Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.
Rarely
have the divisions in American politics been more clear - or more onerous. In less than a month, on August 2nd, if
Congress refuses to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, the United
States economy could be thrown into a fiscal tailspin that would eviscerate
America's credit rating, lead to sky-high interest rates, rip a giant hole in
the social safety net, jeopardize the well-being and savings of millions of
working and middle class citizens and result in the loss of hundreds of
thousands of jobs.
Majority
leaders in the House and minority leaders in the Senate have taken the
unprecedented step of linking a raise in the debt ceiling to the debate about
deficit reduction and spending cuts. In effect, they are attempting to extort
big cuts in programs benefiting working and middle class citizens while
protecting exorbitant tax breaks for oil companies, corporate jet owners, and
hedge fund managers. They say this
is the only way they will agree to increase the debt limit. If they get their way, fiscal experts
from Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Krugman to Treasury Secretary Timothy
Geithner to Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke warn severe disruptions will
occur.
Beginning
August 2nd, Social Security checks may be halted. Medicare, Medicaid, and unemployment benefits may stop. Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan may not
get paid.
And,
hundreds of thousands of government workers may be laid off. This is no way to run the most
trustworthy and powerful government in the world. And, it is no way to honor the hard work and sacrifices of
its people.
It should
be noted, that prior to this current showdown, the debt ceiling has routinely
been raised almost 100 times since its establishment in 1917. Former President George W. Bush raised
it seven times without objection while racking up trillions of dollars of new
debt for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and big tax breaks for the wealthiest
Americans.
The Obama
administration is not oblivious to the need for spending cuts. For months, Vice President Joe Biden
has led bipartisan negotiations aimed at agreeing on a sensible deficit
reduction plan. Progress has been
made. But, recently several
members of the so-called "Gang of Six," walked out of the
negotiations because of ideological resistance to balancing spending cuts for
the middle class with ending some tax breaks for the wealthy.
As they
defend the rights of working-class Americans, I would urge them also to
consider the recommendations included in the National Urban League's 12-Point
Jobs Plan, "Putting Urban American Back To Work." The creation of Urban Jobs Academies to
train the critically unemployed, or Green Empowerment Zones to locate
manufacturing jobs in urban areas, could ease the transition to spending cuts.
So far,
the President and sensible members of Congress have stood firm in their refusal
to give in to ideological extortion. As the President said in last week's press
conference, "Any agreement to reduce our deficit is going to require tough
decisions and balanced solutions. And, before we ask our seniors to pay more for health care, before we
cut our children’s education, before we sacrifice our commitment to the research
and innovation that will help create more jobs in the economy, I think it’s
only fair to ask an oil company or a corporate jet owner that has done so well
to give up a tax break that no other business enjoys.” We agree. Raise the debt ceiling, but not on the backs of working and
middle class Americans.
Marc
H. Morial is president and CEO of the National Urban League.
