Balancing the Budget on the Backs of the Poor

The left-of-center Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is criticizing the Obama administration for a proposal, as part of the president's budget, that would raise the minimum rent charged in federally subsidized housing to $75 a month from $25 a month. "Policymakers can find much better ways to secure $75 million or so in savings to help comply with the $501 billion statutory cap on non-defense appropriations for fiscal year 2013 than by making some of the poorest American families and children still more destitute," the center says. The Obama administration's proposal is even "harsher than" a proposal approved earlier this year by a subcommittee in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which would raise the minimum rent to $69.45 a month.