Former Sen. Russ Feingold and his new group Progressives United are petitioning the six House and Senate Democrats serving on the joint deficit Super Committee to walk away if Republicans don’t budge on tax increases, and insist on cutting entitlement benefits.
“If we don’t get our policy priorities, Democrats need to be ready to walk away from the deal,” Feingold emailed his supporters. “You can guarantee extremists on the other side will continue to push relentlessly to give even more to corporations and put even more of the burden on the middle class. We have to fight harder than they will.”
He lists the bright lines:
1. Ensure millionaires, billionaires, and big corporations pay their fair share of debt reduction,
2. No cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits,
3. No giveaways to corporate interests,
4. Or no deal.
His concern — which progressives widely share — is that Republicans will refuse to raise a penny of revenue, particularly from wealthy Americans, and leave the Committee’s Democrats to pick between significant entitlement cuts or the trigger penalty, which would fall most heavily on Medicare providers and national defense.
The effort is aimed at Democrats so that they don’t lose their spine at that key moment. “We can have leverage with the Democrats on the super committee, but we need to build it,” Feingold said.
Read his entire letter below.
XXXXXXX,
Part of the reason I founded Progressives United is that we badly need to break the limits of our debate.
Nowhere is that need exposed more clearly than with the congressional super committee that will soon be debating whether we should dismantle our society and protections substantially — or all but eliminate them.
That’s an argument we can’t win. Years of corporate money in politics have gone toward ensuring that debates like this will end up heads they win, tails we lose.
To stop this backsliding and start having debates we can actually win, we need the super committee to deal a decisive defeat to the corporate agenda. And to do it, we need to stand united.
Stand with me today: Petition Democratic members of the super committee to deal a defeat to corporate interests.
Members of Progressives United are petitioning Democratic super committee members to follow these priorities:
1. Ensure millionaires, billionaires, and big corporations pay their fair share of debt reduction,
2. No cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits,
3. No giveaways to corporate interests,
4. Or no deal.Numbers one through three are important policy priorities, but number four is equally important.
If we don’t get our policy priorities, Democrats need to be ready to walk away from the deal. You can guarantee extremists on the other side will continue to push relentlessly to give even more to corporations and put even more of the burden on the middle class. We have to fight harder than they will.
We can have leverage with the Democrats on the super committee, but we need to build it. Stand with me and sign Progressives United’s petition today.
The spotlight of the nation is on this debate. In the super committee, Democrats, Republicans, and corporations are deciding whether and how to fundamentally reshape our society and our values. We need to make sure that we are part of the debate as well.
If we let them reshape our society without our input, we’re going to deeply regret the outcome. Progressives must make our voices loud and forceful in this discussion.
That starts with me, and it starts with you.
Click here to sign the petition today.
Thank you for uniting as a progressive,
Russ Feingold
Founder
Progressives United
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