U.S. Poverty Weekly Update November 7, 2017

U.S. Poverty Campaigns

Weekly Update | November 7, 2017

“Do we really want an America that takes food, health care, and all manner of assistance away from children to further enrich the few?”

– RESULTS Connecticut volunteer Bill Baker in an November 1 op-ed in the Stamford Advocate (one of four CT papers where this piece was printed)

Quick Action: Tell Congress to Reject Tax Cuts that Put Anti-Poverty Programs at Risk

Got Two Minutes? Tell Congress to Reject Cuts to Basic Assistance in the House Tax Plan

After weeks of speculation and delay, the House released its new tax proposal last week. The news is not good. The plan jeopardizes the future of essential basic health and nutrition programs for low-income Americans by enacting huge tax cuts for the rich and running up the deficit. Think about that for a minute – elected officials are actively pushing policies that would take money from SNAP, Medicaid, TANF, Head Start, Pell Grants, among others to give a huge tax cut to the wealthiest among us.

On top of that, the plan intentionally excludes low-income people from the few benefits this plan actually offers working families. While wealthier families would get the Child Tax Credit (CTC), low-income workers would not receive the $600 per child increase in the CTC. And millions of low-income immigrant children will lose the CTC altogether. If these priorities seem as messed up to you as they do to us, let’s do something about it.

TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to call each of your members of Congress to tell them to reject the House tax plan. Call (202) 224-3121 and say:

“My name is _______________ and I am a constituent of Rep./Sen. ________________. I urge Rep./Sen. ________________ to oppose the House tax plan. This plan will cut health, nutrition, education assistance, etc., to pay for tax cuts for the rich that increase deficits. Even its Child Tax Credit expansion favors the wealthy while leaving out 10 million low-income children and cutting tax credits for millions of hardworking immigrant families. Instead, Congress should focus on creating opportunity and reducing poverty by substantially increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit for low-income families in a bipartisan tax bill that does not increase deficits. Will you tell Rep./Sen. ________________ to reject the House’s wildly unfair tax plan?”

Got Ten Minutes? Write Letters Urging Congress to Reject Unfair Tax Cuts that Put Low-income Americans at Risk (November Action)

As noted above, last Thursday House leaders released their new tax plan. If you’re wealthy or own a big corporation, you have a lot to be happy about. If you’re not, you’re again going to be disappointed if not outraged. Here are details about the House tax plan:

• It hurts low-income Americans by:
  • Threatening the future of critical basic assistance programs such as SNAP and Medicaid
  • Denying 10 million children in low-income families an increase in the Child Tax Credit (CTC) that wealthy families will get
  • Taking away the CTC from immigrant families thus harming over 3 million children of taxpaying parents, the majority of whom are US citizens and 1 million of whom are young DREAMers
  • Raising their taxes by increasing the lowest tax bracket from 10 to 12 percent
• It helps the rich by:
  • Raising the income level for the highest tax rate from $400,000 to $1 million
  • Slashing corporate taxes from 35 percent to 20 percent
  • Repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax, which prevents rich taxpayers from using loopholes to avoid paying taxes
  • Lowering the “pass-through income” tax rate to 25 percent, thus incentivizing wealthy people to “incorporate” themselves and have their wages converted to pass-through income
  • Doubling the amount exempted from the estate tax to $11 million per person and then repealing the estate tax entirely in 2024 (the estate tax impacts only the richest 0.3% of estates each year)
  • Allowing wealthier families to claim the Child Tax Credit by increasing the income limit from $110,000 per couple to $230,000

Your members of Congress need to hear from you about this plan. They need to hear that enacting another budget-busting tax giveaway to the wealthy that ignores and even punishes low-income Americans is unacceptable.

TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to take the November Action by writing letters to your representative and both senators urging them to reject the House tax plan. Use the talking points in the Action to write your letters. Don’t be fooled by the spin – this is not a tax bill for working families, the middle class, small business, or family farms. This bill is all about lavishly rewarding the rich and powerful. That’s it. And the results will be cuts to programs and services tens of millions of everyday Americans rely on.

Also, arrange for conversations with your House and Senate tax aides in Washington to tell them why his/her boss should reject this bill. The point persons for each member of Congress should make the calls. The November Action’s talking points and background information are there to help you. If you need additional coaching before calling, contact Jos Linn or Meredith Dodson for assistance.

Got Twenty Minutes? Sign Up for the RESULTS Virtual Thanksgiving Feast, Starts Monday

Next week, RESULTS begins its annual Thanksgiving fundraising campaign – the Virtual Thanksgiving Feast. This online fundraiser is designed to give your friends and family a chance to share in the successes you’ve experienced as a RESULTS volunteer. While not everyone will take the time to join you in being an active volunteer with RESULTS, many of them are willing to support your work through their financial gifts. And the money raised is invested right back into you through the resources we provide to help you be an effective advocate for the end of poverty (staff, research, training, materials, events, etc.).

The campaign begins next Monday, November 13 and goes through Giving Tuesday on November 28. It only takes minutes to get started, which you can do today by visiting our new 2017 Virtual Thanksgiving Feast page. In addition, the RESULTS Development Team will hold a VTF Training Call this Thursday, November 9 at 8:30 pm ET to kick the campaign off.

TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to support the work of RESULTS by setting up your personal Virtual Thanksgiving Feast page. Help us raise money to support the important work of RESULTS. Go to the VTF page on the RESULTS website and follow the easy instructions to get started. Also, plan to join VTF Kick-off Training Call this Thursday at 8:30 pm ET (join at: http://fuze.me/35823900 or by phone at: (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 35823900#). If you plan to participate in the VTF or if you have questions, please contact Ben McGarry.

Quick News

Join CHN/FRAC Tax Webinar Tomorrow with Sen. Patty Murray. To get the latest on the tax plans moving their way through Congress, join the “The Hugely Important Upcoming Tax Cut Battle: Why it Matters” webinar tomorrow, November 8 at 1:00 pm ET, co-sponsored by our friends at CHN and FRAC. Speakers will include Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Frank Clemente of Americans for Tax Fairness, Jim Weill of FRAC, and Debbie Weinstein of CHN. Register for this important webinar here.

Sign Letter to Protect Low-Income Children Getting the CTC. One of the provisions in the House tax bill would require parents filing for the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to have a Social Security Number. Right now, parents that use an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) to work can use it to file for the CTC. Estimates range that from 3-5 million low-income children would lose the CTC because of this change. As an anti-poverty organization, RESULTS any policy that will push kids deeper into poverty. RESULTS has signed a letter opposing this change. Show your support by signing your local RESULTS group onto the letter as well.

Educate Your Communities about the Tax Bill. Use our online LTE alert to send a letter to the editor about the new tax plan coming out of Congress. Let your communities know just how bad this plan is for people who are not in the top one percent. Hint: to increase your chances of getting published, copy, paste, and edit our LTE text into your own e-mail or the paper’s online form and send it – and then be sure to send a copy to your members of Congress!

More Outreach/Training Events Taking Place. Want to give the holidays some extra meaning this year? Join RESULTS staff and volunteers in growing our advocacy network. Right now, we are holding events in November and December to help engage others in the important work of ending poverty. We have events scheduled in Kittery, ME (11/15), Anchorage, AK (11/18), Morgantown, WV (11/30), and Kansas City, MO (12/7) so far; (find more details in the calendar below). If you have an outreach event you’d like us to highlight, please contact Jos Linn. U.S. Poverty Organizer Kristy Martino is also working with leads in ME, WV, OR, MS, and AZ. If you know people in any of these or other places, contact Kristy to get them connected.

ACA Open Enrollment Continues. Open enrollment for insurance through the ACA’s federal exchanges has started. The enrollment period is November 1 – December 15. If you or someone you know needs health coverage, go to https://www.healthcare.gov to find a plan that works for you. 200,000 people signed up on November 1; double the amount as last year. Help keep America’s uninsured rate going down by signing up and urging others to do the same.

Upcoming Events

Go to the RESULTS Events Calendar to see a full list of RESULTS events. Also, find a list of the RESULTS U.S. Poverty staff with contact information on the RESULTS website.

Staff Vacations: Meredith Dodson, November 23-27 and December 21-January 1. Jos Linn, November 22-26 and December 21-January 7. Kristy Martino, November 23-24 and December 23-January 1.

Upcoming Congressional Recesses: House and Senate: November 20-24; December 18-29.

RESULTS Introductory Call, Wednesday, November 8 at 9:00pm ET. Register for an upcoming Intro Call on the RESULTS website.

RESULTS Virtual Thanksgiving Feast Kick-Off Call, Thursday, November 9 at 8:30 pm ET. Join at http://fuze.me/35823900 or by phone at (201) 479-4595, ID 35823900#.

Observance of Veterans’ Day, Friday, November 10. All RESULTS offices closed.

RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar, Tuesday, November 14 at 8:00 pm ET. Participate at http://fuze.me/32255914 or (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32255914#.

Racial Justice Presentation & Advocacy Workshop, Wednesday November 15 at 6:00 pm ET. Rice Library, Kittery, ME. Presented by RESULTS Seacoast. Find out more and RSVP at: https://www.facebook.com/events/282695462219478/.

U.S. Poverty Free Agents Calls, Thursday, November 16 at 1:00pm and 8:00 pm ET. To participate, login at http://fuze.me/32256018 or dial by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32256018#. Note the different day for November’s calls.

End Child Poverty in Alaska Training, Saturday, November 18 at 9:00 am AKST. BP Energy Center, 900 E. Bensen Blvd, Anchorage, AK. Presented by RESULTS Anchorage.

Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 23. All RESULTS offices closed on November 23 and 24.

Storytelling Training, Thursday, November 30 at 6:00 pm ET. Featuring RESULTS Expert on Poverty Pamela Covington. Morgantown Public Library, 373 Spruce Street Morgantown, WV. Contact Kristy Martino for details.

Ending Poverty Advocacy Training, Thursday, December 7 at 6:30 pm CT. Keystone United Methodist Church, 406 W. 74th St, Kansas City, MO. Presented by RESULTS Kansas City. Contact Jos Linn for details.

RESULTS Holiday Break, December 23-January 1. All RESULTS office closed.

2018 RESULTS International Conference, July 14-17, 2018, Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C. Save the date and keep an eye out for more details.

If you have a question, comment or suggestion for the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Board, please e-mail them to RESULTS Grassroots Board Member Steven McGee at [email protected]. You can view the most recently published minutes from Board meetings on the RESULTS website, as well as download RESULTS’ most recent Annual Report.