Information provided by WILPF
John F. Smith, Jr.
President and CEO, General Motors
From 1990 - 1994, General Motors' (GM) wealthfare stipend was more than
$110.6 million in federal technology subsidies as part of a program that was
supposed to create jobs. GM benefitted from this program; in 1994 they netted
$4.7 billion in profits. Yet during those four years, GM slashed 104,000 jobs--25%
of their U.S. workers were laid off.
The nation's largest corporations and richest citizens receive more welfare
money than our social welfare programs. In 1994, the United States spent $104.3
billion on corporate welfare and $619 billion on the military, while spending
only $14.4 billion on Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC.) Federal
aid to corporations and wealthy individuals includes bailouts, export promotions,
loans, loan guarantees, debt forgiveness, below cost sales, interest free
financing and other benefits. The current republican Contract ON America legislation
calls for wiping out most of the remaining corporate income tax. These "wealthfare"
and military expenditure policies are responsible for straining the federal
budget.
Social welfare programs account for a small amount of the national budget.
AFDC is less than 1% of the federal budget and, on average, no more than 2%
of each state's fund. If AFDC is cut as part of the Contract ON America, 6.3
million people will lose food stamps, 3 million women and children will lose
Women Infant And Children (WIC) assistance; and 3 million children will become
ineligible for school lunches. These attacks are aimed primarily at poor families,
90% of which are run by single women. AFDC will be turned into block grants,
administered at the whim of state governments. States will no longer be required
to match federal outlays.
Information provided by WILPF
© 1996, The Feminist Majority Foundation and New Media Publishing
Inc.
