Tom Ehrich reflects on the ways that our battles over the budget leave out the needs of the vulnerable.
Budget battles disregard the vulnerable
By TOM EHRICH in Religion News Service
My sister and I stood in the assisted-living apartment set up for our 94-year-old father and realized the moment had passed. Our nation has come to such a moment as this. A huge generation is starting to cross the line into retirement and, in time, dependence on others. Joining them in dependency are a vast and growing population of people who have no wealth and power, who lost in recent decades of power-grabbing and wealth-grabbing, and now will have health care, housing and security only if those who defeated them provide it.
. . .
There is no way for any of us to avoid standing in this room, looking at deterioration, aging and mindless mismanagement of the public sector. We have difficult decisions to make. I just wish I saw more sadness and more awareness of conflicted feelings.
Instead, I see glee. Finally, the tables have turned, and those who don’t want to care for anyone else can slash spending on which others depend.
Finally, those with adequate means can stop providing for those who should have been born smarter or whiter, who should have worked harder and avoided getting injured in combat, who should have said No when invited to smoke cigarettes or to eat fast food.
The glee of young conservatives in Congress and state governments is disturbing . . .