We Are The 99 Percent Resource

Check out this new website: www.wearethe99percent.us. You can download FREE posters, charts, yard signs, and stickers to use for your Occupy events. Spearheaded by allied organizations and individuals in the 99 Percent movement, it also includes news and links.

Join Our Campaign – Take Action at Your Local

Now is the time to take action. We’re facing another $2 billion budget deficit. As part of an overall campaign to call attention to state budget cuts to education and other critical services, please consider one or more activities to do at your school or college. Here are some examples:

• Bridge banner day
• Bake sales. Message: We raised money but bake sales can’t raise enough revenue.
• Teach-ins on the budget, revenue and the economy—and the value of education
• Letter writing get-togethers to write to your legislators
• Recruit members to attend local-based LEG meetings with your legislators
• Gather home emails and/or cell phones numbers (give people a choice) so that they can receive action alerts
• Gather personal stories, most especially about the impact of cuts & increased tuition on students
• Encourage members to contact their legislators through a webpage and through regular salsa messages
• Gather COPE sign-ups from members

Urge Your Legislators to Close Tax Loopholes

Middle-class working families did not cause the economic crisis we are in today. We did not get bailed out of a financial crisis like the banks did. But we are bearing the brunt of the economic crisis this country and our state is in.

A few weeks ago, the governor announced we have another $1.4-$2 billion budget shortfall and so there will be even more cuts to K-12 education, higher education, health care, assistance for people with disabilities, and more.

Enough is enough!

We want the Legislature to cut corporate tax breaks before they make more cuts to vital human services and education. And if they can’t do that, then we want them to introduce a referendum to let the people of Washington decide.

The Legislature meets for a 30-day special session starting on November 28 at which time they will be looking at where they can make $2 billion in cuts. We wish they and the governor would offer two proposals, one that would be all cuts as they are mandated to do, and one that would present a more balanced approach: closing tax loopholes to generate more revenue. Although there are some legislators who want to protect programs from more cuts, that probably won’t happen.

So, We the People, need to urge them to pass a revenue proposal as a referendum to the public.

AFT Washington is working with a coalition to begin an action plan to support a referendum that would look at a balanced budget approach and stop further cuts to education and human services. Our campaign, “Save Our Students,” includes activities such as a toolkit you can use when talking to legislators, resources to hold college bake sales, letter-writing, and other activism. This is the week we are kicking off our campaign and you’ll hear more ideas.

We urge you at your local to get involved. Whether it’s joining Occupy Seattle, Occupy Tacoma, or other Occupy efforts…or to do a series of teach-ins like faculty at Green River Community College (http://grccteachin.wordpress.com)…or to run a campaign like AFT Seattle to support the mission of our community college system to provide access to a post-high school education to every citizen (http://teacherswithspine.org/)… or to help us get traction to put a referendum on the ballot, we need YOU! We fight together or we fall apart!

We cannot afford to take more cuts while the wealthy and corporations are paying fewer taxes for the public good and making record profits.

Tell your legislators to support a revenue referendum! WE WANT TO VOTE!

Social Security Is Ours

Social Security belongs to all of us: we work hard and pay into it with every paycheck our entire working lives – it’s our money. We need to get our economy going again, so let’s keep Social Security benefits that put money in Americans’ pockets and customers in our stores — and take away deficit-busting tax giveaways for millionaires.