AJC: Needy Americans left with crumbs

An editorial today on ajc.com: "Washington lawmakers are preparing to give the most fortunate segments of the U.S. population another $70 billion in tax breaks, while millions of other Americans don't know where they'll find their next meal.

The House and Senate have approved separate tax-break bills, both of which enlarge future budget deficits at a time when deficits are already at record levels. The bills in question would extend low tax rates on dividends and capital gains through 2010, and provide another year of relief from the alternative minimum tax.

Meanwhile, a report on hunger from America's Second Harvest, the umbrella organization for the bulk of the nation's food banks, puts those tax breaks for the wealthy in context.

'Hunger in America: 2006' shows that here in the land of plenty, more than 25 million men, women and children too poor and too powerless to interest Congress are forced to rely on donated food or go hungry sometime during the year.

That number is 8 percent more than in 2001, when the first of the Bush administration tax cuts were enacted. Obviously, the benefits of some $880 billion in tax savings to date have yet to trickle down to those most in need."