Varying views on the budget: War on poverty or war on the poor?

Published: 2005-03-18

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Do President George W. Bush's proposed budget for fiscal 2006 and the recently announced Senate Republican anti-poverty initiative represent a new war on poverty or a war on the poor? That's one of the questions occupying Washington as spring approaches, and representatives of various religious communities are not hesitating to give their views on the matter. "We ask that Congress not attempt to balance the federal budget through reductions in discretionary programs assisting low-income families," said Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, in a letter to all members of Congress. The Rev. Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners magazine and founder of the Call to Renewal anti-poverty movement, was even more blunt, saying that Bush's $2.57 trillion budget for 2006 shows "unacceptable priorities."

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