Rangel Gathers Community Leaders To Blast Budget Cuts

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y) gathered fellow congressional leaders and religious community leaders on Thursday to discuss how the federal budget is not only a political issue, but a moral one

“Whether you’re a Catholic or Protestant, Jew or Muslim, we all have a moral obligation to help the poor, the aged, and the sick,” Rangel declared.

After Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Cali.), Donna Christensen (D-V.I) spoke about the moral implications of cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Rangel introduced four different religious community leaders to explain how religion dictates that one must help the poor.

“What has been missing,” Rangel explained, ”is the collective voices of those ministers and Rabbis and imams that have been screaming out in the communities that have decided to come together.”

“Everyone has to pay their fair share,” Rangel continued. “We have to close the gap of income inequality between the top 1% and the 99% of Americans who are suffering.”