U.S. Poverty Weekly Update October 4, 2016
U.S. Poverty Campaigns
Weekly Update | October 4, 2016
“It’s thanks to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) that I was able to pay off my student debt and start taking courses again… I feel so proud that I can show my son — and not just tell him — how important education is. He’ll grow up knowing that if I did it, he can, too.”
– RESULTS Milwaukee volunteer and Expert on Poverty Kali Daugherty in a new RESULTS Blog post
- Got Two Minutes? Prepare for the U.S. Poverty National Webinar this Saturday at 12:30 pm ET
- Got Ten Minutes? Find Candidate Town Halls to Attend (October Action)
- Got Twenty Minutes? Keep Up Your Prolific Media Work (September Action)
- Quick News
- Upcoming Events
Quick Action: Generate Media about Ending Poverty in America
| Take Action! |
Got Two Minutes? Prepare for the U.S. Poverty National Webinar this Saturday at 12:30 pm ET
Join us for the RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar this Saturday, October 8 at 12:30 pm ET. Member of Congress and candidates are hot on the campaign trail this month, which gives you the opportunity to make one last push for policies that lift and keep people out of poverty. On the webinar this weekend, we’ll talk about how you can use town halls to ask lawmakers and candidates how, if elected, they plan to reduce the staggering racial wealth gap. We are pleased to have Emanuel Nieves of the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) as our speaker his month. He will share new research from CFED on the racial wealth gap and how best to address it. We’ll also hear from RESULTS Expert on Poverty Pamela Covington, take a quiz, and get ready for our big outreach event in November. Please plan to join us.
TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to remind your local RESULTS group about the RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Conference call this Saturday, October 8 at 12:30 pm ET. Coordinate with your group where you will meet for the call. The webinar is done through Fuze meeting. To join online, login at http://fuze.me/32255914 or dial in by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32255914#. Plan to log in or call in no later than 12:25 pm ET. If you have questions about Fuze or how to log in, please contact Jos Linn at [email protected]. We will have the October 2016 National Webinar slides available later this week in the Take Action box on the RESULTS Homepage.
Got Ten Minutes? Find Candidate Town Halls to Attend (October Action)
Congress averted a government shutdown by passing a continuing resolution (CR) that will keep the federal government funded at current levels through December 9. After doing so, they quickly went on recess again. They are now back home campaigning for re-election. These recesses are formally called state or district “work periods”. If they consider these recesses work time, then so should you. Attending town halls and asking for their plans to address poverty – which is work they should be doing in Washington – is a good reminder to them that time away from DC should indeed still be work time.
This also goes for candidates. Many members of Congress are up for re-election and many challengers are vying for their jobs. Knowing what these candidates will do about the racial wealth gap if elected (or re-elected) is important for their constituents to know. With the poverty rate for African Americans and Hispanics twice that of whites in America, we want to see a plan that will narrow that gap. Before you vote on November 8, don’t you want to know the candidates’ plans for ending poverty? Not a slogan, not a sound bite – a plan. The only way to find out it by asking them.
TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to search for candidate town halls you can attend and ask a question about the racial wealth gap. Contact local candidate offices to ask about events (use our Election Guide to find candidate websites and contact info). You can also set up a Google Alert that will automatically search the internet for information on events and e-mail you the results. Simply go to the Google alert site and follow the instructions to create an alert that will let you know when a candidate is having a public event (remember to separate your search terms by a comma). The October Action has information on what questions to ask at these events.
If and when you plan to attend a town hall, please contact Meredith Dodson ([email protected]) to set up a prep call to help you get ready.
Got Twenty Minutes? Keep Up Your Prolific Media Work (September Action)
We want to congratulate you on an excellent media month in September – you generated 21 media pieces (18 LTEs, 1 editorial, and 2 articles)! This puts your yearly total at 115 media hits. Congratulations! We also know there are letters out there waiting to be published. Thank you to everyone who submitted a letter, op-ed, or other piece in the last month.
Let’s keep the pressure on. When you get letters and op-eds published, you are educating lawmakers, candidates, and your community about poverty in America and how we can solve it. With the election five weeks away and an important transition period the two and half months after that, your media can have a profound impact.
