This resource was written by Jane Midgley and produced by the Women's
Budget Project of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom,
in conjunction with Women's International League for Peace and Freedom,
Feminist Majority Foundation, Women's Actions for New Directions (WAND),
and National Welfare Rights Union. [for contact info., see Budget
Resources & Links]
The budget battle raging in Washington is a high stakes contest and
the future well-being of our country hangs in the balance. Programs that
benefit women and their families are being slashed while the Pentagon,
the wealthy and the corporations are getting richer.
Our elected representatives are attempting to balance the budget
on the backs of women, people of color, and children. Only 10% of the
elected officials making crucial decisions about the use of our tax
money are women, yet they comprise 52% of the population. It is in
the interest of all women to understand the budgetary challenges we
are facing, unite to hold back further erosion of our society, and push
for a new set of values and priorities.
Politicians have failed to address adequately the real
problems facing the country: unemployment; expanding poverty: greater
economic insecurity for most Americans; racism; environmental poisoning;
violence; lack of access to health care for millions of Americans; a
crumbling infrastructure; increasing corporate greed; a bloated military
bureaucracy; and short-sighted foreign policy. We have been told, however,
that our urgent problems are reducing the deficit and getting control
of welfare mothers. Immigrants, families of color, and particularly
single African-American mothers, are being singled out for attack to
justify cutting or dismantling vital social programs.
The focus on the deficit and the sexist and racist attacks on poor
women and children are smokescreens for the real dynamic in national
budget politics: using the federal budget to continue a giant transfer
of wealth from low-income, middle class and working people to the wealthy
and corporations that went into high gear in the early 80s.
The national debt "crisis" was created through government
policy that gave huge tax breaks to the rich and corporations, subsidized
the military industry to the tune of $4 trillion, starved programs
for low-income Americans and refused to make adequate investments in
civilian jobs and education. These policies have eroded the economic
viability of most women and increased the stress in their lives. Most
of the community and family work women do is vital to the US economy
but is not paid or included in official GDP statistics. Politicians
rely on women to be the silent shock absorbers as they cut public services
and programs.
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