The Country Has Spoken!

There are two very clear messages to be taken from the elections: extend the Bush tax cuts for the middle class and low income workers – families making less than $250,000 – while letting the tax cuts for everyone over $250,000 expire and no cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.

The issues of tax cuts and how to work towards a balanced budget were discussed and argued over and time after time during the campaign with very distinct differences between the President and Mitt Romney on these issues. On Nov. 6th the country emphatically came down on the side of President Obama. And poll after poll, including Election Day exit polls, show that the vast majority of people, including Republicans and Independents, want the Bush tax cuts for the top 2% to expire and definitely do not want Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits cut.

But not even a month after the election the Republicans, seemingly ignorant of the election results, are clinging to their time-worn, discredited argument of not raising taxes on who they call the “job creators” and are insisting that cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits be part of any deal.

The Republicans apparently are hoping that the Democrats, eager to reach a deal before Dec. 31st and avoid the so called fiscal cliff, will give in to their demands. That must not happen! There is too much at stake for the middle class and the working poor to give into to the demands an ideologically driven political party whose singular reason for existence seems to be to protect the rich and super-rich from paying a penny more in taxes.

That is why we have created a petition to Senator Durbin, who is the Majority Whip in the Senate and a key player in the negotiations, urging him to stand up for all of us and make sure any fiscal deal reached ends the Bush tax cuts for the top 2% AND protects Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits from cuts.

Click here to sign the petition:

http://signon.org/sign/senator-durbin-protect?source=c.em.cp&r_by=161991

The petition will be delivered to the Senator’s Downtown office on December 10th.

Ron Kurowski

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http://southsuburbanmoveoncouncil.weebly.com/index.html