Federal Economic Stimulus Package

Federal Economic Stimulus Package

Contact your Congressional representative and Senators Boxer and Feinstein urging them to include the following elements in any new federal stimulus package:

• A significant extension of unemployment insurance for all workers laid off during this current crisis. The working people of America should not have to bear the main burden of the economic downturn. Income for these folks will go right back into the economy. As a corollary, we should be demanding the executives of all corporations that are laying off workers also be required to share the burden by reducing salaries at least as much as payroll.
• The Bush tax cuts of earlier this year have raped the budget of any surpluses. Now is the time to demand that these cuts, primarily for the wealthy, be rolled back and eliminated. The current Bush proposal of accelerating the cuts is nonsense and we urge you to vigorously oppose his plan. Our economy can not afford this largess to the wealthiest in our country. Let's level the playing field for sacrifices. Hold the line. No more tax breaks for the rich.
• One of the quickest ways of generating an economic recovery is to put more money into the federal housing programs. A $5 billion investment in housing will create almost 185,000 jobs. The crisis in the economy comes at a time when there is a massive shortage of affordable housing in many states in our country. We urge that the Home program be increased by $5 billion dollars, that there be funding for 100,000 additional housing vouchers and that rural housing programs be boosted significantly.