supra partisan
If you did not catch the State of the Union address, you missed something wonderful. George Bush highlighted extreme poverty as a national priority. This is amazing. In the past, presidents have sometimes failed to even mention the fight against extreme poverty.
Some would call this a Bi-Partisan accord. However, it seems to me to be "Supra-Partisan" (all those from the Green Party may applaud). I say this because this is something far above politics, power, or voting. This is about men, women, and children made in the image of God. So often we frame things with an elephant or an ass to sway opinions or thoughts. We must make no mistake, the fight against the evil Extreme Poverty must never be tied to a political party. It must be tied to us as people recognizing that our those who are equal to us are dying everyday from treatable illnesses, and lack of clean water. This is indeed Supra-Partisan.
The attention being given to Extreme Poverty is due in part because of the work of the One Campaign. Our voices are being heard, and those in power are responding. We saw this on Tuesday when President Bush reaffirmed his commitment to the fight against extreme poverty and global AIDS.
Now we need to make sure that the White House takes the next step for this bold vision by fully funding poverty-focused development assistance in his 2008 budget request. As Congress and the president work together in the coming year, we have an opportunity to make real progress. Congress agrees that development assistance is one of the most cost-effective and powerful tools we have to create a better, safer world. Yet, the United States is ranked next to last amongst wealthy countries in terms of how much we spend on lifting up developing nations. The amount of money it takes to save lives and help developing countries is tiny -- just an additional 1% -- compared to our massive 2.8 trillion dollar federal budget.
This is one of our best opportunities to change that. When the president submits his budget request to Congress in the next two weeks, it will shape the conversation for the coming year. At this moment, a letter from you means so much more, because the president so rarely hears from constituents about global poverty.
Please take a moment and SEND A LETTER TO OUR PRESIDENT asking him to fully fund poverty-focused development assistance in his 2008 budget request. We have come a long way in the last two years, imagine what we can achieve in two more.