Author Dr. Robert Saul

Raising Young Citizens in the Age of Columbine

Money or children?

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“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all children are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  – Robert Saul’s twist on the Declaration of Independence

 

We are winning!  More money from tariffs!  More money from confiscated oil reserves! More money from tax breaks to the wealthy and program cuts!  More money from DOGE cuts!  But, at what expense?

As a pediatrician/medical geneticist and staunch child advocate, I contend that all of the “winning” is coming at the expense of children and families. And I am particularly worried about the children and families of lesser means.  A healthy society, a healthy democracy for us, is predicated upon the supposition that we are all equal and worthy of equal opportunities and rights.1   The quote at the beginning of the article substitutes the word “children” for “men” in Jefferson’s declaration but is so apropos for the times we live in.  Unless we seek ways to make things more balanced for children and families, we are doomed in my estimation to slip into a state of unparalleled decline.

Let me state some ways that the “power of money” has corrupted our ability to provide for our children (and remember all children are our children) and families.

  • The DOGE (the short-lived Department of Government Efficiency) cuts to USAID (United States Agency for International Development) have been devasting. USAID was established back in 1961 to provide foreign humanitarian and economic assistance. Those efforts strengthen our stature in the international community and demonstrate our resolve to protect our global neighbors.  Over 80% of the efforts were cut on July 1, 2025.  Realistic estimates of the impact are reported in the THE LANCET – “USAID funding has had a crucial role in improving global health, particularly by reducing mortality from poverty-related diseases and saving the lives of millions of adults and children. Current and proposed US aid cuts—along with the probable ripple effects on other international donors—threaten to abruptly halt and reverse one of the most important periods of progress in human development.”2   The cuts are estimated to result in more than 14 million deaths, including more than 4.5 million children under age 5, by 2030.
    • The money saved by the US government wreaks havoc for others, ravaging problems that predominantly affect children and families. I am sickened.
  • One Big Beautiful Bill (oh Lord, I do not like that name) with its tax cuts for the wealthy and its program-cutting measures will do great harm to children and families. SNAP (supplemental nutritional assistance program) benefits will be cut; health insurance premiums for Obamacare will increase; Medicaid assistance cuts will dramatically affect our children and families (recently as many as 60% of births in SC were under Medicaid); rural hospitals will suffer from decreased Medicaid assistance; Head Start and daycare programs are being cut back; educational assistance is being curtailed; scientific research has been cut; public health programs have been sliced; public health measures (such as vaccines) have been unnecessarily altered; toxic environmental exposures will increase; climate change will go unabated.
    • The money transferred out these programs is an embarrassment and worthy of disdain. I am outraged.
  • The money procured by tariffs and confiscated oil reserves is not going to assistance for children and families. One suspects that it is helping to fund pet projects of the administration and unfortunately armed conflicts abroad.  The latter conflicts severely harm children and families as their neighborhoods are destroyed, food is made sparse, and medical care and education are interrupted.  Similar problems occur in the US after natural disasters and now the federal response to these disasters has been blunted with program cuts.
    • The unthinkable disruptions to too many children and families overseas and the inability to respond to the domestic catastrophes that severely affect us will have long-standing negative consequences. I am appalled. 

 

Money or children?  There should be no argument, yet our current administration has spoken in a manner antithetical to the well-being of all children and families.  It would be easy for me to remain silent regarding these issues.  But the moral imperative for me is to be on the right side of this issue.  Silence is acceptance, and acceptance is a capitulation to the forces that are harming children and families.

It is not an overstatement to quote Dietrich Bonhoeffer here – “God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”3 I have to speak out now and continue to advocate for children and families.  My professional oath and personal moral duty will accept no less. We are all created equal.  Let’s demonstrate it.

 

All children are our children!
  1. https://mychildrenschildren.com/a-declaration-for-children/
  2. Cavalcanti D, de Oliveira Ferreira de Sales L, da Silva A et al. Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis. The Lancet, 2025; 406, 283-294
  3. https://mychildrenschildren.com/caste-inaction-is-action-part-ii/