The Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, also known as the “Super Committee,” is approaching a deadline of November 23, 2011 to craft a deficit-reduction package of at least $1.2 trillion.

Media reports have outlined proposals released by committee members that would make changes to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and vital human needs programs, and decrease taxes for people making over $250,000 a year–proposals that have been rejected over and over again by people in poll after poll.

Please contact your members of Congress and tell them the committee must not pass a bad deal that leaves our country worse off.

Action:

1. To find your members of Congress, click here. You will need to make three calls; one to your Representative and one to each of your Senators. To find if your member of Congress is on the Super Committee, click here.

2. Call (888) 907-1485 to be connected to your member’s office and give them the message below:

“My name is __________ and I am with the YWCA of ____________. I am also a constituent. I understand the Super Committee is working on a deal to address the deficit. I would ask the Representative/Senator to urge his/her colleagues on the committee to support the following:

1. Revenue and military spending must be part of a balanced approach to the deficit.
2. No eligibility and benefits changes to entitlement programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and SNAP/Food Stamps.
3. No additional cuts to domestic discretionary programs, including the Community Development Block Grant and no changes to the charitable deduction.

I also strongly oppose extending tax cuts for people making over $250,000 a year. These tax cuts have been rejected in poll after poll by the American people. And extending them would add trillions of dollars to deficit, making reducing the deficit even tougher.

The Super Committee must address the deficit with a balanced approach and not take steps that will add trillions to our deficit. Thank you.”

Background:

The Bipartisan Congressional Super Committee was created this summer under the Budget Control Act of 2011. The committee is made up of 12 members (six Republicans and six Democrats) who must come up with at least $1.2 trillion dollars in spending cuts or revenue increases by November 23. Congress must vote on the Committee’s package by December 23. The committee has authority to consider anything that might help it achieve its minimum target of $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction.

It is vitally important that the committee listens to the American people and finds a balanced approach to reducing the deficit. There is support among Americans and policymakers for reducing waste, fraud and abuse in defense spending. Similarly, poll after poll shows that the majority of the public wants a balanced approach that includes revenue. For example:

1) An October Washington Post-Bloomberg news poll found: 80% of Democrats, 67% of Independents and 53% of Republicans supported raising taxes on people making over $250,000 a year.

2) A September 26 Pew poll found that people supported raising taxes on those making over $250,000 to reduce the debt by a two-one margin.

3) A September 19 National Journal poll found that 62 percent of people polled favor reducing the deficit by increasing taxes and cutting spending; 28 percent favored only reducing the deficit by cutting spending.

From April through August of this year, at least 23 polls showed that the majority of people polled believed the deficit could or should be reduced by having some increase in taxes.

Having revenue as part of the solution to our debt and deficit problem is not a new phenomenon. History shows that in times of economic need, elected officials of both parties have accepted the need for new revenues. Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Regan and others supported fair and balanced revenue as a means of addressing the needs of our nation.

The YWCA believes that revenue and military spending must be part of the balanced and fair approach to reducing the deficit; low and moderate-income families should not bear the costs of deficit reduction through eligibility changes in Medicare, Medicaid and Social security; and no cuts should be made to discretionary programs such as the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).

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