RESULTS encourages you to keep submitting letters and op-eds for the rest of this year. If you haven’t been published, keep trying. If you have, do it again. We will provide you new hooks each week to help with keeping your letters current. For example, this week we have two debates – the Vice Presidential debate is tonight and the next Presidential Debate is this Sunday, October 9. Considering the recent Census data showing 43 million people in the U.S. living below the poverty line, use the debates as a hook to demand candidates reveal their plans to end poverty,
TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to submit a letter to the editor or op-ed this week, using new stories about the election as a hook. The information in the September Action can help you draft a powerful letter, or you can use our online media alert. We also have a sample op-ed you can tailor and submit as well. If you need help, please contact Jos Linn ([email protected]) for assistance.
Quick News
Share Your Stories with Us. We at RESULTS know that our volunteers are the mind, body, and soul of RESULTS. A big part of your success is how your stories inspire others into action. We want to hear more of them. RESULTS has created a new form to gather your advocacy stories to use to inform others about the power of citizen advocacy. We’ll share them on our website, promotional materials, outreach, and other places that can educate and empower others. Go to our Voices of RESULTS form today and share your story with us!
Vote for the Hunger Question in the Next Presidential Debate. For this Sunday’s Presidential Town Hall, the debate moderators have agreed to ask the top questions voted on at the Open Question website. Several questions focus on poverty issues, including a question about food insecurity as well as one about lifting children out of poverty using the Earned Income Tax Credit. Cast your vote today so we can get one or both of these important questions asked and answered on Sunday.
Let Carolinians Know about Upcoming Outreach. This week and next, RESULTS groups in North and South Carolina are holding events to introduce new people to RESULTS. First, the RESULTS Raleigh, NC chapter will be hosting an Advocacy and Social Issues Happy Hour and Trivia event this Thursday, October 6 at World of Beer in Cary, NC from 6:30 – 8:30 pm ET. If you or someone you know would like to attend, RSVP via Facebook or the RESULTS NC website. Then on October 17, U.S. Poverty Grassroots Manager Jos Linn will speak and do outreach at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC. He will be speaking at 11:30 am (Anna Todd Room in the Andrews Field House) and 6:30 pm ET (Grey-Jones Room in the Burwell Dining Hall) on the Wofford campus. If you know people in the Spartanburg/Greenville area, invite them to attend. Please contact Jos for more details.
Tell CFPB to Regulate Payday Loans – Deadline is Friday. As many of you know, predatory lending can be a key driver of the racial wealth gap. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is now accepting comments from the public on their proposed changes to the laws that govern payday, car title, and certain high-cost installment loans. The proposed rule would require lenders to determine whether borrowers can afford to pay back their loans, known as the ability-to-repay requirement. Submit a comment to the CFPB today telling them to do all they can to stop the unfair, abusive, and deceptive practices of payday and car title lenders. The deadline to comment is this Friday, October 7.
Save the Date for the 2017 RESULTS International Conference! Join us for the 2017 RESULTS International Conference on July 22 – 25, 2017 at the Washington Court Hotel in Washington, DC. Please mark your calendars. More details are coming soon.
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.
Congressional Recesses: House and Senate: Monday, October 3 – Friday, November 11. Request face-to-face meetings. After your meeting, please tell us how it went by filling out the RESULTS Lobby Report Form: www.tinyurl.com/RESLRF.
RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar, Saturday, October 8 at 12:30 pm ET. Join online at http://fuze.me/32255914 or by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32255914#. Listen to previous webinars on our National Webinars page.
RESULTS Introductory Call, Tuesday, October 12 at 9:00 pm ET. If you want to learn more about RESULTS, register for an upcoming Intro Call on the RESULTS website.
RESULTS U.S. Poverty Free Agents Calls, Tuesday, October 18 at 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm ET. To participate, login in at http://fuze.me/32256018 or dial by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32256018#.
Election Day, November 8. Be sure to register to vote!
RESULTS International Conference, Saturday, July 22 – Tuesday, July 25, 2017. Washington Court Hotel, Washington, DC. More details soon.
If you have a question, comment or suggestion for the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Board, please e-mail them to RESULTS Grassroots Board Member Vanessa Garcia at [email protected]. You can download RESULTS’ most recent Annual Report at: https://results.org/about/annual_report/.