One Christian Response To President Obama's State Of The Union Address #SOTU
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
As a minister in the United Church of Christ deeply concerned about poverty and homelessness, I watched the president’s State of the Union address with great interest as poverty and homelessness grow both in Oregon and nationally. The president noted tonight that over the course of the last year: “For those who had already known poverty, life has become that much harder.”
During the 2008 campaign the president pledged to reduce poverty by 50% over a ten year period. This January, I wrote the president and the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and asked that the president re-affirm that commitment and to outline proposals during the State of the Union address. He didn’t specifically do that and I’m disappointed.
Letter to President Obama on the State of the Union Address and Poverty
But it is clear poverty is on the president’s mind. He talked about the need to put people back to work and urged the Senate to pass a “jobs” bill similar to the one recently passed by the House and urged increases in education funding noting that: “In the 21st century, one of the best anti-poverty programs is a world-class education.” I agree.
Yet America still needs and deserves a comprehensive anti-poverty plan that includes measurable goals.
This week I joined a conference call with White House staff and my understanding is that anti-poverty programs will be increased in the budget being released by the president on Monday. Already, the Recovery Act, proposed by the president and passed by the Congress last year, kept “6 million Americans out of poverty and (reduced) the severity of poverty for 33 million more,” according to the non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
I remain hopeful that the budget will help reduce poverty in the United States.
The president also reaffirmed his commitment to health care reform and called on Congress to pass the legislation they now have in front of them. Religious leaders – including the National Council of Churches – have fought for decades for such reform. It is needed and is a moral imperative.
A State of the Union address is a chance for a president to set out a philosophy for governing. The details will come in the budget the president releases next week. Budgets are moral documents, we like to say in the faith community, and I’ll be watching with eagerness to see the president’s budget priorities.
In the end, I was impressed with the president’s speech tonight. He spoke on a number of issues that have been of importance to the faith community for years: the economy, health care, the spread of HIV / AIDS, ending the war in Iraq, hate crimes legislation, civil rights, and the reduction of nuclear weapons. President Obama deserves to be applauded for his efforts.
Now I’ll wait for the details in the budget.