John,

If Congress doesn’t pass funding bills by November 17th, the federal government will shut down. Unfortunately, what right-wing Republicans have passed so far is morally outrageous and will do nothing but inflict untold suffering onto vulnerable communities.

Instead of getting to work on passing spending bills, House Republicans, including Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX-19), are demanding the establishment of a commission to tackle the nation’s debt—including looking at the Social Security and Medicare programs.¹

A so-called bipartisan Debt Commission aims to balance the federal budget in a decade. But since Arrington’s own budget proposal cuts $5.4 trillion from essential human needs programs, we can see there is nothing bipartisan about the right-wing approach.² We cannot cut our way to prosperity by slashing help for the poor and most vulnerable.

The United States is the richest country on earth. There is absolutely no reason why anyone should go without adequate food, health care, and shelter. Cutting even more funding from these essential programs won’t make us any richer or make our national debt any less. Send a direct message to Congress demanding they reject the Debt Commission.

Some of the cuts in Chairman Arrington’s proposed budget include:

• $400 billion in cuts to Medicare providers

• $2 trillion in cuts to mandatory health spending—which is largely drastic cuts to Medicaid

• Instituting Medicaid work reporting requirements

• $1 trillion in cuts to economic security programs, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

• Non-Defense Discretionary spending

If Congress was serious about tackling the national debt, they’d make the ultra-wealthy and multi-billion dollar corporations pay their fair share in taxes, not cut funding for nutrition and health programs that prevent children from going hungry.

Corporate profits reached $2.8 trillion in 2021, but the corporate income tax is so low it provides only 10% of federal revenue. Eliminating tax breaks on capital gains for multi-millionaires could bring in hundreds of billions in revenues.³ Every year, the richest 1% evades $160 billion in taxes, according to the Treasury Department.⁴ That’s money that could have assured adequate funding for WIC and SNAP to help families put food on the table, while expanding access to child care and health coverage. And it could also be used to reduce the deficit.

Our allies in Congress must stand strong and refuse to participate in any debt commission and instead, demand the rich pay their fair share so that we can strengthen the social safety net and ensure the continued existence of these critical programs for future generations, while borrowing less.

Click here to send a message to Congress demanding they stand united and refuse to approve any commission that seeks to cut critical funding for human needs programs.

Thank you for all you do to protect essential programs,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ White House says GOP making cutting Social Security ‘a priority’ amid Speakership fight
² CBO Finds Republican Tax Plan Would Add Trillions To National Debt; Make Working Families Pay For It By Slashing Their Services
³ Worried About the Debt? Tax the Rich: Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
⁴ The Case for a Robust Attack on the Tax Gap: U.S. Department of the Treasury