FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012, 1:00 P.M.
CONTACT: Jeff Hall, 617-281-8384, jeff.hall@1199.org, Twitter: @1199mass
As fiscal cliff looms, Massachusetts seniors, workers, and health groups to rally against cuts
Tierney to join advocates on Monday as business groups push for corporate tax windfalls
BOSTON, MA – As the fiscal cliff looms, Massachusetts residents amongst the most likely to be impacted by threatened cuts in vital federal programs will be speaking out at Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall on Monday, December 10 at 1:00 P.M. Massachusetts Congressman John F. Tierney (D) is scheduled to speak.
The 1:00 P.M. indoor rally will be followed by local seniors, homecare workers, and other participants linking hands to conduct an outdoor “silent protest” at 1:45 P.M. to bring visibility to their cause and remind holiday shoppers at Quincy Market of the stakes facing those who depend on earned benefit programs.
“We want to put a face on this for the public,” said John Bennett, 82, of Agawam, MA, a senior advocate who is planning to attend the Faneuil Hall rally and silent protest. “We can’t afford to be invisible in this debate. This isn’t just about Washington D.C. This is about real people and raising revenue to invest in the jobs and services our economy needs – not just resorting to more cuts.”
WHO: Congressman John F. Tierney, seniors, workers, health groups
WHAT: Rally for revenue and to protect earned benefits
WHEN: Monday, December 10, 2012 1:00 P.M. rally at Faneuil Hall
1:45 P.M. silent protest in Quincy Market
WHERE: Historic Faneuil Hall / Quincy Market, Boston, MA
WHY: Local seniors, workers, and health groups say they are standing with the majority of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation which has taken a public stance supporting a revenue first approach to deficit reduction. Meanwhile, advocates are also pushing back against proposals from business groups which would usher in even more corporate tax breaks while aggressively cutting earned benefits programs.
“The election proved that voters are firmly against cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. The majority of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation is clearly with the voters on protecting these programs and raising revenue, and we’re rallying to say we’ve got your back – you’re doing the right thing,” said Ann A. Stewart, 87, of Mattapan, and President of Mass Senior Action, a local coalition of senior activists, many of whom depend on Medicare and Social Security for their most basic needs. “At the same time, there’s this CEO group calling for a cuts first approach, and we think their stance is hypocritical and bad for the economy.”
Advocates are outraged by what the Institute for Policy Studies has labeled a “Trojan horse” deficit proposal from the so- called CEO Fiscal Leadership Council which would implement a “territorial tax system” – gaining as much as $134B in windfalls for companies who are part of the Council’s “Fix the Debt” campaign.
If implemented, the territorial tax system would permanently exempt foreign earnings from U.S. federal income taxes. Meanwhile, the CEOs backing this approach have personally received a combined $41 million in personal savings last year alone thanks to the controversial Bush-era tax cuts. Many have shifted the majority of their employees’ retirement costs onto federal earned benefit programs, while allocating themselves gilded retirement packages.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) CEO Lloyd Blankfein has been conducting a public relations blitz backing the CEO Council’s proposals, telling CBS News that earned benefits need to be “contained” and that “the retirement age has to be changed”. Meanwhile, the Council’s Trojan horse deficit proposal would help Goldman Sachs realize a tax savings of at least $3.3B on offshore revenue of $20.6B.
“We will not stand idly by and allow the fiscal cliff to be exploited as a means for more corporate welfare,” said Veronica Turner, Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU – a union of healthcare workers participating in Monday’s rally. “Healthcare workers support a revenue first approach because the patients we care for rely on Medicare and Medicaid – and because investing in these services will create jobs and economic stability for the whole nation.”
Event endorsers include: 1199SEIU, Greater Boston Labor Council, Health Care for All, Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, Jobs with Justice, Mass Senior Action Council, MassUniting, SEIU State Council
CONTACT: Jeff Hall, 617-281-8384, jeff.hall@1199.org, Twitter: @1199mass
As fiscal cliff looms, Massachusetts seniors, workers, and health groups to rally against cuts
Tierney to join advocates on Monday as business groups push for corporate tax windfalls
BOSTON, MA – As the fiscal cliff looms, Massachusetts residents amongst the most likely to be impacted by threatened cuts in vital federal programs will be speaking out at Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall on Monday, December 10 at 1:00 P.M. Massachusetts Congressman John F. Tierney (D) is scheduled to speak.
The 1:00 P.M. indoor rally will be followed by local seniors, homecare workers, and other participants linking hands to conduct an outdoor “silent protest” at 1:45 P.M. to bring visibility to their cause and remind holiday shoppers at Quincy Market of the stakes facing those who depend on earned benefit programs.
“We want to put a face on this for the public,” said John Bennett, 82, of Agawam, MA, a senior advocate who is planning to attend the Faneuil Hall rally and silent protest. “We can’t afford to be invisible in this debate. This isn’t just about Washington D.C. This is about real people and raising revenue to invest in the jobs and services our economy needs – not just resorting to more cuts.”
WHO: Congressman John F. Tierney, seniors, workers, health groups
WHAT: Rally for revenue and to protect earned benefits
WHEN: Monday, December 10, 2012 1:00 P.M. rally at Faneuil Hall
1:45 P.M. silent protest in Quincy Market
WHERE: Historic Faneuil Hall / Quincy Market, Boston, MA
WHY: Local seniors, workers, and health groups say they are standing with the majority of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation which has taken a public stance supporting a revenue first approach to deficit reduction. Meanwhile, advocates are also pushing back against proposals from business groups which would usher in even more corporate tax breaks while aggressively cutting earned benefits programs.
“The election proved that voters are firmly against cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. The majority of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation is clearly with the voters on protecting these programs and raising revenue, and we’re rallying to say we’ve got your back – you’re doing the right thing,” said Ann A. Stewart, 87, of Mattapan, and President of Mass Senior Action, a local coalition of senior activists, many of whom depend on Medicare and Social Security for their most basic needs. “At the same time, there’s this CEO group calling for a cuts first approach, and we think their stance is hypocritical and bad for the economy.”
Advocates are outraged by what the Institute for Policy Studies has labeled a “Trojan horse” deficit proposal from the so- called CEO Fiscal Leadership Council which would implement a “territorial tax system” – gaining as much as $134B in windfalls for companies who are part of the Council’s “Fix the Debt” campaign.
If implemented, the territorial tax system would permanently exempt foreign earnings from U.S. federal income taxes. Meanwhile, the CEOs backing this approach have personally received a combined $41 million in personal savings last year alone thanks to the controversial Bush-era tax cuts. Many have shifted the majority of their employees’ retirement costs onto federal earned benefit programs, while allocating themselves gilded retirement packages.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) CEO Lloyd Blankfein has been conducting a public relations blitz backing the CEO Council’s proposals, telling CBS News that earned benefits need to be “contained” and that “the retirement age has to be changed”. Meanwhile, the Council’s Trojan horse deficit proposal would help Goldman Sachs realize a tax savings of at least $3.3B on offshore revenue of $20.6B.
“We will not stand idly by and allow the fiscal cliff to be exploited as a means for more corporate welfare,” said Veronica Turner, Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU – a union of healthcare workers participating in Monday’s rally. “Healthcare workers support a revenue first approach because the patients we care for rely on Medicare and Medicaid – and because investing in these services will create jobs and economic stability for the whole nation.”
Event endorsers include: 1199SEIU, Greater Boston Labor Council, Health Care for All, Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, Jobs with Justice, Mass Senior Action Council, MassUniting, SEIU State Council
