United Church of Christ - Join our UCC leaders in calling on Congress to come up with a faithful budget solution!

This week UCC General Minister and President Rev. Geoffrey Black, and Executive Minister for Justice and Witness Ministries, Rev. Linda Jaramillo will join with interfaith leaders in Washington DC to urge our elected officials to work for a faithful budget solution.

Linda and Geoffrey Faithful Budget Together, they will raise the faith community’s concern for those individuals and families struggling at the economic margins in the mist of congressional efforts avoid the fiscal cliff. They will call on our leaders to craft a budget agreement that protects all Americans and especially the most vulnerable, promotes the common good, and provides adequate resources for shared priorities through a just tax system.

Join Revs. Black and Jaramillo in calling on Congress to:

Exempt vital programs from further cuts and harmful changes – This includes our programs for low-income and poor families including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), Supplemental Security Income, WIC (a food program for women, infants, and children) and low-income housing assistance;
Make no additional cuts in non-military spending for core government programs that promote the common good;
Protect households in the lowest 20% income level from any increased tax burden, specifically by shielding the refundable Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child tax Credit from cuts, restructuring, or changes.
Do not make cuts to Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security that place an additional burden on vulnerable Americans or those living in poverty or that cause more people to fall into poverty.
Raise taxes on wealthy households and corporations to bring in needed revenues;
Maintain proposed cuts to military spending which has risen by over 50% in the last decade (not counting the special expenditures for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan); the proposed cuts, including the across-the-board sequester would reduce spending to the 2007 level, a time when the military had sufficient funding. These cuts should go forward.

The budget agreement must protect the most vulnerable through strong safety-net programs, maintain core government services and functions that promote the common good, and provide adequate resources for shared priorities through a just tax system. It must also fairly balance funding for the military against other vital needs at home.

We can avoid the fiscal showdown, care for those most in need, promote the common good. Act now!

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Dear [Decision Maker],

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As a person of faith and member of the United Church of Christ, I urge you to treat our fragile economy with care and avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. I ask that you protect, and do not cut, funding for programs that provide vital assistance to impoverished and vulnerable people.

I urge you to:

- Exempt vital programs from further cuts and harmful changes  This includes our programs for low-income and poor families including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), Supplemental Security Income, WIC (a food program for women, infants, and children) and low-income housing assistance;

-Make no additional cuts in non-defense discretionary funding for core government programs that promote the common good;

- Protect households in the lowest 20% income level from any increased tax burden, specifically by shielding the refundable Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child tax Credit from cuts, restructuring, or changes.

- Do not make cuts to Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security that place an additional burden on vulnerable Americans or those living in poverty or that cause more people to fall into poverty.

- Raise taxes on wealthy households and corporations to bring in needed revenues;

- Maintain proposed cuts to military spending which has risen by over 50% in the last decade (not counting the special expenditures for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan); the proposed cuts, including the across-the-board sequester would reduce spending to the 2007 level, a time when the military had sufficient funding. These cuts should go forward.

People in poverty did not create the deficit and have suffered the most because of it. They should not have to pay for fixing it. Please, do not to push the poor and vulnerable over the fiscal cliff.

We can avoid the fiscal showdown, care for those most in need, promote the common good, and more fairly balance military spending and our unmet needs at home.  Please enact a faithful budget plan.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]
[Your Email]