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AFL – CIO

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According to press reports, Democrats on Congress’s debt reduction
“super committee” proposed hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to
Social Security and Medicare benefits, as well as Medicaid, while
Republicans proposed even bigger and more harmful cuts to these
essential middle-class benefits.AFL-CIO President Richard
Trumka recorded a video message to fill you in on what’s happening and
what you can do. Please watch right away.

Watch Now

 

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The
debt reduction “super committee” that’s considering these cuts is no
ordinary congressional committee. It is empowered by law to propose
legislation that cannot be amended and can be rammed through Congress
quickly, with minimal debate. That’s why we need you to get your friends
involved.

Once you’ve watched President Trumka’s video, be sure to share it on Facebook and Twitter with your friends and family.

And stay alert. We  may soon need you to take action to save the middle class. Hours or even  minutes could matter. We are the 99%, and Congress needs to represent us. It’s that simple.

In Solidarity,

Manny Herrmann

Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO
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Tell Congress: No cuts to Medicare benefits



Democrats on the so-called Super Committee are caving to Republican demands and pushing a plan that would make drastic cuts to Medicare.

This is bad policy and bad politics. Cuts like these are the worst possible way to reduce the deficit. They protect the status quo for the richest 1 percent while the 99 percent are expected to sacrifice vital healthcare that they need to survive in tough economic times like these — and they’ll hamstring Democrats running for reelection in 2012.

We’ve been down this road before. Republicans and some Democrats have been pushing plans to destroy Medicare and Social Security for months. We beat them then and we can beat them now with an overwhelming show of grassroots opposition to any plan that cuts Medicare.

Join me and tell Washington that this deal is Dead On Arrival.

Pledge to oppose any candidate — Republican or Democrat – who votes for a plan that cuts Medicare and Medicaid benefits for the 99 percent.

The facts are simple: The average income of Medicare beneficiaries is about $22,000 a year. Our nation’s seniors can’t afford to have their benefits cut and hard-working Americans can’t afford to have their eligibility for Medicare raised to 67.

As more and more people lose employer-provided health insurance, the last thing the nation’s seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income children who depend on Medicaid need is for the federal government to slash these vital programs.

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid did not cause the run-up in federal deficits. We have President Bush’s huge tax cuts for the top 1 percent, the unpaid costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and the Great Recession caused by reckless, un-American, and potentially criminal behavior on Wall Street to thank for the mess we’re in.

Washington needs to make sure those who caused this mess pay to clean it up — not seniors, not Americans with disabilities, and certainly not low-income children who depend on Medicaid to survive.

Send a message to Washington now — Stand against cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security or stand alone for reelection.

This is a fight we will win, if we stand up and fight. Because when we work together, we’re unstoppable.

Thank you for everything you do.

-Jim

Jim Dean, Chair
Democracy for America

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AFL – CIO


400,000 JOBS

 
President
Obama has called on the Senate to pass the Teachers and First
Responders Back to Work Act. This bill would create or protect nearly
400,000 education jobs while preventing the layoffs of thousands of
police officers and firefighters.Tell your senators to pass the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act now.

There were 51 senators who supported the American Jobs Act last week—a majority. It should have passed the Senate.

But even as outrage against an economy stacked against the 99 percent
spreads like wildfire across America, Congress continues to fail
workers, again and again. Last week Senate Republicans blocked
progress for workers with procedural maneuvers—and prevented the
American Jobs Act from getting a vote at all, in spite of majority
support.

This shows just how powerful the 1 percent is—the richest Americans want
tax cuts for themselves at all costs, even if it means cutting vital
public services for the rest of us.

But President Obama hasn’t given up on jobs. And neither have we.
He’s called on the Senate to pass pieces of the American Jobs Act. The
first piece is the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act, which
would create or protect nearly 400,000 education jobs while preventing
the layoffs of thousands of police officers and firefighters.(1)

Tell your senators to pass the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act now.

Most of us can’t afford to replace police on the beat with our own
private security guards—and who wants to live in the kind of society
where we would need to? The vast majority of us rely on the government
to provide education for our kids. And all of us—even the top 1
percent—need firefighters if our homes are burning.

What doesn’t Congress get? What’s so controversial about the
Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act? Republicans have
supported bills like this in the past. This bill should have
overwhelming bipartisan support.

Let’s make sure every senator knows we won’t let favored treatment for the 1 percent—like sweetheart tax breaks for Wall Street
bankers—cut teachers, police and firefighters from our communities.
Working families have far more votes than millionaires and we deserve
and rightfully demand a society that works for the 99 percent.

Tell
your senators: Let’s get this done. It’s time to get America back to
work, starting with our teachers, firefighters and police officers.

In Solidarity,

Manny Herrmann

Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO

(1) http://democrats.senate.gov/2011/10/17/fact-sheet-teachers-and-first-responders-back-to-work-act
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AFL – CIO


68,842 bridges across America need work. So do America’s unemployed workers.

 

Tell Congress: These bridges need work, and so do America’s jobless workers.

In America, 68,842 bridges are deficient—and 282,672,680 vehicles cross
those bridges every day. Meanwhile, 9.1 percent of Americans are
jobless.

With so many people out of work and so many bridges and other pieces of
critical infrastructure in need of work, there’s a simple solution:
Congress must pass legislation putting jobless Americans to work fixing
critical infrastructure—bridges, schools, roads, ports and more.

Tell
your members of Congress: America is ready to get to work on our
bridges, transit, rail, airports, highways, ports, schools and the rest
of our failing infrastructure.

These projects don’t just create good jobs for the people who do the
original work—though that’s a big part of why they are important right
now. They also make our economy perform better in the long term by
increasing productivity. And they make America a better, safer place to
live.

Immediate work on America’s
crumbling infrastructure is a start. But we also need to pass a fully
funded surface transportation reauthorization and start now on even
bigger projects—world-class communications and energy systems,
high-speed rail and other infrastructure we need to be competitive in
the 21st century.

Tell
Congress: We need to fix our broken infrastructure and get started on
even bigger projects, too—the world-class communications and energy
systems, high-speed rail and other infrastructure we need to be
competitive in the 21st century.

I haven’t been to China, though I hope to go soon. But I am told that when you fly to Shanghai,
you land in a brand-new airport, you have high-speed broadband access
from the moment you arrive and you can get on a high-speed train in the
arrival terminal that will take you directly to downtown Shanghai at
speeds faster than 100 miles per hour.

This just isn’t available in any U.S. city. But we can change that. We
can meet these standards—and beat them. But only if our leaders rise to
the challenge.

Thank you for all the work you do.

In Solidarity,

Richard L. Trumka

President, AFL-CIO

P.S. In tough times, America has come together and put America back to work by building and rebuilding our infrastructure. But so far, the Republicans won’t do it.
That’s why we’re taking the pressure to every individual member of
Congress today—highlighting just how much work there is to be done and
how many jobless Americans are ready to get to work.

Tell
your members of Congress: America is ready to get to work. Let’s get
started on our bridges, transit, rail, airports, highways, ports,
schools and the rest of our failing infrastructure.

To find out how many bridges need work in your state and your state’s unemployment rate, click here.