Want a Fair Budget? Take Action Now!
Let me fill you in on what is happening in Washington right now and why your congressional representatives need to hear your voice for a fair federal budget.
Members of Congress are talking to each other right now about how they will deal with the Budget Control Act that they approved last year. In January 2013, this law automatically cuts both domestic programs, such as health care, education and social services and the Pentagon budget. And members of Congress are listening to what their constituents are saying -- particularly during this campaign season. That’s why they need to hear from you.
They need to hear from you about how federal funding for your community -- funding that supports schools, food pantries, homeless and veterans services -- will be affected if Congress cuts the domestic side of the budget, which undergirds health care, education and social services in every community.They also need to hear that the Pentagon can sustain cuts of $1 trillion over the next decade.
When Congress comes back to Washington in November after the election, members will be making decisions about how to curb the federal deficit and debt.
- Will they let the Bush tax cuts expire as a way to increase revenue?
- Will they make cuts to the largest chunk of the federal discretionary budget-- Pentagon spending, which has grown exponentially in the last decade?
- Will the programs that are working to end homelessness; promote literacy; provide workforce opportunities; assure regulatory integrity for the safety of our food, water and air along with scores of other positive investments of our federal tax dollars be cut?
They need to hear from you now and again in November when FCNL convenes the Quaker Public Policy Institute.
Today, please write to your members of Congress -- even if you’ve written before. Urge them to support a balanced approach to reigning in the debt, one that requires the Pentagon to cut at least $1 trillion from its budget over the next 10 years. Then ask 5 friends to write too.
In your letter, I encourage you to speak specifically about the activities and organizations you are involved with in your community and how they might be affected by cuts to federal spending.
In the next few weeks, we’ll be encouraging you to take other action -- to ask candidates hard questions and to consider visiting the local offices of your members of Congress.
And I hope you will make plans now to join us in Washington, DC on November 15 and 16 for our Quaker Public Policy Institute and Lobby Day. You can be in the right place at the right time. Congress will be returning to Washington that week to take up these issues. We want to have hundreds of people visiting their offices as they begin to make these decisions that could determine the shape of federal spending for the next decade.
Sincerely,
Diane Randall
Executive Secretary
