Letter to the Editor published in the Raleigh News & Observer
As the “Super Committee” begins to negotiate a deal to cut $1.5 trillion from our national budget, the faith community wants to be sure that our North Carolina congressional delegation – Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan as well as our 13 representatives – remember the calling of the God of all creation to provide for the common good. As the Rev. Dr. James Forbes, a native North Carolinian and senior pastor emeritus of New York’s Riverside Church reminds us, budgets are moral documents that determine who eats and who starves.
N&O articles have noted record high poverty rates. Feeding America reports more than 1.6 million North Carolinians are food insecure. Cutting SNAP and WIC funding at the expense of hungry children (1 out of 5 nationally) should not be an option. Medicaid provides health care for the poorest people among us and must not be cut in our nation of plenty. The cause of our budget problems is tax cuts coupled with unfunded wars, not spending for basic needs of people.
Scriptures from all faiths call us to justice and providing for all God’s children. May our North Carolina delegation and the Super Committee provide a Circle of Protection around people in need.
– Sandy Irving, Volunteer Program Associate, N.C. Council of Churches
