Respond to the Gang of Six

Have you been watching the debate over whether we'll default on our national debt? Week after week, politicians from both parties have used it as an opportunity to tell us that deficit reduction requires "tough choices" and "shared sacrifice" and "taking on sacred cows." 

But as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka recently said, "So far, the only sacred cows being gored by budget proposals coming out of Washington are working people, the middle class, seniors and the poor."

Tell your senators and the White House: No cuts to the social safety net. Focus on creating jobs, and make corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share: [ http://act.aflcio.org/c/18/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2565 ].

One recent bipartisan proposal in the Senate cuts Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. It chokes job-creating public investments. It slashes education for disadvantaged students. It whacks workers with taxes on our heath care benefits and tax credits. And it kills American jobs--by switching to a "territorial taxation system" that gives corporations incentives to ship jobs overseas and shift profits to offshore tax havens. 


And then yesterday, news reports surfaced that President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner are discussing a deal that could cut roughly $3 trillion dollars in spending now--including cuts to vital programs that protect working families--in exchange for vague promises to reform the tax code next year.(1)

Tell your senators and the White House: No cuts to the most vulnerable Americans. Focus on creating jobs, not protecting tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy: [ http://act.aflcio.org/c/18/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2565 ].

Who got us into this mess? It wasn't working people and poor people who rely on the programs that are under attack. But we're being asked to make all the sacrifices and clean up the mess--while corporations and the rich are given everything they want, even if it's bad for America. Even if it's tax incentives to export more good jobs overseas.

Working families and retirees are hurting. So what do our leaders do? Try to cut programs that working families and retirees rely on. Jobs are nowhere to be found. So what do our leaders do? Push cuts that will kill even more jobs. 

These plans are unacceptable. They will make inequality in America worse--and turn us into more of a Third World has-been. 

Our bottom line must always be improving the lives of working families and strengthening our country. That starts with asking our elected officials to do the right thing today. And if today's politicians won't do what's best for working families, we need to hold them accountable. 

Tell your senators and the White House: No deal that cuts our safety net and kills our jobs while making the rich richer: [http://act.aflcio.org/c/18/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2565 ]. 

Thank you for standing with us.

In Solidarity,

Manny Herrmann
Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO

P.S. One recent proposal, the so-called Gang of Six "compromise" in the Senate, means lower tax rates for the wealthy and tax breaks for corporations who move jobs overseas. It would: 
 * Cut Social Security benefits for seniors and people with disabilities, and health care programs, including Medicare and Medicaid; 
 * Choke job-creating public investments; 
 * Whack workers with taxes on our health care benefits;  
 * Slash education for disadvantaged students; and
 * Kill American jobs--by switching to a "territorial taxation system" that gives corporations incentives to ship jobs overseas and shift profits to offshore tax havens.

Tell your senators and the White House: No cuts to the social safety net. Focus on jobs, and make corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share: [ http://act.aflcio.org/c/18/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2565 ].

(1) http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-gop-leaders-said-to-discuss-new-debt-plan/2011/07/21/gIQAT81BSI_story.html 

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