U.S. Poverty Weekly Update November 6, 2012


November 6, 2012

Regardless of who wins the election, services designed to support and empower low-income Americans will face threats from powerful interests in Washington. We need as many people as possible taking action to support these critical programs. I thank all our volunteers for their hard work in making this weekend’s conference call with Barbara Ehrenreich a great outreach success. You — and the people you enlist this weekend — are our best hope for a brighter world.

—    RESULTS Executive Director Joanne Carter

New and Urgent in This Week’s Update (Two-Ten-Twenty Actions)

Latest from Washington, DC

Organizational Updates


Got Two minutes? Invite One Person to the National Outreach Call This Saturday at 12:30 pm ET (October Action)

Today is an historic day for all Americans and we hope every one of you will take whatever time is needed to exercise your inalienable right to vote today (see more below). But what about tomorrow? After all the polls close, the returns come in, and the winners are announced, what then? Voting is only the first step in effective democracy. If we don’t take the steps necessary to hold our leaders accountable for the promises they make in campaigns, we will surely not create a “more perfect union.”

This is why Saturday’s RESULTS National Outreach Conference Call with Barbara Ehrenreich is so important. Congress will be making important decisions on taxes, the budget, and the social safety net in the coming weeks and months. We need to let them know right off the bat that we expect them to work for the benefit of ALL Americans. Saturday’s conference call and outreach event will help us enlist new and powerful voices in that effort. The more people taking action, the closer we get to that ideal of shared prosperity for all. Help make this effort a success by reaching out this week to people in your community and beyond, and invite them to be a part of this special event.

TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes and personally invite one person to the RESULTS National Outreach Conference Call with Barbara Ehrenreich this weekend. That one person could make the difference in strengthening our message and strengthening your group. Reach to that person today. See the October Action for helpful inviting tips.

The National Outreach Call is this Saturday, November 10 at 12:30pm ET. To join the call, dial (888) 409-6709 and once connected to the operator, ask for the RESULTS National Conference Call. Plan to call in no later than 12:27 pm ET to give time to the operator to connect you with the call. Unfortunately, there will be no video broadcast of the call. However, we will have the November 2012 Conference Call Overview slides available for you to download later this week on our monthly conference call page and the National Outreach Event page


Got Ten Minutes? Invite More People and Confirm Attendees to Your Local Outreach Event (October Action)

If you’ve already taken our Two Minute Action above and invited one person to the RESULTS National Outreach Conference Call with Barbara Ehrenreich this weekend, take time now to invite even more people to your event. We know that we sound like a broken record in urging you to invite people to your local outreach event, but that’s because attendance is the whole shebang. With new people at your event, you can inform and inspire them. When you inform and inspire them, they can get involved. When they get involved, they can take action. And when they take action, they can move mountains. Be it one person, five people, or fifty people at your event — you’re not just making a difference in the world, you’re making the world different.

Don’t let this opportunity pass by — invite new people to hear a great speaker, meet great people, get involved.

Also, for those who have said they will attend your event, be sure to do reminder calls to them later this week. Everyone gets busy and forgets things on their calendar, so a quick reminder call at the end of this week will go a long way in shoring up attendance at your event. Be sure to remind them of the start time and the location of your meeting.

Finally, please include in your invite list people who don’t live near you. Invite people via e-mail, phone, and social media to the call. We have a registration form on our website people can use to RSVP and get the call-in information (www.tinyurl.com/RESULTSCallNov2012). Invite them to join us for this important event. Below is an example of a message you can post on Facebook to invite people to come:

Today’s election is certainly an historic day, regardless of the outcome. But then what? What actions can we take as citizens to help realize the fair and just society our politicians have been promising these last few months? Please join me and RESULTS volunteers from around the country this Saturday, Nov. 10 for a conference call on how we can make sure Congress and the next president – whoever that is – works for the benefit of ALL Americans.

Go to this link below to RSVP for the call! www.tinyurl.com/RESULTSCallNov2012

TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to invite as many people as you can to the National Outreach Call this Saturday (or whatever date you plan to hold your outreach event). Make that personal connection with a friend, neighbor, colleague, or acquaintance, and ask them to come. Tell them they won’t go away disappointed. Barbara Ehrenreich will be a great speaker and they will learn a lot from her wisdom and experience. Have doubts? Then read a recent piece from her current work at the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and this recent interview with her.

See the October Action for inviting tips, as well as our National Outreach Event page for additional resources, including  our Outreach laser talk, Outreach flyer, and RESULTS  Facebook event. If you need help, please contact Jos Linn or Meredith Dodson on the RESULTS U.S. Poverty staff.


