wfn.org | Interfaith coalition decries proposed Bush tax cut

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2001-81

Interfaith coalition decries proposed Bush tax cut

by Jan Nunley
jnunley@episcopalchurch.org

     (ENS) An interfaith coalition says President Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut proposal 
is "too inequitable, too large, and threatens the future well being of our nation."

     "As representatives of the faith community, we believe that government is intended 
to serve God's purposes by promoting the common good," said a statement issued by the 
Religious Community for Responsible Tax Policy on April 5. The statement argued that 
"responsible tax policy should be structured so that the poorest households benefit."

     "There is no surplus as long as children are living in poverty," said the Rev. Bob 
Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, at a news conference in 
Washington, D.C. which coincided with the inauguration of the new Progressive Religious 
Partnership.

     Signers of the statement included leaders from the American Baptist Churches USA, 
the American Friends Service Committee, Bread for the World, Church Women United, 
Friends Committee on National Legislation, the Joint Commission on Social Action of 
Reform Judaism, the Mennonite Central Committee of the US, the National Council of 
Churches of Christ in the USA, NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, the 
Presbyterian Church USA, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the United Church 
of Christ, and the United Methodist Church.

Children in poverty a 'moral scandal'

     At a news conference, the Rev. George Regas, an Episcopal priest and president of 
the Regas Institute in California, accused Bush of "hijacking" the Children's Defense 
Fund slogan "Leave No Child Behind" during the 2000 presidential campaign, then 
ignoring the needs of children.

     "President Bush proposes to cut the already modest funding for child-care 
assistance for low-income families, as well as funding for programs to train doctors in 
child health care. Is that what it means to 'leave no child behind'?" asked Regas, 
retired rector of All Saints Church in Pasadena, California.

     "We need to talk about moral scandals in this country that have less to do with 
sexual practices and more to do with the government's policies toward children," he 
said. "It is a moral scandal that in this country with the largest period of prosperity 
in history we could not find a way to put into place those policies that would take 
children out of poverty."

     "A society is judged by how it treats its people, not by how low its taxes are," 
said Sister Anne Curtis of the national Catholic social justice advocacy group NETWORK. 
"People, not taxes, should be the center of our economic priorities."

     In a similar declaration, Evangelicals for Social Action urged Bush to include 
more tax benefits for low-income people. "President Bush's proposal is blatantly 
unjust," said ESA president Ron Sider. "A proposal that gives 40 percent of a huge tax 
cut to the richest 1 percent and only 4 percent to the bottom 40 percent is simply 
wrong."

     Mark Pelavin of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, citing Deuteronomy 
15:4, called for "investing in initiatives… that will help us realize the biblical 
vision 'there shall be no needy among you'."

'No divine guidance' on tax policy

     But a conservative lobby group has condemned the statements. "Our churches may 
legitimately teach us that we have the responsibility as citizens to obey our tax 
laws," said Diane Knippers, an Episcopalian who is president of the Institute on 
Religion and Democracy. "But I am appalled to see church leaders squander their moral 
authority on highly partisan debates over tax and budgetary policies."

     "Most church members do not want their church officials adopting controversial 
stances on issues to which the Scriptures do not speak directly," said Knippers. "The 
Lord has given us no direct guidance on which tax rates He prefers." 

     The House and the Senate have already passed competing versions of the 
congressional budget resolution, and must produce a compromise which gives 
appropriations subcommittees in both houses the authority to designate funding for 
federal programs and agencies.

     That will happen when members of the House and Senate return from a two-week 
spring recess on April 23. Appropriations bills will be produced from mid-spring into 
the autumn, and by law the President should sign those bills by October 1, which begins 
the next fiscal year. 

--The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy director of the Office of News and Information for the 
Episcopal Church.