Obama to cut Social Security?

Frightening news: Over the weekend, President Obama offered cuts to the social safety net as part of a deal to undo the sequester.  MoveOn needs to expand our emergency campaign to oppose any benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid, right now. Can you help us raise $250,000 in the next 48 hours to expand our campaign? Chip in $5

Dear MoveOn member,

Last year, President Obama offered Republicans a heartbreaking deal that would have slashed Social Security benefits by $112 billion over a decade.¹ MoveOn members overwhelmingly opposed it. And together with allies, we won.

Now, here's the state of play. Over the weekend, faced with Republican obstructionism, the president once again—and more clearly than ever—offered to put our social safety net on the negotiating table.²

We have a plan to launch an ambitious push, with allies inside and outside of Congress, to oppose any benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.

Can you chip in $5 to fund our emergency campaign to save the social safety net?

Yes, I can contribute $5.

This isn't the first time there's been talk of a "grand bargain," and it won't be the last.

We've won this fight before, and we can do it again. Obama's latest offer to consider cuts just happened over the weekend. There's still time to work with allies inside and outside of Congress.

We know this kind of campaign works. For several years now, progressives inside and outside of Congress have united behind a simple message: No cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits. Again and again, it's worked. 

But to keep winning, we have to keep our laser focus. We can't afford to wait for a last-minute "grand bargain" to take us by surprise. We need to go big now. 

MoveOn member, can we count on you? 

Yes, I can contribute $5 to help save the social safety net.

If we do this, here's what we're thinking: 

• We'll make sure middle-class champions know we have their backs. Lawmakers fighting to preserve Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid need to know we have their backs, so we'll publicly thank them and run ads in support of their leadership.
• We'll speak truth to power. Specifically, we'll inform constituents of every member of Congress—including Democrats—how their representatives voted on slashing our social safety net. 
• We'll change the national debate. We'll be ready to run powerful TV ads featuring a MoveOn member who would be directly impacted by benefit cuts, and have organizers helping folks start and deliver petitions on MoveOn.org's petition site, SignOn.org, opposing any cuts to the social safety net.
• We'll join with coalition partners in building big protests. This will include direct action at congressional offices and other community actions to oppose the Washington austerity agenda.
• We'll flood Congress and the White House. We'll light up the phone lines, bury offices in stacks of petitions, and flood senators with faxes showing significant opposition to any deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits.

Now's the time to dig deep. Our plan costs $250,000 just to get started—and we'll need more to keep it going for the coming weeks. Can you chip in? 

Yes, I'll chip in $5.

Thanks for all you do.

–Ilya, Elena, Mark, Manny, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "AARP to Congress and the President: Don't Cut Social Security," AARP, December 18, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=287801&id=63753-10220574-I58B6cx&t=6

2. "Obama Renews Offer to Cut Social Safety Net in Big Budget Deal," CNBC, March 3, 2013
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100515721

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

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