Civil and Human Rights Coalition Opposes Boehner 'Budget Control Act of 2011'

July 28, 2011 - Posted by Ron Bigler

The "Budget Control Act of 2011" under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives would have a "devastating effect" on people of color, young children, students, older Americans, women, the jobless, and the uninsured, warned The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

In a letter to House members, Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference, and Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of The Leadership Conference, write that the "The Budget Control Act":

would cut discretionary programs by $1.2 trillion over the next ten years, followed by another round of cuts that are large enough to produce another $1.8 trillion in savings as a condition for raising the debt ceiling. According to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the plan would require approximately $1.5 trillion in cuts to mandatory spending or so-called “entitlement” programs.

The only way these cuts could be achieved, Henderson and Zirkin write, is through drastic cuts to the nation's safety net.

Congress would have few alternatives for attaining this $1.5 trillion in cuts. It could: 1) cut Social Security and Medicare benefits heavily for current retirees, something that all budget plans from both parties (including House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s plan) have ruled out; 2) repeal the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansions while retaining its measures that cut Medicare payments and raise tax revenues; or 3) eviscerate the safety net for low-income children, parents, seniors, and people with disabilities.

The letter concludes by urging House members to reject the "Budget Control Act of 2011" and work for a plan that also includes increasing revenues instead of "simply reducing debt on the backs of those who can least afford it."