The Budget Showdown: Jobs & Care or Cuts?

This week, Jobs with Justice joined with progressive organizations and unions across the country to remind the President and Members of Congress that this election was a clear indicator that the majority of Americans need want jobs and a caring economy.

Our very own Sarita Gupta joined over two dozen other labor and progressive leaders in a full-page open letter to President Obama and Members of Congress in the Washington Post.

Wall Street, CEOs, and those responsible for the financial crisis are now in a panic over the upcoming “fiscal cliff,”  but the current proposals being discussed to reach a “grand bargain” are actually proposals for a Grand Rip Off -- they include devastating cuts to Medicaid  and other vital programs.

The question before us--who will pay to close the deficit -- the richest 2% or us?  Let’s remember that for years, corporations and the 1% have paid less and less taxes, and made record profits while working families have endured record unemployment and cuts to programs across the board.

We sent a clear message this past Tuesday at the polls. Starting today, we are sending a message our elected officials that the people’s mandate is a Fair Deal or No Deal.

• In Missouri, Jobs with Justice and allies held events outside Senator Claire McCaskill's St. Louis and Kansas City offices – calling on her to keep her promises to protect Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, during the upcoming budget talks.
  

• In South Bend, Indiana, Jobs with Justice and labor leaders met directly  with Senator-elect Joe Donnelly, asking him to pledge to let the Bush tax cuts expire and to protect our vital programs.
  

• In Boston, hundreds of people packed into Dudley library to send their elected representatives back to Washington with a mandate to focus on “Jobs, Not Cuts.”

The budget showdown has only just begin – let's continue to organize and get into the streets for Care Not Cuts!