Religious Leaders to Lawmakers: “Show Courage” on Taxes - Public News Service
April 30, 2009
Jim Wishner, Public News Service - MN - April 27, 2009
Minnesota's faith-based community is speaking out on the state's budget crisis and suggesting how policymakers should deal with it. Catholic bishops, in a letter to lawmakers, say spending cuts alone will do "great harm," and they urged that raising revenue be part of a comprehensive approach.
Bishop John Kinney of the Diocese of St. Cloud says the budget should be a statement of the state's priorities. "We feel there are basic human needs that need to be addressed and protected, and that our budget should not be resolved on the backs of the poor."
Investing in communities and supporting families to raise children so that they develop to their fullest and become the next generation of productive engaged citizens is the right thing to do.
Assuring that there is a safety net for people who couldn't otherwise meet their basic needs is the right things to do.
Revenue raising should be what we are focused on and not reducing critical essential services. A balanced approach must include revenue generating to more fairly share the responsibility for ensuring that basic needs and a safety net are maintained. Improve the tax system. How can we generate revenue streams or sustain the ones that exist so that businesses and non profit organizations continue to do their jobs, including,
meeting basic needs that are essential for human survival, and that create, and maintain employment opportunities. Our social infrastructure is the fuel that drives a viable economy.
Barbara Milon, Executive Director Phyllis Wheatley Community Center
www.phylliswheatley.org
Posted by: Barbara Milon | May 18, 2009 at 08:12 AM