February 26, 2011

Under the guise of deficit-reduction, our leaders (state and federal) will destroy the union movement, harm women and their families, and compromise creativity. Wow. All that in a few days of work.

Yes, we have to worry about the deficit — but we don’t need to worry as much as we are, according to some great economists like Nobel-winner Paul Krugman. And we don’t reduce the deficit by reducing taxes for the rich and punishing the middle class (what’s left of it) and the poor.

— A strong union movement is as important as a strong corporate sector. That’s part of democracy.

Funding for family planning, annual exams, lifesaving cancer screenings, contraception visits, and treatment for sexually-transmitted diseases are important for women and their families. But the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a budget that eliminates Title X, which funds all those services. And that same House also defunded Planned Parenthood for any of its services, not just abortions.

Arts and culture matter. They matter for creativity and innovation – keeping up in the global economy. Arts and culture matter because they reflect the human spirit, our hearts and minds and souls. But the House budget eliminates funding for the NEA, NEH, PBS…

These massive reductions – and eradications – of funds don’t even make much of a difference in the budget deficit. Smart thinkers don’t make reductions like these. Only petty people do. Or people who just don’t give a damn about the rights of women, creativity and innovation, and democracy.

This isn’t a democracy. This isn’t what the U.S. stands for. So are you gonna fight? Are you gonna sign up and speak out and demand that the U.S. Senate stop this. That the House of Representatives gives it up?

Filed under: Social Commentary

About Simone Joyaux

A consultant specializing in fund development, strategic planning, and board development, Simone P. Joyaux works with all types and sizes of nonprofits, speaks at conferences worldwide, and teaches in the graduate program for philanthropy at Saint Mary’s University, MN. Her books, Keep Your Donors and Strategic Fund Development, are standards in the field.

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