*** URGENT *** CALL YOUR SENATORS NOW @ 800-459-1887 ***NO on H.R. 5970***

Sapphire Blue

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Wed Aug-02-06 09:40 AM
Original message

Edited on Wed Aug-02-06 10:07 AM by Sapphire Blue

Email from the Coalition on Human Needs (http://chn.org)...

Tell Your Senators to Vote NO � Reason 2

You are badly needed to tell your Senators to VOTE NO on H.R. 5970, the bill to slash the estate tax, cut other taxes, and raise the minimum wage. It's expected to come up this FRIDAY.

Call toll-free: 800-459-1887. Call twice � to reach each senator:

Reason 2:

minimum wage section

http://www.chn.org/pdf/2006/TheSneakAttackonRestaurantWorkers.pdf

Note the winners and losers:

Losers:

Winners:

Refresher course on Reason 1:

Your silence means that services will be cut more deeply and a million low-paid workers will get a massive pay cut, so 8,200 multimillionaire families can get hundreds of billions, paid for with money borrowed from our children and grandchildren.

So please call! This will be a very close vote.

Vote NO on H.R. 5970, the cynical ploy to slash the estate tax.

The toll-free number is provided courtesy of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization whose work for social justice, peace, and humanitarian service includes campaigns for a moral budget and a fair minimum wage (www.afsc.org/economic-justice/). AFSC welcomes groups to circulate and use the toll-free number in support of non-partisan budget goals and without linking the alert to a website soliciting donations or actions which may be used to support partisan lobbying or work.

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And an email from Sojourners (http://www.sojo.net/)�

Tell Congress: Don't Play Politics With Low-Income Families' Wages

Remember the Sesame Street song, "One of These Things (is not like the other?)" Apparently Congress forgot that one on Friday ...

In a logic-defying move that could have only been conceived in the United States Congress, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would (a) raise the minimum wage for the lowest-paid workers, and (b) increase the national debt by three quarters of a trillion dollars to provide tax giveaways for Americans with multi-million dollar estates.{1}

Don't get us wrong. We are staunch supporters of a minimum wage increase. But where is our moral compass as a nation when we decide to play politics with the incomes of low-wage workers who are struggling to work themselves out of poverty in order to benefit the super-wealthy?

Call your Senators at 1-800-459-1887*
This number will get you to the Capitol Switchboard. Once you reach an operator, ask for your senator's office, and once you reach a member of his or her staff, say:

As a person of faith, I think it's morally outrageous that Congress is playing politics with low-wage workers. Vote NO on H.R. 5970, the cynical ploy to slash the estate tax. This bill disgracefully ties a long-overdue increase in the minimum wage to enriching multimillionaire heirs by hundreds of billions of dollars. Reject this bill and simply raise the minimum wage to $7.25.

It's heartbreaking (and infuriating) to have to reject a minimum wage increase - but H.R. 5970 must be rejected. Why? This bill would deepen the deficit by at least three-quarters of a trillion dollars over its first full decade (2012-2021) through its estate tax cut. Even now, we are fighting cuts in health care, education, job training, Head Start, and so many other services that low-income people depend upon. Congressional leaders say there's no money to avoid cuts in these services, but will borrow money to pay billions to multimillionaires, resulting in even greater cuts to social services in the future. The House estate tax bill will benefit only 8,200 families, who will receive an average tax break of $1.4 million in the first year this takes effect. Moreover, a minimum wage worker would have to work 40 hours per week for 466.76 years, without taking a day off, to make $5 million (and benefit from the estate tax repeal), according to OMB Watch.

Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), one of the Senate's biggest leaders in pushing for increases in the minimum wage, said this:

"It's political blackmail to say the only way that minimum wage workers can get a raise is to give tax giveaways to the wealthiest Americans. Members of Congress raised their own pay - no strings attached. Surely, common decency suggests that minimum wage workers deserve the same respect."

Background
On Friday, just before leaving for their summer recess, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 230 to 180 in favor of a bill (HR 5970) that makes drastic and permanent cuts in the estate tax, extends many popular tax cuts due to expire, and raises the minimum wage to $7.25 over three years. It was one of the most cynical ploys ever witnessed in Congress, allowing House members to claim credit for a vote to increase the minimum wage - but at the cost of hundreds of billions of dollars to be paid to multimillionaire heirs. Now this cynical ploy is headed to the Senate - where a vote could occur as early as tomorrow. Despite press accounts suggesting the bill may not pass in the Senate, it is urgently necessary to let {sen(s) x and y} know you oppose this bill. Because it is laden down with tax provisions important to various states, senators will be under intense pressure to vote yes.

http://www.ombwatch.org/article/blogs/entry/2079/13

http://www.cbpp.org/7-28-06tax2.htm

Thank you for your time. Call your Senators at 1-800-459-1887* now!

Peace and Blessings,

The Policy and Organizing team at Sojourners/Call to Renewal

*The toll-free number is provided courtesy of the American Friends Service Committee.
<1> House Estate Tax Proposal Has Essentially the Same Large Long-Term Cost as Earlier Version Phase-Ins Mask Costs, But Underlying Policy Remains Unchanged, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, July 28, 2006; http://www.cbpp.org/7-28-06tax3.htm

The switchboard is open 24/7. Please call. 1-800-459-1887. The number is toll-free.

Tell your Senators to VOTE NO on H.R. 5970

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