Monetary Oralization?

The proposed budget from the Republican-led House of Representatives does not -- at this point -- include any money for the Americorps program, a Peace-Corps like public service agency that helps people around the country in a variety of useful ways.

Among the projects connected to Americorps is one that connects to my denomination and which stages, among other things, summer education and reading programs for less well-off children. College students work with the youngsters helping to increase their reading ability, have a good time and do so in a faith-friendly environment. I like this program a lot.

The zero-dollar line item prompted several people to tweet, Facebook update and otherwise inform folks that the program is in peril. Folks who like it were urged to call their congressperson and ask them not to vote for the current budget resolution or to support an amendment which would restore funding. They were also urged to contact others to do the same and to pray for its continued funding.

Nobody suggested giving it any money or donating. I didn't call my congressperson, but I did donate. A couple of reasons brought me to this decision. One, my particular representative is solid GOP and has probably already made up his mind to vote for the budget resolution as is. He's not going to get enough calls to make him believe that he could safely buck the party leadership on this issue and say that he was just doing what his constituents wanted him to do. Not very many of the calls he does get will stick in the minds of people come primary season next summer or general election time next November; we voters have long memories about very few things and this one is likely to be replaced in the public eye before then.

For another, if I want this program to have funds, how sincere am I if I don't give it some funds myself? Since the Senate and the White House are in Democrat hands, Americorps and my own favorite program are likely to see some of their money restored. But not all, perhaps, and there's still the chance the whole program will be sliced out. If all I've done is bug the U.S. House switchboard and my representative's already overworked office personnel and told lots of other people to do the same, how will my program function if the worst case happens? Can it write checks drawn on my phone calls? Will it be able to spend staffer job stress?

The bottom line, I think, is that when we turn over functions to the government, we will find ourselves at the mercy of the government's funding. As long as the people holding the purse strings think like we do, that's fine for our favorite programs. But once different people take up the job -- and they will, someday -- we're stuck because our favorite program doesn't get money from us anymore. It depends on tax revenue, and the people who say where the tax revenue goes want it to go somewhere else.

During my seminary internship, I used a local health clinic instead of a personal physician, because the internship didn't feature insurance and the clinic was less expensive. It meant waiting longer in the doctor's office, since being poor almost always means waiting longer somewhere. I remember overhearing a conversation between a young woman there with a baby and another person. The young woman was talking about how she had saved some money for part of the visit she was making, instead of applying for public assistance. She was proud of herself for taking care of her own family without relying on someone else for help. She also said something that I think many of us in the coming weeks and months are going to realize is uncomfortably true.

She'd watched her mother on welfare, she said, and she'd vowed she'd never do that except as a very last resort. "She went on, and she couldn't ever get off," the young woman said. "They'd only give her everything, or nothing, and she was stuck. I'm not going to be stuck."

Fifteen years later, I remember sometimes to pray for that young woman, that she never got stuck and that she was able to raise a healthy child and make a great home for them both and whoever else happened to become part of their family. And I also remember it because I'm afraid a whole lot of us have gotten stuck, in more ways than we might realize.