by Josh Neil, PJALS intern
On March 23rd our community came together to urge our representatives to reject cuts to education, healthcare, and other lifeline programs. Nearly forty people from several organizations came together in the largest action the Spokane’s northside has ever seen. Speakers included Councilmember Amber Waldref from the Spokane City Council, the Rev. Todd Ekloff from the Unitarian Universalist Church, Peggy Slider who is a nurse from Spokane Regional Public Health, and Louise Chadez who is a mental health specialist with SPARC. All of the speakers emphasized the need not to make cuts to vital programs that help real people in our community.
Our economic climate has been in disarray for the past few years. We continue to see cuts to the programs that are helping real people. But what we don’t see is how there is logic in making these cuts. Time and time again, numbers, real numbers, have been produced to show that they way we are spending our money is not helping our society. Statistics show that if the money we spend on the pentagon were to be spent on education, healthcare, and other lifeline programs, we would see those areas produce more jobs than the Pentagon ever will. In the words of Todd Ekloff, “It doesn’t add up!”
If we are going to see and create real change we need to continue to take action and urge our representatives to reject cuts to the vital lifeline programs like education and healthcare. We need to urge our representatives to reevaluate our country’s priorities to reflect the needs of the people living in the land of “opportunity.” I challenge everyone to contact the legislators and Congress people and provide them with the facts. Let them know that what they are doing “doesn’t add up!”