Poor people, and especially people of color, should be troubled about the budget cuts implemented by Governor Bruce Rauner of Illinois and Governor Eric Greitens of Missouri. These two wealthy politicians do not give the impression that they understand the disparity between the rich and poor, and how their unprecedented cuts to programs for poor and working-class families increase hardship and poverty.
And with President Donald Trump’s proposal to cut Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and other programs and entitlements which benefit disabled and low-income Americans, we should prepare for years of suffering. It is as if the country and the Bi-State region are run by Curly, Larry and Moe. They seem to have no compassion for poor and working class people.
They overlook that people should be the focus of social and economic actions. How can poor people be protected from blights and social ills, including disease, narcotic and drugs, and violence if programs are eliminated from federal and state budgets?
How can we survive if positive change cannot be truly workable, and we are deprived of fundamental freedoms, including the right to food, education, and health care? Trump, Rauner and Greitens forget that the opportunity to develop one’s full human potential should be respected. For them to eliminate programs that have helped our communities for years would dramatically impact persons with the lowest incomes. Oh, I almost forgot that they do not have a clue of what it is to be poor, and it would never occur to them the struggles that are faced daily by Blacks and Latinos and other so-called minorities.
Rauner’s plan is to slash spending and revamp the state’s pension system, execute term limits and destabilize public employee unions. Because of political bickering, funding for facilities such as schools, hospitals, and criminal justice has been delayed for the past two years.
Eric Greitens cut $146 million from the state budget in because of dwindling funding in state revenue, and he’s proposing additional slashes for next year’s plan, which takes effect in July. Harris-Stowe State University, the historically black university is confronting a more than $900,000 reduction in next year’s budget which is devastating.
These so-called ‘leaders’ will be up for re-election and you must remember their deeds. When they come to your churches, mosques, synagogues and places of business, you must remember how they have impacted your life and your family’s life. You must remember what changes and funding practices have been made in educational institutions and what that will mean to your children’s future. You must register and you must vote.
Dr. King said “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.”
Please watch the Bernie Hayes TV program Saturday Night at 10 pm and Sunday Evenings at 5:30 pm on KNLC-TV Ch. 24.
I can be reached by fax at (314) 837-3369 or e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net. Or on Twitter : @berhay
Be Ever Wonderful!
