallen by 17.4% among men and by 4.9% among women. In addition, employer-provided health insurance among recent high school graduates in their “entry-level jobs” fell from 63.3% in 1979 to roughly half that many, 34.7%, in 2002. 
www.epinet.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_snapshots_06092004

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Hunger Pangs

More than 34 million Americans are going hungry or suffering food insecurity according to official federal government data. The National Anti-Hunger Organizations have unveiled a “Blueprint to End Hunger” that recommends programmatic investments and improvements in the national nutrition safety net. [Jun. 10, 2004] http://www.frac.org/html/news/Press_06.04.04.html 

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America Becoming Richer, but Families Much Less Secure

In the past quarter century, families have had to bear a far greater share of economic risk as private sector and public protections —-stable jobs, employer-paid health coverage, guaranteed pensions, short unemployment spells, unemployment benefits, and job training programs— have been scaled back or vanished altogether. “Working Americans are on a financial tightrope,” said Yale University political scientist Jacob Hacker. Since 2000, incomes have fallen about 1 percent a year, according to recently released census figures. “We haven’t reduced economic risks” at all, said Harvard economist Martin L. Weitzman. “We’ve simply redistributed them from the economy as a whole to individual households.” (Los Angeles Times, October 10, 2004)

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Unemployment Benefits Depleted

Since last December, when the federal Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation program stopped providing additional aid to individuals exhausting their regular unemployment benefits, 93,000 jobless workers in Ohio have exhausted their regular benefits, gone without federal aid, and received neither a paycheck nor an unemployment check. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)

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Christian Principles in an Election Year

The National Council of Churches USA (NCC) has released ten principles for evaluating candidates that it hopes all persons of faith—whether liberal or conservative in their views—will study and apply in this election year. Our Christian faith compels us to address the world through the lens of our relationship to God and to one another. Public discourse is enhanced as we engage civic leaders on the values and ethics affirmed by our faith.

1. War is contrary to the will of God. While the use of violent force may, at times, be a necessity of last resort, Christ pronounces his blessing on the peacemakers. We look for leaders who will make peace with justice a top priority and who will actively seek nonviolent solutions to conflict. 
2. God calls us to live in communities shaped by peace and cooperation. We reject policies that abandon large segments of our inner city and rural populations to hopelessness. 
3. God created us for each other, and thus our security depends on the well being of our global neighbors. We look for leaders for whom a foreign policy based on cooperation and global justice is an urgent concern. 
4. God calls us to be advocates for those who are most vulnerable in our society. We look for leaders who yearn for economic justice and who will seek to reduce the growing disparity between rich and poor. 
5. Each human being is created in the image of God and is of infinite worth. We look for leaders who actively promote racial justice and equal opportunity for everyone. 
6. The earth belongs to God and is intrinsically good. We look for leaders who recognize the earth’s goodness, champion environmental justice and uphold our responsibility to be stewards of God’s creation. 
7. Christians have a biblical mandate to welcome strangers. We look for leaders who will pursue fair immigration policies and speak out against xenophobia. 
8. Those who follow Christ are called to heal the sick. We look for leaders who will support adequate, affordable and accessible health care for all. 
9. Because of the transforming power of God’s grace, all humans are called to be in the right relationship with each other. We look for leaders who seek a restorative, not retributive, approach to the criminal justice system and the individuals within it. 
10. Providing enriched learning environments for all of God’s children is a moral imperative. We look for leaders who will advocate for equal educational opportunity and abundant funding for children’s services.

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Vote Break

According to the Census Bureau, in the 2000 election 1 in 5 voters were too busy to vote and only 55% of the voting age population voted. Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau suggests that the number one reason why registered voters do not vote is because they do not have enough time during the work day to get to their polling place. Time to Vote (www.timetovote.net)  is a non-partisan initiative promoting American democracy by ensuring that all registered voters who want to vote have time to vote by encouraging employers to create flexible Election Day policies, such as granting up to two hours leave at the beginning or end of the workday, giving all employees the time they need to vote and balance work and family.

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Voting Jitters 

Uncertainties about votes being properly counted may cloud this years election in Ohio. Concerns have been raised about the prospect of voters being rejected—or voting more than once. Under an Ohio interpretation of a federal law, voters could be turned away if—because of recently moving into a new community, lapsed voting record, or voting for the first time—they didn’t appear at their designated poll to vote. A controversy was ignited when the Secretary of State ordered county election officials not to offer such voters “provisional ballots” if they were outside their precinct. An overruling by a district judge has been challenged by the Secretary. If this tiff is unresolved by November 2nd, confused voters will have access to monitors stationed in voting stations to assure fair and proper procedures.

Another potential problem on election day in Ohio was dramatized four years ago: the questionable accuracy of punch ballots. Those infamous “hanging chads” which may have discounted thousands of votes in Florida in the last election could be disputed this time in Ohio. Votes not properly punched will again be subjected to scrutiny and rejection. Moreover, to further demoralize a previously disenpowered electorate, these older machines are being used disproportionately in communities with higher numbers of minority voters.