U.S. Poverty Campaigns

Weekly Update | November 25, 2014

"Our new Congress needs to address the needs of all of us, not just the top 10 percent. Improvements to the EITC and the CTC needs to be made permanent."

— RESULTS Gig Harbor (WA) Donna Munro in a November 18 letter to the editor in the Central Kitsap Reporter

"How about "tax-extender" legislation that makes key improvements to these tax incentives permanent? If there is enough money in the budget for permanent tax extenders for wealthy individuals, why not for the poor?"

— RESULTS Des Moines volunteer Judy Zobel a November 21 letter to the editor in the Des Moines Register

Thanksgiving 2014 Weekly Update

• Give Thanks! Tell Readers How the EITC and CTC Help Children and Families (November Action)
• Give Thanks! Donate to RESULTS on “Giving Tuesday”
• Quick News

Write Letters to the Editor Urging Congress to Protect the EITC and CTC!

Give Thanks! Tell Readers How the EITC and CTC Help Children and Families (November Action)

Thank you to all the RESULTS groups who’ve sent in letters to the editor about protecting children and families who receive the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC). Since November 1, we’ve had eleven media pieces published. Congratulations! Let’s keep it up. Congress is still expected to pass some kind of tax “extenders” bill in the next few weeks and we want to make sure a permanent extension of the 2009 EITC and CTC improvements is in it. The EITC and CTC lifted 8.8 million people out of poverty in 2013, but if the improvements expire in 2017, 17 million families (including 8 million children) will fall into or deeper into poverty.

This week is all about gratitude. Being thankful for what we have. Millions of American families are thankful the EITC and CTC are there to help them pay the rent, pay down debt, fix the car, and pay for school. Help ensure that their gratitude can continue. Send a letter to the editor today urging Congress to make the 2009 EITC and CTC improvements permanent.

TAKE ACTION: Take a few minutes to write and submit your letter to the editor urging Congress to make the 2009 improvements to the EITC and CTC permanent. The November Action has talking points and resources about the EITC and CTC you can use for your letters. To help you make your letters local, use state and congressional district poverty data from TalkPoverty.org and state EITC and CTC statistics from CBPP, as well as the EITC/CTC calculator to show what families could lose if these improvements expire. If you don’t have time to draft your own letter, use our online LTE alert to send your letter today.

Give Thanks! Donate to RESULTS on “Giving Tuesday”

The spirit of giving is in the air! There’s a day for giving thanks, there are two days for shopping deals, and plenty of holidays for gift gifting. But what about giving back to your community? 

On December 2^nd we are joining the Giving Tuesday​ movement to celebrate generosity. Join us for this year’s celebration! 

Take an #UNselfie and let us know, why do you support RESULTS? Download our #UNSelfie template, snap a photo, and share why you give.

Quick News

Give Thanks! President Signs Child Care Bill into Law. Last week, President Obama signed the new reauthorization of the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) into law. CCDBG is crucial for low-income parents who need child care while they go to work or attend school. Both the House and Senate had passed the bill on a bipartisan basis. The bill improves the health and safety of children in child care settings, makes it easier for women and families to get and keep child care, and strengthens the quality of child care (see changes compared to the previous law in this chart). All that’s left is to ensure that Congress provides the funding to implement these changes. Use our online e-mail alert to tell your members of Congress to protect America’s children and working families by investing in CCDBG, Head Start, Early Head Start, and preschool.

Give Thanks! President Obama’s Immigration Orders Can Help Reduce Poverty. Last Thursday, President Obama announced a series of executive orders designed to mitigate problems in America’s immigration system. The orders enhance border security, allow children brought to the U.S. as children to remain in the U.S. (so-called “DREAMers”), and defer deportation of an estimated 4 million undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who have lived her for more than 5 years and allow them to live and work in the U.S. These actions are temporary and can be undone by Congress or the next president, but their impact is significant, especially on immigrants living in poverty. By allowing millions of workers to get temporary work permits, it vastly improves their ability to become financially secure. Working legally also reduces the chance of labor abuse, which has been a problem with employers who use undocumented workers. All Americans would benefit too; workers would now be legally paying taxes on their earnings. The Center for American Progress estimates that this could net the U.S. $33 billion in new revenue over five years. For more information about how immigration reform impacts poverty, see this report from TalkPoverty.org.

RESULTS wishes you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!

For upcoming events at RESULTS, see our Events Calendar. If you have questions about RESULTS or this week's actions, please contact our U.S. Poverty staff. Please note that all RESULTS offices will be closed on Thursday, November 27 and Friday, November 28 for the Thanksgiving holiday. Offices will reopen on Monday, December 1.