Massachusetts Voters:
Here’s a chance to send OURmessage to Washington
The nation is stuck.
We need jobs, vital services, fair taxes, and reduced military spending.
This fall you can tell our elected officials what you want them to do.
We the citizens need to show the politicians how to get out of this deadlock – with the Budget for All!
Budget for All Referendum
Shall the state representative (or senator) from this district be instructed to vote in favor of a resolution calling upon the Congress and the President to: (1) prevent cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans benefits, or to housing, food and unemployment assistance; (2) create and protect jobs by investing in manufacturing, schools, housing, renewable energy, transportation and other public services; (3) provide new revenues for these purposes and to reduce the long-term federal deficit by closing corporate tax loopholes, ending offshore tax havens, and raising taxes on incomes over $250,000;and (4) redirect military spending to these domestic needs by reducing the military budget, ending the war in Afghanistan and bringing U.S. troops home safely now?
Budget for All Coalition
11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA02138
• 617-354-2169
Sponsors: Action for Peace Working Group/Occupy Boston AFGE/Local 3258/AFL-CIO Alliance for P & J American Friends Service Committee ARISE for Social Justice Arlington Fund Our Communities/Reduce Military Spending 25% Arlington UJP Boston Coalition to Fund our Communities/ Cut Military Spending 25% Boston Workers Alliance Brookline PAX Chelsea Collaborative Chelsea Uniting Against the War Chinese Progressive Association Democratic Socialists of America - Boston Dorchester People for Peace E Mass 25% Campaign Fund Our Communities Not War Green-Rainbow Party of Mass Lexington Justice and Peace Majority Agenda Project Mary Ellen McCormack Tenant Task Force Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants Mass Global Action Mass Peace Action MassOccupy/Brookline Merrimack Valley People for Peace Metrowest Peace Action Neighbors United for a Better East Boston New England United for Justice Newton Dialogues on Peace & War No Shore Coalition for Peace & Justice Occupy Arlington Occupy Fall River Occupy Newton Progressive Democrats of America Quequechan Alliance Right to the City Civic Action Alliance Survivors Inc United Food and Commercial Workers United for Justice with Peace United National Antiwar Coalition Veterans for Peace, Smedley Butler Brigade Walpole P & J Group Watertown Citizens for P, J and the Environment Women’s Int’l League for Peace & Freedom - Boston
Massachusetts Voters:
Here’s a chance to send OURmessage to Washington
Protect Social Security, Medicare, Veterans’ Benefits, unemployment, etc.
- Raise taxes on incomes above $250,000
- End the war, bring our troops home safely now
- Reinvest the savings in jobs here
The Politicians Have it Wrong
Many in Washington say we need to cut vital programs that help families -- Social Security, Medicare, food stamps and unemployment benefits.
But that’s not true. We can erase the deficit by changing the policies that caused it: Hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts for corporations and very wealthy individuals. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A huge military budget. Insurance companies making huge profits on health care.
These are the culprits that must be attacked – not our teachers’ jobs, mass transit, Social Security or Medicare. The Budget for All ballot question will allow Massachusetts voters to tell our politicians what needs to be done.
Stop Cuts to Essential Programs
Every family depends on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans’ benefits, housing, food assistance, or unemployment insurance. Yet politicians in both parties are planning to cut benefits and programs we depend on. We can’t let that happen!
Social Security is one of our country’s most successful programs; it is not broke and does not contribute a penny to the deficit. We can improve Medicare and Medicaid without reducing benefits. Food stamps, child nutrition, Pell Grants, affordable housing, veterans’ benefits, and unemployment insurance make our people stronger. These successful programs should be strengthened, not cut.
Tax Upper Incomes and Corporations
Incomes of the top 1% of earners and corporations have risen dramatically in recent years, but their tax rates have dropped.
High earners can and should pay their fair share to ensure a prosperous society. Closing corporate tax loopholes, capping deductions and adopting a very small tax on financial transactions would make the tax burden fairer and bring in enough revenue to balance the budget.
With 68,000 U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan, we are still spending $88 billion a year on the war there. 2,000 Americans and tens of thousands of Afghans have died. There is no military solution to the Afghan civil war. Let’s bring the troops home now and support diplomacy and reconstruction aid instead.
The U.S. military budget dwarfs that of any other country. It makes up 41% of the entire world’s military spending and is 6x that of the next largest country. There is no threat to U.S. security that justifies all those troops and weapons.
We need to reduce military spending and not protect the profits of military contractors or the rights of corporations to move our jobs overseas. UsingU.S. power in other countries to protect corporate interests is bankrupting us.
Create and Protect Jobs
Four years after the financial crash, the nation still needs 10 million additional jobs to return to a pre-recession employment rate.
Washington should support manufacturing, schools, housing, renewable energy, transportation, health care, and public services. That way, we’ll get people back to work and get the economy moving. Military spending produces far fewer jobs than the same money spent on education or health. Government action works better than throwing tax breaks at companies in the hopes they will create a few jobs.
Which Way Do We Want to Go?
They’re Selling Us Austerity…
Many in Washington say we need to cut vital programs that benefit all our families – Social Security, Medicare, food stamps and unemployment assistance.
But that’s not true. Unemployed people didn’t cause the recession we’re in. Food stamps didn’t knock a huge hole in the federal budget. We’re in the hole because:
- Corporations and very rich people got much, much richer – and their taxes dropped dramatically.
- Washington got us into two wars. On top of that, they poured money into the Pentagon – pretending to protect against threats which don’t exist. We don’t need the nuclear weapons, aircraft carriers, submarines, and overseas military bases that are driving us into the poorhouse. All they are doing is keeping profits flowing to military contractors, helping corporations move our jobs overseas, and keeping foreign governments in power.
… but We Can Have Prosperity
We can make our country prosperous and safe by
- Creating 10 million jobs. The government needs to support manufacturing, schools, housing, renewable energy, transportation, health care, and other public services to get people back to work and get the economy moving.
- Fully funding the programs we need to educate our children, provide health care for everyone, and support us when we retire.
We can pay for those jobs and service by:
- Reducing the military budget. Military spending creates far fewer jobs than does spending on education and health.
- Making sure the wealthiest people in our society are paying their fair share. Closing corporate tax loopholes, capping deductions and adopting a tax on financial transactions would make the tax burden fairer and bring in enough revenue to balance the budget.
These are the steps we need to take instead of cutting teachers’ jobs, mass transit, Social Security and Medicare.
The Budget for All ballot question will allow Massachusetts voters to send a message to our politicians that they can’t ignore. The question will appear on ballots in 91 towns, thanks to 25,000 voters who signed petitions statewide.