Tag Archives: Social Security

a message from Senator Al Franken …


 
 

 When you win an election by just 312 votes, you know that small things make a big difference. In retrospect, a single volunteer shift – or a single contribution – could have been the deciding factor.

 Our next campaign hasn’t even begun yet. But I think it’s a safe bet that, when we look back on it, we’ll be glad for everything we did to gas up our people-powered grassroots machine in advance.

A contribution of just $5 now would do a lot to help keep our grassroots organization strong – please click here to donate now! http://www.alfranken.com/page/m/6cf7792/715407ea/31f0d526/78164493/1755333154/VEsE/

 I know it’s really, really early. But just because I’m not on the ballot right now doesn’t mean I don’t need your help. Even as we’re focusing on today’s fights – putting people back to work, rebuilding the middle class, keeping Wall Street’s hands off of Social Security – the powerful special interests are plotting their attacks.

 We’ve been pretty good at taking them on – and getting under their skin. But they’re preparing to spend millions to shut us up once and for all.

 That’s why I’m asking for your help now. We have to keep building our grassroots strength if we’re going to be able to withstand the attacks. And waiting until the campaign is officially underway just isn’t an option.

Can you make a contribution of $5 (more if you can afford it) to make sure our grassroots organization is ready for what’s coming?

 I know that you’ll have my back when the campaign heats up – but I’m hoping you’ll be willing to do a little bit now to help me get ready for what’s coming.

 A few dollars can make a big difference. And if my next campaign is as close as my last one, your decision to get involved now will look pretty good in retrospect.

Please click here to contribute now.

 Thanks for helping me get ready,

 Al

Senator Murray, the Clock is Ticking: Protect Key Programs in the Super-Comm​ittee


We need your help. Washington Senator Patty Murray is one of just 12 members of the very powerful congressional super-committee charged with deciding how to cut the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion over ten years. Time is short — the committee faces a deadline of November 23 — and the stakes are high.

Various proposals before the super-committee would reduce Social Security benefits and cut Medicare and Medicaid by as much as $685 billion. Each of these vital programs provides income security and health care to millions of Americans — mostly women.

Senator Murray needs to hear from you now! Over the next couple of weeks, the handful of members on the super-committee will decide the fate of these and other vital programs.

Please call 1-866-251-4044 today to tell Senator Murray:

– Oppose cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. That includes no Social Security COLA cut, no increase in the Medicare retirement age, and no slash in Medicaid funds.
– Protect other safety net programs for low-income Americans.
– Any deal must be balanced. NO additional spending cuts should be considered unless they are matched with equal amounts of new tax revenues. It’s time to make millionaires and corporations contribute to deficit reduction by paying their fair share of taxes.
Women in Washington state can’t afford to lose Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits. The average Social Security benefit for older women in Washington is just $12,400 per year. Even with Medicare, women often face higher out-of-pocket health care costs that strain lower incomes. And nearly 307,200 low-income women with disabilities, pregnant women, and parents in Washington relied on Medicaid for health care coverage, and nearly 60,600 elders relied on Medicaid for help with long-term care and other health expenses.

In Washington state and across the country, programs for women and their families have already been cut. But so far, tax breaks for millionaires and corporations haven’t been touched. We can’t balance the budget on the backs of women and their families. Please make a call today to demand that those with the greatest ability to pay contribute their fair share.

Please call 1-866-251-4044 today to tell Senator Murray: Protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

The super-committee is meeting now, mostly in secret, to develop its plan. But time is ticking away. Help us protect critical programs for women and families by taking action TODAY!

Sincerely,

Joan Entmacher
Vice President, Family Economic Security
National Women’s Law Center

Judy Waxman
Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights
National Women’s Law Center

AFL – CIO


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

Tell Senator Murray: No Cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid


National Women's Law Center - Don't Discount Women: Demand Fair Change Not Spare Change
                Tell Senator Murray: No Cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid
                If you want to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, now is the time to act, and Senator Murray is the one to call.
Call 1-866-251-4044 today!

Senator Patty Murray is the co-chair of a very powerful 12-member super-committee in Congress charged with deciding how to cut the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion over ten years.

Just yesterday we learned that the super-committee is negotiating about cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. These program provide income security or health care to more than 1 out of 7 Washington residents — mostly women.

Your phone call today can make a difference! A handful of members of Congress serving on the super-committee will decide the fate of these programs. Your senator — Patty Murray — is one of them.

Please call 1-866-251-4044 today to tell Senator Murray:

  • I want Senator Murray to oppose cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in the super-committee.
  • That includes no Social Security COLA cut.
  • No raising the Medicare eligibility age.
  • No slash in Medicaid funds.
  • It’s time to make millionaires and corporations contribute to deficit reduction by paying their fair share of taxes.

Women in Washington can’t afford cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The average Social Security benefit for older women in Washington is just $12,400 per year. Even with Medicare, women face higher out-of-pocket health care costs that strain their smaller incomes. And over 307,000 low-income women with disabilities, pregnant women, and mothers in Washington relied on Medicaid for health care coverage, and over 60,000 elderly women relied on Medicaid for help with long-term care and certain other health expenses.

Programs for women and their families have already been cut, in Washington State and across the country — but so far, tax breaks for millionaires and corporations haven’t been touched. It’s time to stop trying to balance the budget on the backs of women and their families, and to demand that those with the greatest ability to pay contribute their fair share.

Please call 1-866-251-4044 today to tell Senator Murray: No Cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

The super-committee is meeting now to develop its plan. If seven members agree, their plan will be voted on in Congress before the end of the year: no amendments, no filibusters. If you want to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, now is the time to act, and Senator Murray is the one to call.

Sincerely,

Joan Entmacher Joan Entmacher
Vice President, Family Economic Security
National Women’s Law Center   
Judy Waxman Judy Waxman
Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights
National Women’s Law Center   

P.S. Have friends in Washington state? Please forward them this email. Every call makes a difference.

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