In a Global Economic
Disaster, Who Gets Rescued?
According to Bread for the World, nearly a billion
of earth's 6.6 billion people live in hunger. In
developing countries, 9.6 million children die every
year as a result of malnutrition and hunger. That
works out to an average of 16,000 children dying
every day -- one child every five seconds, all day,
every day, on and on -- from this most preventable
cause. Hunger is the most extreme form of poverty
that leaves families unable to meet their most basic
need, and devoid of social safety nets that could
help them. In poor countries where a large
percentage of the population is hungry, the people
will be relatively weak, more susceptible to
illness, and inefficient in their work. There will
be few if any soup kitchens, government feeding
programs, or jobs and training opportunities.
The USA is not immune to the impact of hunger, a
fact the economic crisis of 2008 is making painfully
apparent. Even before the paralysis of the credit
banking system provoked the massive government
infusion of capital, food prices had spiked by over
7.5% due to shortage and high energy costs, and
record numbers of people were enrolling in
government poverty mitigation and food programs.
With the added financial crisis of September/October
'08 forcing people out of their homes and pushing
unemployment ever higher, BFW reports the number of
Americans living in hunger (35 million, including 12
million children) steadily climbing. That means
that one of every ten American households is living
hungry or at risk of hunger. Already the number of
Americans participating in SNAP (Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly the Food
Stamp Program) has increased by 10% over last year,
and food banks and community food pantries report
their donations are sharply down while demand is at
least 20% higher than it was in October 2007. In
Indiana, the Muncie Star Press reported on
26 October that 28% of working families fit the
classification of "working poor," up by 2% since
2004.
Despite those dark realities, the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP) estimates that
the basic nutrition and health needs of all the
world's poorest citizens could be met with the
carefully targeted and managed expenditure of an
additional $13 billion per year.
Consider that figure against the $152 billion
economic stimulus package of February 2008 that put
$600 checks in taxpayers' mailboxes, and the $850
billion swiftly provided in September-October by the
Congress to keep the banks open for business in the
USA. Even more than that has been pushed in record
time by governments into banks across Europe and
Asia.
NBC News reported in late October that some of the
very US banks that have benefited from the "rescue"
infusion of money will pay out billions in year-end
bonuses to their employees, with the lowest
beneficiaries receiving an average of over $120,000
apiece -- on top of their regular salaries. Their
top executives will receive bonuses in the millions
of dollars.
According to Friends Committee on National
Legislation, US spending on the wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq now totals at least $862 billion. FCNL
also reports that the FY 2009 federal budget
includes an all-time record of over $600 billion for
the Pentagon (not counting the additional estimated
$160-200 billion that will be provided in FY'09
through supplemental funding bills for the actual
ongoing costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars).
The military portion of the printed budget has more
than doubled between 2001-2009, not counting
supplementals.
And according to UNDP, more than $13 billion is
spent every year in the USA and Europe on pet food.
Because the economic crisis continues to deepen in
some respects and is expected to continue for many
months, the Congress will likely reconvene after
November's election to pass further economic
stimulus or rescue legislation. Now is the
time to let your members of Congress know
your priorities for the expenditure of your tax
contributions.
Sample Letter
Dear Senator _________, Rep. Pence,
The financial crisis of 2008 will
most likely find you back in Washington following
the November 4 election to work on new economic
stimulus and rescue legislation. Whether this year
or in the new Congress, please consider the
following as you weigh options for how to spend
further billions of taxpayer dollars to turn the
situation around and help those suffering the most
in this crisis.
According to Bread for the World,
nearly one billion of earth's 6.6 billion people
live in hunger. An average of 16,000 children die
from hunger-related causes every day -- one child
every five seconds. Ten percent of Americans live
in food insecurity (35 million, including 12 million
children), a number now steadily climbing. And yet,
the United Nations Development Program estimates
that the basic nutrition and health needs of all the
world's poorest citizens could be met with the
carefully managed expenditure of an additional $13
billion per year.
As you and your colleagues consider
what to do next, please do not send us
another $600 check that does a bit for individuals
but nothing for the common good. Please don't send
more billions to major banks and industries so they
can continue paying big salaries and huge bonuses to
executives who are part of the current problem. And
please reduce the record $600+ billion budgeted for
the Pentagon in FY'09, on top of the $862 billion
already spent on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Instead, please send us new
legislation that increases the number of people
eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program, the Women, Infants, and Children Program,
and free school lunch programs -- and increases the
size of the benefit. Send us the Global Poverty Act
(S.2433/H.R.1302) and the Jubilee Act
(S.2166/H.R.2634) passed into law, and an increase
of at least $5 billion in poverty-focused
international development assistance. Send us a
reformed health care system that stimulates the
economy by providing an adequate baseline of medical
care for every American while spreading the burden
throughout the entire citizenry. Send us a new
minimum wage law that actually provides a survivable
income to someone willing to work. Send us
emergency public works and renewable energy
legislation that infuses tax dollars into the
economy by employing workers to rebuild the sagging
US infrastructure, protect the environment, and
develop a clean energy future.
I am counting on Indiana's members
to provide wise, prudent leadership to the Congress
for finding a way out of this crisis. Please inform
me of what you will do.
