Religious leaders look for ways to cut US deficit without hurting low-income Americans

Programs the group seeks to safeguard include SNAP; Head Start; Medicaid; CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program); tax credits, education and training for low-income families; homeless shelters; refugee assistance; and protections against child maltreatment.

Beckmann, who is a Lutheran pastor and economist, said that organizing the Circle of Protection was easy. “All of the religious leaders I’ve approached have said, ‘Yeah, that’s right, that’s consistent with what I read in the scriptures.’ ”

During the debt ceiling crisis of 2011, Beckmann and other leaders met with President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner, Rep. Paul Ryan and other politicians to provide a voice for the poor. Their efforts and those of like-minded citizens helped secure an agreement that exempted programs such as SNAP, Medicaid and Pell Grants from the automatic sequestration cuts that form part of the fiscal cliff.

"We would not have got that outcome without the advocacy of religious people," Beckmann said.

With lawmakers now negotiating to avoid the "fiscal cliff," all programs are back on the table for potential cuts, and the Circle of Protection is back to work.

On Nov. 29, the group joined Jewish and Muslim leaders in a media conference at Bread for the World’s office in Washington.

Dr. Sayyid Syeed, a Muslim-American who offered a prayer at the conference, said that while Washington is full of lobbyists “fighting for different issues, there isn’t an organized lobby for the weaker sections of our society. That’s why religious people have to step in and raise their voices.”



Syeed called the national budget “a document that represents our national moral priorities.”



“It’s not right," Beckmann said, "for us to have runaway deficit spending that our children are going to have to pay for. We want (politicians) to resolve our fiscal issues without making life tougher for families who can’t feed their kids. Poor people did not cause the fiscal crisis and they’re also the least able to withstand cuts to programs like Medicaid and food stamps.”



Food on the table



SNAP, which made up 2 percent ($76 billion) of the federal budget in 2011, has increased rapidly in cost and size over the past few years, according to Jacob Klerman, a principal associate at Abt Associates, a public policy and business consulting firm.



Klerman, whose research focuses on social welfare policy, published a study on SNAP in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management last year.

He calls the program “moderately expensive” but also says that it’s countercyclical. “When and if it becomes easier for people to find jobs, these problems will go away or become smaller.”

Other programs such as Medicare and Social Security present a heavier burden. They are “likely to grow rapidly over the next few decades as the nation ages and as medical costs are expected to increase,” Klerman said.

Sharon Parrott, a vice president at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, agrees that SNAP will automatically contract as the economy improves.

“The notion that our choice is unsustainable deficits or assuring needed assistance for low-income families is just a false choice," she said. “Meaningful deficit reduction that puts the country on a sustainable fiscal path can be achieved without increasing the depth of poverty."

When pressed for details of how to do this, Beckmann pointed to Social Security. “Politically, it’s very controversial," he said. "(But) it would save a lot of money if we change the way (Social Security) is tied to inflation.”



Some liberals balk at that idea, but Beckmann said “politicians and citizens of all persuasions have to give a little bit to reach a compromise to keep us clear of recession.”