Please sign the petition helping Bernie Sanders; Article on Bernie Sanders: Don't Yield One-Inch On Debt Deal

Bravo, Congressman Sanders! Please listen to his speech on the video clip. Will President Obama hear us if we bombard him with email, etc. about making drastic cuts on social programs and let the wealthy get away with the tax breaks. All we can do is send the emails and tweeter messages. That's all we can do right now.


"WASHINGTON -- It wasn't quite a "fili-Bernie," but Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in a 10,000-word speech on the Senate floor launched a campaign Monday to call for eliminating tax breaks for the wealthy and protecting working people in a deficit-reduction deal.

"Instead of yielding to the incessant, extreme Republican demands as the president, in many respects, did in last year's tax vote and this year's spending negotiations, the president has got to get out of the beltway ... and rally the overwhelming majority of people who believe that deficit reduction must be based on shared sacrifice," Sanders said.

Sanders took to the floor for an hour-and-a-half-long speech to call for people to contact the White House and demand corporations and the rich are hit as hard as social spending for the poor in a debt-reduction deal, which is being negotiated ahead of a vote to raise the debt ceiling.

"Tell the president not to yield one inch to Republican demands to destroy Medicare and end Medicaid while continuing tax breaks to the wealthy and the powerful," he said.

Congress must approve an increase in the debt limit, currently set at $14.29 trillion, before early August to prevent the government defaulting on its loans, according to estimates from the Treasury Department.

Republicans are calling for major spending cuts as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling, arguing that to increase the limit without preconditions would be irresponsible. But House and Senate Republicans have also said revenue-raising measures, such as ending tax breaks for the wealthy and some subsidies are off the table.

Democrats argue that certain subsidies, such as those to major oil and gas companies, and tax preferences for families that make more than $500,000 per year should be eliminated to allow for slimmer cuts to government programs and services.

In his speech, Sanders listed 13 measures that could reduce the deficit without cutting Social Security, Medicare or other programs. Along with ending tax breaks for oil and gas companies, Sanders said the government should eliminate offshore tax havens, bringing the deficit down by $40 billion over the next decade.

If Congress voted to repeal the Bush-era tax cuts for the top two percent of earners, the government could raise another $700 billion, Sanders said. Creating an estate tax on inherited wealth of more than $3.5 million would raise more than $70 billion over a decade, he added.

Sanders also called for cuts, including shrinking military spending by ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as soon as possible.

"We have got to reduce unnecessary and wasteful spending at the Pentagon, which now consumes over half of our discretionary budget," he said. "Much of the huge spending at the Pentagon is devoted to spending money on Cold War weapons programs to fight a Soviet Union that no longer exists. That has got to stop.""


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/27/bernie-sanders-not-yield-one-inch-debt-deal_n_885548.html

Bernie in 2012

Please sign the letter that Congressman Sanders is asking the American people to sign. Let's tell President Obama not to give in to the republicans with their drastic social program cuts. Let's do it, now! Don't let the republicans get away with this cruelty to us and millions of American that don't know about this letter or have no internet.

http://sanders.senate.gov/petition/?uid=c1fd7f9b-abd8-4e7a-a370-1867881259d8



Also, send your email to President Obama by using the link below.

http://www.congress.org/

Congressman Bernie Sanders

Please sign the petition to President Obama.

Dear Mr. President,

This is a pivotal moment in the history of our country. Decisions are being made about the national budget that will impact the lives of virtually every American for decades to come. As we address the issue of deficit reduction we must not ignore the painful economic reality of today - which is that the wealthiest people in our country and the largest corporations are doing phenomenally well while the middle class is collapsing and poverty is increasing. In fact, the United States today has, by far, the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth.

Everyone understands that over the long-term we have got to reduce the deficit - a deficit that was caused mainly by Wall Street greed, tax breaks for the rich, two wars, and a prescription drug program written by the drug and insurance companies. It is absolutely imperative, however, that as we go forward with deficit reduction we completely reject the Republican approach that demands savage cuts in desperately-needed programs for working families, the elderly, the sick, our children and the poor, while not asking the wealthiest among us to contribute one penny.

Mr. President, please listen to the overwhelming majority of the American people who believe that deficit reduction must be about shared sacrifice. The wealthiest Americans and the most profitable corporations in this country must pay their fair share. At least 50 percent of any deficit reduction package must come from revenue raised by ending tax breaks for the wealthy and eliminating tax loopholes that benefit large, profitable corporations and Wall Street financial institutions. A sensible deficit reduction package must also include significant cuts to unnecessary and wasteful Pentagon spending.

Please do not yield to outrageous Republican demands that would greatly increase suffering for the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society. Now is the time to stand with the tens of millions of Americans who are struggling to survive economically, not with the millionaires and billionaires who have never had it so good.

Respectfully,

Sen. Bernie Sanders;
and Co-signers

http://sanders.senate.gov/petition/?uid=c1fd7f9b-abd8-4e7a-a370-1867881259d8

Signed

done!!!

Signed ! This man makes WAY too much sense for the company he keeps !

signed

Signed

Please sign the petition and pass it along to friends and family.

http://sanders.senate.gov/petition/?uid=c1fd7f9b-abd8-4e7a-a370-1867881259d8

gigichicago wrote:Please sign the petition and pass it along to friends and family.

http://sanders.senate.gov/petition/?uid=c1fd7f9b-abd8-4e7a-a370-1867881259d8