Got Twenty Minutes? VOTE!

Take twenty minutes today to go vote! As Americans, we are defined first and foremost by our right to vote. There is nothing more patriotic. Regardless of which candidates you support, it is vital that we all participate in this process. Even if there are long lines and hassles that get in your way, persevere and vote. Democracy is like a muscle — it only strengthens when you use it. Take time today to exercise your right to choose the future of our country. If you are not sure where to vote, go to http://www.vote411.org/ to find out your local polling place.


Resources to Make Your Outreach Event Successful

As you prepare for your local outreach event, be it this weekend or another date, here are actions and resources to help you make your meeting a success.

Resources to help you maximize attendance:

Resources to help you prepare for your meeting:

  • Use these tips to finalize your agenda
  • Confirm that your group members are prepared for whatever parts of the agenda they will be doing
  • Practice, practice, practice your speaking parts
  • Confirm your speakerphone for the call with Barbara Ehrenreich is working and is loud enough for the crowd you expect
  • Download the Outreach Call PowerPoint to have available on the call (will be available later this week)
  • Confirm any duties with regard to food and other logistics (if any)

Materials to have at your meeting:

See the October Action for more tips and resources in making your event a success. In addition, please be sure to invite people at your event to next week’s RESULTS Introductory Call. This is a good way to learn more about RESULTS that might not get covered during your outreach meeting. It is also a good way to keep people engaged after your meeting. The next call is Wednesday, November 14 at 9:00 pm ET.  People can RSVP for the call at http://tinyurl.com/RESULTSMeetandGreet (the link is included on the Call-in Flyer mentioned above).


Call Congress Next Tuesday in Support of the EITC and CTC (November Action)

Congress returns to Washington, DC one week from today to begin the Lame Duck session. The session will likely last until the end of December. After months of little or no action on numerous issues, there is a long to-do list waiting for them. First and foremost for RESULTS is what they will do about the short- and long-term future of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC).

In the short run, expiring improvements that have helped low-income families get and stay out of poverty will expire at the end of this year. If that happens, more than 13 million families including 25 million children will be negatively impacted. In the long run, critics are targeting the EITC and CTC for cuts as a way to reduce the deficit, while at the same time pushing for more tax cuts for the wealthy. Congress cannot turn its back on hard-working families.

The November Action focuses on making sure Congress puts working families first. As Congress returns to Washington, we want them to get an earful from their aides about the importance of the EITC and CTC to families in their state. To help reiterate this message, the November Action has information from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on the number of families and children in your state that will be adversely affected if the recent EITC and CTC improvements expire. Be sure to share this information with the tax aides in your House and Senate offices. We also want to push the message that Congress must protect the EITC and CTC in deficit reduction plans. All major deficit reduction efforts included protections for anti-poverty programs. Any new framework or plan should do the same.

To magnify this impact of this effort, we are urging volunteers and advocates to call in next Tuesday, November 13 to push this message. In addition to generating numerous calls on one day, this also gives us the chance to recruit new people on this weekend’s National Outreach Call to call in as well. Share our Tax Credit Call-in flyer with people at your meeting this weekend and others in your network so we can generate as many call as possible next Tuesday. Let’s send a strong message to Congress that working families come first.

TAKE ACTION: Take the November Action next Tuesday, November 13. Designate members of your local group to call the tax aide for your representative and both senators that day, urging them to protect the EITC and CTC. Use the talking points and state-by-state data contained in the Action when talking to the aides. You can find contact information and the names of the tax aides on our Elected Officials page.

For group members not designated to call an aide, plan to call and talk to the receptionist for your House and Senate offices next Tuesday. Use the RESULTS Tax Credit Call-in flyer for talking points when you call. The point is to generate calls from all sides to demonstrate broad support for these policies. Calls are more effective but if you cannot on Tuesday, please use our online alert to send an e-mail telling Congress to protect tax credits for working families.


Submit a Question for Barbara Ehrenreich

As we prepare for our exciting call with author and activist Barbara Ehrenreich this weekend, we want your input. There will be a question and answer period on the call and we want to include questions for her that are important to you. You can submit your questions to Meredith Dodson at [email protected]. We will choose two or three of the questions submitted to ask on the call.


Quick News

Send in a Post-election Letter to the Editor. Use the media to show support for the EITC and CTC, SNAP, Head Start, child care, and Medicaid. Use our online LTE alert to submit a letter urging Congress to invest in poverty reduction and oppose cuts to services that support low-income individuals and families.

