2006 Election Issues for Catholics:

Globalization and Jobs

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE: The fact of globalization is not at issue here. Global trade and networks and companies are growing and will continue to grow as our world grows smaller. But these changes need to happen in a way that minimizes the negative effects, particularly on workers and the environment. Do the wages and benefits and working conditions of the workforce plummet as we "race to the bottom" in global competition? Does globalization as currently practiced hasten the destruction of the environment? Are less developed countries the losers in trade pacts? Is the globalization of the economy too much under the control of corporations that are not accountable enough to the people through our elected representatives? Is the Congress of the U.S.A. doing its job when it abdicates its role of reviewing and revising trade pacts (the fast-track process)? Should there be an accountable body at the international level to regulate the global economy and make sure it is working for the good of all?


HOW DID GLOBALIZATION DEVELOP? In 1944, near the end of World War II, the leaders of the allied nations decided that trade among the countries of the world was the best deterrent to war. They created the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to provide loan money for economic recovery from the war and to promote economic development in poor nations. In the 1980s these agencies and the countries that dominated them increasingly adopted a neo-liberal, laissez-faire approach to the economy: allow the unregulated market and the multinational corporations to be their own guide. Structural adjustment (austerity) programs were imposed on borrowers: cutting social programs, privatizing public agencies and companies, freezing wages and taking away the rights of labor, production for international export rather than to meet the needs of the local people. International debt payments became so large that interest payments alone placed impossibly huge burdens on the poorer countries.

THE CHURCH ON GLOBALIZATION: "The new realities that are having such a powerful impact on the productive process, such as the globalization of finance, economics, trade and labor, must never violate the dignity and centrality of the human person, nor the freedom and democracy of peoples. If solidarity, participation and the possibility to govern these radical changes are not the solution, they are certainly the necessary ethical guarantee so that individuals and people do not become tools but the protagonists of their future." (Pope John Paul II, Homily at the Mass for the Jubilee of Workers, May 2, 2000). "The loss of centrality on the part of States must coincide with a greater commitment on the part of the international community to exercise a strong guiding role." (Compendium #370) "Global economic forces empower some and impoverish many. The gulf between rich and poor nations has widened, and sense of responsibility toward the world's poor and oppressed has grown weaker…The effects of these forces are evident in our economy, the immigrants and refugees among us, the threat of terrorism, dynamics of the drug trade, and pressures on workers." ("International Challenge for U.S. Parishes", U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1997)

ENLIGHTENED ACTION: 1) Ask candidates for public office about their positions on regulation of world trade particularly as regards workers and the environment, structural adjustment programs, international bodies to oversee the world economy, development aid to more impoverished countries. 2) Continue the effort begun in 2000 by the churches to reduce the debt of "heavily indebted poorer countries.". 3) Consider a reduction in the life style (simplicity) of our families so that we do not consume such a high percentage of the earth's resources and of the products of the world's economy.

 

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In agreement with the U.S. Bishops, Catholics are urged to vote for candidates “based on the full range of issues, as well as on the candidate’s personal integrity, philosophy and performance,” keeping in mind that “a Catholic moral philosophy does not easily fit the ideologies of ‘right’ or ‘left’, nor the platform of any party…Our responsibility is to measure all candidates, policies, parties, and platforms by how they protect the life, dignity and rights of the human person, whether they protect the poor and the vulnerable and advance the common good."8

“Most issues are moral issues. If we take moral issues seriously, we need to vote accordingly.”

– Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
Caucus Co-chair

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1. Statements from the publication “Faithful Citizenship: a Catholic Call to Political Responsibility,” US Conference of Catholic Bishops; concepts adapted from “Peaceweavings: Choosing a Presidential Candidate, Pax Christi, USA and the National Catholic Rural Life Conference.
2.David Kamin, tax and budget analyst, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, by telephone, August 27, 2004
3. “Tax Returns: A Comprehensive Assessment of the Bush Administration’s Record on Cutting Taxes,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 2004
4. “Studies Shed New Light on Effects of Administration’s Tax Cuts,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, August 25, 2004, with data from the Congressional Budget Office Mid-Session Budget Review
5. “Assessing President Bush’s Fiscal Policies,” Mark M. Zandi, Economy.com, July 2004
6. “Gap Between Rich and Poor Widening in Troubled Economy,” by Leigh Strope, Associated Press, August 17, 2004
7.Economic Justice For All Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy, National Conference of Catholic Bishops, November 1986, 202d. The U.S. Bishops’ election statement (Faithful Citizenship, November 2003) is silent on the matter of fair taxation policies that can generate sufficient revenue for basic needs programs.
8. Address of His Holiness Pope John Paul II to the Diplomatic Corps, January 13, 2003
9. See FN at 2
10.“Studies Say Tax Cuts Now Will Bring Bigger Bill Later,” The New York Times, September 23, 2003
11. Ibid
12. “Studies Shed New Light on Effects of Administration’s Tax Cuts,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, August 25, 2004; Robert Reischauer, Urban Institute, as reported in Newsweek, May 24, 2004
13. “The Unbearable Costs of Empire,” by Mark Weisbrot, Business Week Online, July 29, 2004; “This Can’t Go On,” by Paul Krugman, The New York Times, November 4, 2003, p. A29
14. Congressional Budget Office data; The New York Times, September 23, 2003, p. C2
15. “Tax Returns: A Comprehensive Assessment of the Bush Administration’s Record on Cutting Taxes, ” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 23, 2004
16. “Studies Shed New Light on Effects of Administration’s Tax Cuts,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, August 25, 2004
17. Ibid, Table 1
18. See FN at 15; U.S. Treasury Department data
19. “Studies Shed New Light on Effects of Administration’s Tax Cuts,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, August 25, 2004; “Tax Returns: A Comprehensive Assessment of the Bush Administration’s Record on Cutting Taxes,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 23, 2004
20. “IRS Is Tightening Rules for Low-Income Tax Credit,” The New York Times, April 25, 2003
21. NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, “Budget and Taxes,” Election 2004 Charts
22. “NO END IN SIGHT TO RISING DEFICITS, EXPERTS WARN,” Committee for Economic Development, Concord Coalition, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, September 29, 2003
23. Ibid, Table 1
24. Ibid, Table 1
25. Ibid, Table 1
17. Ibid, Table 1


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