TAKE ACTION: End the government shutdown, prevent government default

from the Coalition on Human Needs

Some in Congress are still trying to take us in a very bad direction. Don’t let them – Call and say it’s time to pull back from the brink.

A disastrous federal default is only a few days away.

Call your Representative:  Tell him/her to end the shutdown and stop an economic meltdown.

Call toll-free:  1-888-659-9562*  Deadline extended – Call TODAY and for the rest of this week (so there’s still time to tell all your friends and colleagues to call)

Suggested message when you call: As your constituent, I want you to act NOW to end the government shutdown and prevent the economic catastrophe of a government default, with no strings attached.  Please vote to restore funding for all of the services that families count on and to protect Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps.

What we need:  This Thursday, October 17, federal borrowing authority will be exhausted.  Congress needs to prevent that, and allow the Treasury to borrow for an extended period.  (Six weeks isn’t good enough – if we keep lurching from crisis to crisis we’ll plunge ourselves right back into recession.)  We need to pass a spending bill, too – so we stop furloughing workers and prevent more harm to people who need food, energy assistance, Head Start, etc.  We need to re-open government right now, but we must not let the sequester cutbacks continue over the next twelve months.  So if there’s stopgap funding to stop the damage from worsening, it should be replaced ASAP with a full-year plan that ends the sequester cuts and protects vital benefits like SNAP, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid – just as the message says above.  A responsible plan will include new revenues from the rich and from  profitable corporations.

Thanks to those of you who have called so far – if you haven’t yet, now is the time!   It’s the recognition that voters WILL NOT follow extremists off a cliff that is pushing some in Congress back from the brink.  Our calls are helping – keep ’em coming!

Please forward this widely! 

*We are so grateful to the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) for making this toll-free number available!