Join Webinar on the “Showdown in Washington” this Friday. As we look forward to the Lame Duck session of Congress, you can bet there will be forces looking to roll back progress we’ve made on poverty reduction and supports for low- and middle-income Americans. Our friends at the Coalition on Human Needs (CHN) and USAction are hosting a webinar this Friday to help prepare you for the upcoming debate. Join this informative webinar on how you can make sure Congress does the right thing for American families. The webinar is this Friday, November 9 at 2:00 pm ET. You can register for it at the CHN website.


Fundraising News

Thanks to Lydia Pendley who dedicated her 69th birthday party to raise funds for RESULTS. She called her event “fun and easy fundraising.” She hosted an easy prep supper with 36 friends and has raised about $1,200 so far from guests and people who mailed in donations or made contributions online. Lydia says, “Celebrate something in your life and ask the people you know to celebrate with you by giving to RESULTS. It really is doable and a great way to spread the word about the incredibly important and effective work of RESULTS!”

We agree, Lydia. And to make it even easier, we’ve set up a RESULTS Celebrations fundraising page. Go to the site, click on “Register” and you’ll be on your way to fundraising for your own birthday, wedding, bar mitzvah, graduation, or anything else you’d like your friends to celebrate with a gift to RESULTS. Contact Cindy Levin at [email protected] for assistance using the site. Whatever you’re celebrating…mazel tov and thank you!

Here are some other upcoming RESULTS fundraising events: 

Finally, we welcome back RESULTS Grassroots Development Associate Cindy Changyit Levin from her recent trip to Africa with our partners at Shot@Life. Read about Cindy’s amazing trip at her Anti-Poverty Blog.


RESULTS Activity Calendar

(See a complete calendar on the RESULTS website)

Congressional Recesses: House and Senate: September 21 – November 12. Request face-to-face meetings.

Tuesday, November 6: Election Day.

November 8-9: RESULTS U.S. Poverty Senior Associate Jos Linn traveling to Kansas for the RESULTS Salina outreach meeting (Nov. 8 at 7pm CT) and presentation at Kansas Head Start Association conference (Nov. 9). For more details about these events, contact Jos.

November 9-10: RESULTS Director of Domestic Campaigns Meredith Dodson participates in Marianne Williamson’s SISTER GIANT conference in Los Angeles, CA. For more details, contact Meredith.

Saturday, November 10: RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Conference Call and Outreach Event with Barbara Ehrenreich, 12:30 pm ET. See more about this event on our National Outreach Event page.

Tuesday, November 13: Congress begins Lame Duck session in Washington, DC.

Tuesday, November 13: RESULTS Free Agents group (U.S. Poverty) call, 9:00 pm ET. (218) 486-1611, passcode 7378587# (RESULTS#). For more information, contact Jos Linn at [email protected]. (NOTE: Because of the holidays, this call will be on the second Tuesday of the month in November and December)

Wednesday, November 14: RESULTS Introductory Call, 9:00 pm ET. (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. RSVP for the call.

Wednesday, November 14: RESULTS Montana Informational Call, 8:00 pm MT. (218) 486-1611, passcode 2883622#. For more details, please contact Jos Linn at [email protected].

Thursday and Friday, November 22 and 23: All RESULTS offices closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Wednesday, November 28: RESULTS New Activist Orientation, 9:00 pm ET. (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. RSVP to Lisa Marchal at [email protected]. (this is the first call of a two-call series; the second call is December 12).

Wednesday, December 5: RESULTS New Activist Orientation, 9:00 pm ET. (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. RSVP to Lisa Marchal at [email protected]. (this is the first call of a two-call series; the second call is December 12).

Wednesday, December 12: RESULTS New Activist Orientation, 9:00 pm ET. (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. RSVP to Lisa Marchal at [email protected]. (this is the second call of the two-call series).

Tuesday, December 25 – Tuesday, January 1: All RESULTS offices closed for the end of year holidays.


RESULTS Contact Information

Main Office: (p) (202) 783-7100, (f) (202) 466-1397, 1730 Rhode Island Ave, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036. If mailing a donation to our DC office, please address the envelope to the attention of Cynthia Stancil.

RESULTS U.S. Poverty Legislative and Grassroots Support Staff:

The RESULTS U.S. Poverty Update is sent out every Tuesday via email to RESULTS volunteers and allies all over the country. The purpose of these updates is to inform and activate RESULTS activists to take action on our U.S. poverty campaigns.

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