[act-ma] Wednesday @ 7PM: Help call out Erskine Bowles/Fix the Debt's baloney plan to gut Social Security & Medicare!

[Jason Stephany]

Friends,
 As you may know, "Fix the Debt" co-founder Erskine Bowles is scheduled to
speak at *Symphony Hall tomorrow night (Wednesday)*, just days after
introducing a new/revamped plan to slash Social Security and Medicare. No
matter what he may call his scheme -- "Simpson-Bowles," "Fix the Debt,"
"Moment of Truth," or whatever -- the goal is the same: our benefits get
slashed and major corporations walk away with more of our tax dollars in
their pockets.

*Beginning at 7:00pm Wednesday*, Boston-area seniors and workers are poised
to stage a "Stop the Baloney" protest outside the event, calling out Bowles
for his ill-conceived plans to cut vital programs and squander the savings.
A summary of these baloney, gut-and-cut schemes are included in today's
blog post from MassUniting (pasted and linked below). *You can sign up to
join the protest and invite friends here.
*<https://www.facebook.com/events/492327534138340/>

Happy to answer any questions you may have,
Jason


*MassUniting Blog | The New Simpson-Bowles Plan: Get Ready for More
Cuts!<http://massuniting.org/2013/02/19/the-new-simpson-bowles-plan-get-ready-for-more-cuts-massuniting-february-19-2013/>
> *
> *February 19, 2013
> *
> On the eve of his planned presentation at Boston's Symphony Hall,
> self-proclaimed “deficit hawk” Erskine Bowles has joined partner-in-crime
> Alan Simpson in putting out a new version of their federal budget plan<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/19/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-simpson-bowles-plan/>.
> Though the details of the proposal have yet to be fully explained, one
> thing is clear: if you liked the cuts to vital services Simpson and Bowles
> proposed in their first draft, you're going to *love* Simpson-Bowles 2.0.
> The original Simpson-Bowles plan promoted nearly $2.9 Trillion in spending
> cuts and $2.6 Trillion in new revenue as a way to reduce the deficit,
> roughly a 1-to-1 ratio of cuts to revenue. Their new recipe calls for only
> *half* the revenue – an estimated $1.3 Trillion – and makes up the
> difference by demanding a huge $3.8 Trillion cut to Medicare, Social
> Security and other critical programs. For those keeping score, that’s a
> 3-to-1 ratio of program cuts to revenue.
>
> To put this massive cut into perspective, Simpson and Bowles now believe
> we should slash the programs American workers and seniors depend on by $500
> to $700 Billion *more *than what even Republican House Speaker John
> Boehner has called for. Talk about out of touch!
>
> In case you missed it, Simpson and Bowles have already stated where they
> want all the savings to go – and according to a report from the
> non-partisan Institute for Policy Studies<http://www.ips-dc.org/reports/ceo-campaign-to-fix-the-debt>,
> it's not towards debt reduction. The dynamic duo founded a corporate
> front group called 'Fix the Debt' that has spent upwards of $100 million on
> it's campaign to slash Social Security, cut Medicare, and raise the
> retirement age for seniors. But despite the group’s name, little if any of
> the savings would go toward the national debt. Instead, 'Fix the Debt'
> plans to use our tax dollars to pay for billions in tax giveaways for major
> corporations like Bank of America, GE and Verizon.
>
> The 'Fix the Debt' corporate welfare scheme has drawn demonstrations
> across the country<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/07/fix-the-debt-protest_n_2633890.html> in
> recent months, and you can bet there will be an uptick in activity now that
> their founders have called for more drastic cuts to the programs low-income
> and middle class families depend on. Earlier this week, Simpson and
> Bowles were met with protests<http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/02/bowles-simpson-protested-at-playbook-breakfast/> as
> they introduced their new plan in Washington, DC, and confrontations are
> expected to spread nationwide this Wednesday, February 20.
>
> MASS*UNITING* certainly won’t let Erskine Bowles off the hook when his
> baloney-peddling tour comes to Boston Wednesday evening. You can sign up
> to join us here. <https://www.facebook.com/events/492327534138340/>
>

-- 
Jason A Stephany

Communications Director
MASS*UNITING*.ORG

617.286.4430 office
608.444.0060 cell
@jstephany | @massuniting
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