Catholic Charities of Boston signs on Tell Fiscal Commission: Don't Harm Low-Income People

07/21/10
(Boston)- On June 30, 119 national organizations sent a letter to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, urging it to adopt the principle that lower income people should not be harmed by its recommendations - indeed, that smart investments to help low-income people will strengthen the economy and the nation.

Now we want to show that organizations in every state agree.  Please sign the letter by Friday, August 27. Read the letter below:

June 30, 2010

To Members of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform:

We are writing to urge the Commission to take special care not to cause harm to America's low- and
moderate-income households in formulating its recommendations this year. In particular, we ask that:

1) The Commission adopt as a basic principle that its proposals should not make lower-income
individuals and families worse off. The Commission's recommendations should not harm those who
already have difficulty getting by. Its proposals should not push people into poverty or make those who
are already poor still poorer.
2) To aid it in meeting this goal, the Commission should assure that it obtains and makes public in a
timely way a distributional analysis (e.g., by income deciles or quintiles) of the impact of the proposals
that it considers. Understanding and making transparent how different paths would affect different
income groups is an essential means of determining fairness in who bears the burdens of changes in
spending and tax policy.

Even before the recession, low- and moderate-income people in our nation had been largely shut out from
the benefits of the nation's economic growth for two generations. From 1979 to 2006, the average aftertax
income of the bottom fifth of the population rose only 11 percent over 27 years, from $14,900 to
$16,500, in inflation-adjusted 2006 dollars, according to the Congressional Budget Office. This includes
non-cash income like food stamps, housing assistance, and refundable tax credits. The average income of
the second fifth rose a modest 18 percent, to $35,400 — still well under 1 percent per year. In contrast,
the average income of the top fifth rose 86 percent, from $98,900 to $184,400 during this period, and the
average income of the top 1 percent increased 256 percent, from $337,100 to $1.2 million.

Moreover, during the last economic recovery, from 2001 to 2007, poverty actually increased and the
median income of working-age households declined, even as income at the top of the income scale
continued to rise.

In other words, after nearly three decades of overall economic growth, America saw only very weak gains
for the bottom two-fifths of the population and substantially widened gaps between the top and bottom of
our society. Income stagnation and rising inequality have left lower-income households bearing a heavy
cost.

Reducing public supports for this population would be unwarranted. This population has borne an undue
share of the pain of the economic and political transformations of the last several decades, not to mention
the deep recession from which the country is only beginning to emerge.

Reducing the federal deficit is a means to an end — the strongest possible economic future for the nation.
Under-investing in low- and moderate-income children and adults would not be consistent with that goal.
Indeed, smart and more adequate investments for them could help strengthen the economy and the nation.

We believe that an explicit goal to protect the most vulnerable in our nation, together with impact
analyses to ensure the goal is being met, will assist the Commission in producing recommendations that
can put the nation on a sustainable fiscal course without harm to those who have no margin to sacrifice
more.

Sincerely,


9to5, National Association of Working Women
AFL-CIO
Afterschool Alliance
American Association of University Women (AAUW)
American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
American Probation and Parole Association
Americans for Democratic Action, Inc.
APWU Retirees Department
Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs
Association of Nutrition Services Agencies
Bread for the World
Center for Community Change
Center for Medicare Advocacy
Center for Women Policy Studies
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
CFED
Child Welfare League of America
Children's Defense Fund
Citizens for Tax Justice
CLASP
Coalition on Human Needs
Common Cause
Communications Workers of America
Community Action Partnership
Community Food Advocates
Community Food Security Coalition
Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Contact Center
Department of Professional Employees, AFL-CIO
Disciples Justice Action Network
Early Care and Education Consortium
Easter Seals
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Every Child Matters
Families USA
Feeding America
First Focus Campaign for Children
Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)
Forum for Youth Investment
Franciscan Action Network
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Generations United
Habitat for Humanity International
Interfaith Worker Justice
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers
International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America
(UAW)
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
LEAnet
Legal Momentum
Lutheran Services in America
Mennonite Central Committee, Washington Office
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National African American Drug Policy Coalition, Inc.
National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations
National Alliance to End Homelessness
National Association for Commissions for Women
National Association for State Community Services Programs
National Association for the Education of Young Children
National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies
National Association of Counsel for Children
National Association of Social Workers
National Black Child Development Institute
National Center for Housing and Child Welfare
National Center for Law and Economic Justice
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Community Action Foundation
National Community Tax Coalition
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of La Raza
National Council of Women's Organizations
National Council on Aging
National Employment Law Project
National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Head Start Association
National Housing Conference
National Housing Trust
National Human Services Assembly
National Low Income Housing Coalition
National Network for Youth
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Senior Citizens Law Center
National WIC Association
National Women's Law Center
NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Northwest Federation of Community Organizations
Older Women's League
OMB Watch
Pension Rights Center
PHI National
Progressive Congress Action Fund
RESULTS
Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
Service and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender
Service Employees International Union
Sisters of Mercy Institute Justice Team
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Social Security Works
Sojourners
Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF)
Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice
The Alliance to End Hunger
The Arc of the United States
The Hatcher Group
The Jewish Federations of North America
The United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society
Union for Reform Judaism
United Cerebral Palsy
United for a Fair Economy
USAction
Voices for America's Children
Volunteers of America
Washington Office of Public Policy, Women's Division, United Methodist Church
WhyHunger
Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW)
Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement
YWCA USA