60 religiösa ledare för ett stort antal olika samfund gick i onsdags samman och krävde i ett brev till republikanerna att sluta gynna landets rikaste. Bakgrunden är att republikanerna i representanthuset – där de har majoritet – samma dag röstade för att försämra Child Tax Credit (CTC) och Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Två skattelättnader som framför allt riktas mot låginkomsttagare. Men bidraget till de allra rikaste behåller de naturligtvis. Den orättvisa upprör, menar de religiösa ledarna i ett unikt uppror.

Med David Beckmanns, en av undertecknarna, egna ord:

”It is morally unjust that lawmakers consider drastic cuts to tax credits that are vital to hungry families while wealthy people retain reduced rates for their income over $250,000 and estates as large as $10 million are exempt from taxation. We urge Congress to protect programs that help people lift themselves out of poverty, and not balance the budget on the backs of people who were not responsible for our deficit to begin with.”

Eller Simone Campbells:

“We need Congress to stand up for what’s right, not protect the interests of the wealthiest two percent. As a Catholic sister, I stand with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in calling on Congress to work together and extend the improved tax credits instead of dismantling basic protections for poor and vulnerable people.”

Hela brevet:

As Christian leaders, we believe that our nation’s tax policies are fundamentally about values and priorities. Our religious tradition provides a vision for responsible government that serves the common good, not simply the privileged few. This requires those who have succeeded the most to pay their fair share of taxes. It also requires our commitment to public education, quality health care, vital infrastructure investments and programs that protect poor and vulnerable people. Congress will soon vote on tax measures that will have a profound impact on working families and the poor.

We are deeply opposed to any proposal that fails to extend the crucial improvements made in 2009 to refundable tax credits such as the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit. These tax credits help families meet basic needs, reduce poverty, and remove barriers to work. It is hypocritical for lawmakers who talk about family values to abandon improvements in these effective, family-supporting programs. Failing to extend the improved tax credits would jeopardize the economic security and well-being of more than 15 million families and more than 36 million children within those families. This is simply unconscionable.

We are also deeply concerned that some leaders in Washington who oppose extending these improved tax credits are at the same time calling for an extension of Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest few. Favoring the wealthiest 2% over working families is irresponsible public policy that fails a basic moral test. We are not economists or tax experts. But this debate is about more than dry statistics or competing fiscal theories. Ultimately, these choices reflect our values and reveal our priorities as a nation. We urge Members of Congress to put families and workers before ideological agendas that favor the powerful.

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Hur länge dröjer det innan den amerikanska högern avfärdar samfundens upprördhet – som de annars alltid omfamnar – med de magiska orden: ”de är styrda av vänstern/kommunisterna/liberalerna.”