T
he United States has well over a trillion dollar budget deficit. That is fact. Both parties want to eliminate this deficit, but vary in their approaches to do so.
The Republicans have proposed methods to solve the budget that are ineffective and/or harmful to the average American. Paul Ryan’s proposed blocking Medicare to states, instead giving out private vouchers to buy insurance. Unfortunately, the savings from cutting Medicare take money from the poorest of Americans and, at a time of great suffering, these cuts cannot go through.
Across the nation, salaries and benefits have been cut for teachers and other public workers. Other cutbacks are to the Head Start Program that provides nutrition and education to low-income families, the EPA, high-speed rail, green energy, food safety inspections, Planned Parenthood and the National Endowment for the Arts.
All of these budget cuts hurt those who cannot defend themselves- the poor, the environment and vulnerable women. President Barack Obama has said that we must win the future. We cannot deny our children a proper education and a clean environment. We are lagging behind in science and innovation and cutting such programs will only compound our troubles. How do we balance our budget in a responsible manner?
We have to close tax loopholes for companies that make billions of dollars but pay zero in taxes. We have to tax our wealthiest citizens (multi-billionaires) a little more because everybody must contribute their fair share towards a thriving America. We have to end our billion-dollar wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have to end our billion-dollar subsidies for agriculture.
It is important not to balance the budget on the backs of our children and the working class. It is a task that simply cannot hurt our society’s most vulnerable members.
Jordan Lewis is the public relations chair for UM’s Young College Democrats. He may be contacted at jlewis@themiamihurricane.com.