Sequester threatens American dream

The author says the high poverty rate is the real crisis in America. | John Shinkle/POLITICO

By REP. BARBARA LEE | 2/28/13 9:29 PM EST

This week, all eyes are on Congress. Sequester is looming, and these indiscriminate cuts would not
only hurt the poor first, but hurt them the most. Nearly 50 million of our neighbors almost 16
million of them children live in poverty; in the richest nation in the world, this is deplorable,
unconscionable, but above all, solvable.
Forcing children, the poor and the elderly to shoulder the burden of the Republicans dysfunction is
not who we are as a nation, and it must be stopped. At a time when we should be investing in jobs
and education, Republicans are not only threatening the fragile economic recovery but gutting
programs that help low-income families the most, families who are still recovering from the Great
Recession.
Experts agree, if sequestration goes through, it will push us dangerously close to shredding the social
safety net that so many families rely on as rungs on the ladder of economic opportunity into the
middle class. The sequester would slash programs that help single mothers get food on the table,
provide child care to low-income families and support essential mental health services for underserved
communities.
We must replace the indiscriminate sequester with a common-sense solution. Earlier this month,
several of my colleagues in the Congressional Progressive Caucus and I introduced The Balancing
Act, a bill that would replace the sequester with a plan that achieves a balanced ratio of cuts versus
revenue by closing tax loopholes for hedge fund managers, deductions for yachts and corporate jets,
cutting $278 billion in wasteful Pentagon spending and ending tax credits that encourage companies
to keep shipping good-paying American jobs overseas.

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While we work to avert the sequester, the real crisis remains: unbelievably high rates of poverty in
America.
To begin to address this ongoing poverty crisis, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer and I are launching a
Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity. This group of lawmakers will work closely with the
administration to develop support for a national strategy to eliminate barriers to opportunity and
eradicate poverty, with the initial goal of cutting poverty in half in 10 years.
Key principles of the Task Force include enhancing coordination and alignment of federal, state and
local anti-poverty programs to maximize the impact of every federal dollar in the fight against
poverty; strengthening federal oversight of anti-poverty programs by improving how we measure and
evaluate the impact of anti-poverty programs, as well as the long-term economic outcomes of the
Americans who receive assistance; and removing barriers and obstacles that prevent low-income
Americans from joining the middle class.
The pathway out of poverty and into the middle class is what the American dream is all about, an
idea without political aliation or party identification and a core value that every American supports.
It is by strengthening and growing the ranks of Americas middle class that we ensure a robust
economy that works for all of us. Eliminating poverty is not just a moral imperative for the country
but a vital economic one as well.
Our nations greatest strength is not our military might, but the freedom and equality of opportunity
that built the largest and most prosperous middle class the world has ever known. We cannot allow a
growing middle class to become just an American dream it must continue to be an American
reality.

I contributed to the composition of this opinion editorial on behalf of U.S. Representative Barbara
Lee while interning in her congressional oce. This piece sought to explain the eect sequestration
would have on Americans in poverty and introduce Rep. Lee and Whip Hoyers Task Force on
Poverty and Opportunity. It was published in the online and print versions of Politico.

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