Blake Moore: “The Congressional Black Caucus, the conscience of the Congress, rejects cuts that wage war on the poor and war on the…”

“The Congressional Black Caucus, the conscience of the Congress, rejects cuts that wage war on the poor and war on the working class. There are 43 of us from 21 States, and we represent over 30 million people. We are aggrieved that two-thirds of the Republican budget cuts come from programs that serve low-income and working class people while there is no sacrifice from the uber-wealthy class. It is our job to be a voice in the wilderness and to point out that it is downright immoral to choose tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and billions of dollars of tax breaks and tax subsidies rather than preserving the dignity of a life with decent housing, food security, and access to health care for all Americans. The gentleman who spoke previously just pointed out that they're cutting welfare because they believe that people need self-esteem. Well, you cannot eat self-esteem, and you cannot live in a house built on self-esteem. We want you to know that half of all Americans in this country are barely making it without any governmental support, and they need Medicaid. They don't need you to block grant it. ``Block granting'' means a cut. ``Block granting food stamps'' means a cut. Privatizing Medicare is a cut. Inflicting deep cuts to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and denying extended benefits to the unemployed is a cut. Yet the Congressional Black Caucus prioritizes controlling the debt and deficit. We cut it by $4 trillion over 10 years.…”