November 19, 2012

The “Fiscal Cliff” Is A Myth.

The Election is Over but Our Fight is Not

By Joan Duckenfield

As Paul Krugman put it, “The looming prospect of spending cuts and tax increases isn’t a fiscal crisis. It is, instead, a political crisis brought on by the G.O.P.’s attempt to take the economy hostage.” Republicans are manufacturing this crisis to pressure Democrats to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and accept painful cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Unemployment Compensation, core programs that many Americans depend on!

The facts are that extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and shredding our social safety net will not reduce the deficit or improve the economy. (tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/PDF/0915taxesandeconomy.pdf) Creating jobs and putting people back to work will improve our economy and reduce the deficit. Letting the tax cuts for the top 2% expire will generate over $800 billion more revenue which can be used to generate jobs for the other 98%. This will grow our economy!

...Continued from home page

What We Need To Do

We need to call our Congresspeople and tell them that we expect them to:
• Protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security and Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC.) Cutting benefits for these programs should not be part of the Fiscal Cliff discussion.
• Create jobs as the best way to grow the economy and reduce the deficit. This means investing in our future, including education, clean energy and our national infrastructure.
• End the Bush Tax Cuts for the top 2%. Use this money to not only reduce the deficit but to also put people back to work!

Let's reinforce the powerful message we sent on election day!

· Call Senator Bob Casey. Senator Casey has not publicly committed to protecting Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) and needs us to remind him that this is important to his constituents. This is a critical call to make.
o Call Senator Casey’s office at (202) 224-6324
o Ask him to commit to not cutting benefits for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and EUC as part of the ‘Grand Bargain’ and to ending the Bush Tax Cuts for the top 2%.
· Call Senator Pat Toomey. Senator Toomey wants to extend the Bush Tax Cuts for the top 2% and favors reducing cuts in defense spending but not social services spending. Although he is unlikely to change his position, we should remind him that he represents us.
o Call Senator Toomey at 202-224-4254.
· Call Your Representative
o Bob Brady (District 01) (202) 225-4731: Brady supports protecting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security as well as ending tax cuts for the rich. THANK HIM, and ask him to stick to his guns!
o Chaka Fattah (District 02) 202.225.4001: Fattah is championing a bipartisan deal so it is critical that he hears from constituents that the deal must end tax cuts for the rich and preserve out social safety net.
o Pat Meehan (District 07) (202) 225-2011: Meehan is certainly not a supporter of our position, but has pledged to break through the logjam in D.C. Constituents need to let him know their concerns and positions.
o Allyson Schwartz (District 13) (202) 225-6111: Schwartz is the number 2 Democrat on the House Budget Committee and the vice-chair of a coalition focused on tax cuts for the middle class, protecting Medicare and making America more economically competitive. We need to encourage her to also protect Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and EUC and not cave in on ending tax cuts for the rich.

If you're not sure who your Representative is, click here

© 2005-2007 Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, All Rights Reserved. Site Design by Nancy Brigham; logo design by KC Ellis. Special thanks to Don Engel and D. André Dhondt for the software.