Friends,
Fund Our Communities has written a letter to Congress. It is hoped that Maryland elected officials (members of the Maryland General Assembly, mayors, county and city council members, etc.) will sign on. But we need your help in getting signatures. The essence of the letter makes this point: " We urge you not to cut federal programs that support Maryland’s cities and counties and our state. . . . By wide margins, Americans prefer new taxes and reductions in wasteful Pentagon spending to cuts in vital domestic programs." See the letter below.
The sequestration battle is just one piece of a broad attack on social spending, and it is one that we need to resist. At the same time, we want to make the point that there is plenty of money in the Pentagon, and so if the country needs money, there's where we can get some.
If we are successful in getting a large number of elected officials to sign this letter, we believe we can get media coverage. In addition, such a letter would send a powerful political message to our Congressional delegation. However, the time is very short since sequestration is supposed to happen March 1. If Congress does anything on it, they will need to do it before that date. And if we are to have any effect, we need to get all the signatures and publicize the letter by mid-February.
So, can you help us get signatures? Some FOC members have done outreach in Montgomery County to the Council and to senators and delegates in the General Assembly.
First email a note with the letter. Then deliver a hard copy to the official’s office. Finally, follow up with phone calls. Then let me know what you have done, who you contacted and what was the response you got.
Kagiso,
Max
Dear xx:
The Maryland coalition, Fund Our Communities, composed of over 60 organizations, asks that you sign the attached letter. We plan to send the letter to Maryland’s congressional delegation from elected officials at all levels of government throughout the state. The letter asks Congress to remember the needs of our people and not to cut key federal programs that support Maryland’s cities and counties and our state.
About Our Coalition: We consist of community, religious, labor, advocacy, political, environmental, and veterans groups in Maryland. We have established a strong and broad-based grassroots constituency for changes in our nation’s priorities, away from war and militarism and towards peace and social justice. Specifically, we seek to cut the Pentagon budget substantially and use the dollars saved to pay for urgently needed jobs and public services at home.
We hope you will sign this letter! You can do so in any one of these ways:
• Leave your signed letter at the desk and we will pick it up.
1. Send your scanned signature via email to jeanathey@verizon.net
2. Fax your signature to 301-570-0923 (please call first to alert us to turn on the fax machine)
3. Mail the sign-on page with your signature to 2305 Gold Mine Road, Brookeville, MD 20833.
Please contact Jean Athey at 301-570-0923 if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Max Obuszewski
MD Coalition to Fund Our Communities
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FUND OUR COMMUNITIES
Bring the War $$ Home
P.O. Box 1653 Olney, MD 20830
301-570-0923 www.OurFunds.org
February 15, 2013
To Maryland’s Congressional Delegation:
We, the undersigned, are state, county and local elected officials concerned about the impact on Maryland of automatic spending cuts known as sequestration.
On midnight March 1, sequestration will take effect unless the Congress reduces national deficits by an equivalent $1.2 trillion over the next ten years. We urge you not to cut federal programs that support Maryland’s cities and counties and our state.
Vital programs including Community Service Block Grants, Head Start, Title I, infrastructure spending (water, transit, roads, bridges, etc.), and housing assistance will be cut if the automatic spending cuts take place. They are also likely targets if domestic spending cuts are used to reduce federal deficits. These cuts would come on top of already deep cuts. Federal aid to our cities, counties and state has been falling for at least the last two years and it is becoming increasingly difficult to fund critical programs for our residents at an adequate level.
This issue transcends party politics. And there are broadly supported alternatives to domestic spending cuts. By wide margins, Americans prefer new taxes and reductions in wasteful Pentagon spending to cuts in vital domestic programs.
A Maryland Coalition
Baltimore Nonviolence Center; Bethesda Friends Meeting; CASA de Maryland; Center for Peace, Fred. Co.; Chesapeake Citizens; CCAN; Citizen-Soldier Alliance, Baltimore; Columbia Christian Church; Democracy for America, Mont. Co.; Fellowship of Reconciliation; Friends Meeting, Annapolis; Generations for Peace & Democracy; Gray Panthers, Metro DC; Green Party, Anne Arundel Co.; Green Party, MD; Green Party, Montgomery Co.; Healthcare-Now of MD; Homewood Friends Meeting; Little Friends for Peace; MD Black Family Alliance; MD United for Peace & Justice; MCCRC; MCPA; MCEA; Muslim Amer. Society/MD; NAACP/MD; Net. of Spiritual Prog., MD; Orthodox Peace Fellowship; Pax Christi/MD; Peace Action, Anne Arundel Co.; Peace Action Montgomery; Peace Committee, Sandy Spring Friends Meeting; Peace & Justice Coalition, P.G. Co.; Pledge of Resistance, Baltimore; PDA, MD; Progressive Cheverly; Progressive Maryland; Progressive Neighbors; Prosperity Agenda; RRUU/Social Justice Council; School Sisters of Notre Dame, MoCo; Sheet Metal Workers Interna’l, L 100; SCLC/Mo. County; UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO; Veterans for Peace, Baltimore; Veterans for Peace, Metro DC; Voters for Peace; WeGreen USA; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom/DC
Page 2
As the Congressional Progressive Caucus stated January 3 after Congress reached an agreement on taxes:
“With yesterday’s vote behind us, Americans face an even bigger fight in the coming months: funding our government, avoiding devastating cuts known as sequestration, and avoiding default on our country’s bills. The most recent negotiations saw a massive grassroots effort that successfully protected Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits and investments in the middle class. In the coming negotiations, we must continue the fight….Additional savings should come from new revenue and the Pentagon.”
We agree with the Progressive Caucus and urge you to protect social spending while ensuring that wasteful spending in the Pentagon is severely curtailed.
Sincerely yours,
Members of the Maryland General Assembly
Members of the Prince George’s County Council
Members of the Montgomery County Council
Members of the Howard County Council
Members of the Anne Arundel County Council
Mayors of Maryland Cities
Members of Maryland City Councils
(See signatures on following pages)
Signature Page for Maryland Elected Officials:
Letter to Congress on Sequestration
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