Beyond the AIG Economy

At a time of surging need, sagging donations and plummeting portfolios, organizations caring for the immediate needs of hard-hit Americans are facing debilitating budget cuts. As a first step toward common-good reform, we need a moral budget that provides the casualties of our economy with enough resources to meet their needs.

By Dan Nejfelt

Our economy is shaken to the core, and executives and talking heads are making excuses for funneling $165 million in taxpayer money – yours and mine – to AIG employees who helped cause the crisis that led to the bailout. The fact that they haven’t repented and haven’t been driven out shows just how deeply our culture of irresponsibility and unaccountability has taken root. Until we fundamentally reorient our economy to work for the common good, our nation will not heal and our system will continue to deny millions of people basic economic security while endowing a small cadre with rewards that bear no relation to the value of their work.

What these disgraced “investors” and their apologists don’t get is that the people left behind by the market see the apostles of supply-side economics for what they are – false prophets. Despite decades of economic expansion and increased worker productivity, the poor, the working class and the middle class have seen little to no improvement of their economic lot, while the income and wealth of the top one percent have increased dramatically. They made it rain at the top, and it never trickled down. Now that our financial system has shaken what little sense of security many of us had, we see clearly that Gordon Gecko’s revelation that “greed is good” is false.

The first step to undoing the sinful ideology that turned greed into a virtue is providing immediate relief to those who have been left impoverished, hungry, homeless or on the brink. Righteous anger at reckless investors is just and necessary, but we can’t let it distract us from tending to our most vulnerable neighbors. We’ve bailed out investment banks, now we can’t leave food banks behind. That’s why Faithful America is mounting a campaign to rally support for a federal budget that addresses the needs of people who bear the brunt of our systemic sin.

At a time of surging need, sagging donations and plummeting portfolios, organizations caring for the immediate needs of hard-hit Americans are facing debilitating budget cuts. As a first step toward common-good reform, we need a moral budget that provides the casualties of our economy with enough resources to meet their needs.

The Obama administration’s recent budget proposal is a good start. By increasing funding for nutritional assistance, housing and healthcare, as well as cutting taxes for those who most need the money, it declares a greater commitment to the well-being of the people who pay the consequences of our sinful system. So Faithful America is calling on Congress to pass a federal budget that reflects these priorities. Numerous voices in the faith community are speaking up for a just economy as well. The broad movement for the common good needs to be heard if we hope to build an economy based on something other than the idea that sin pays.

UPDATE: Recipients of 15 of the 20 largest bonuses have returned them, including 9 of the top ten. Good start.