The disastrous budget reconciliation package that is now in the Senate will severely harm at-risk communities unless substantial changes are made.
The $295 million in SNAP cuts will increase hunger across the country, hitting children, seniors, and working families the hardest. At a time when food insecurity is still high in many communities, cutting SNAP is both cruel and short-sighted.
Roughly 15 million Americans will lose health coverage because of the $800 billion cut to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act along with other provisions in the House package.
Tens of millions of people with low incomes will lose access to basic needs programs, all to give tax breaks that primarily benefit the wealthy and corporations while inflicting harm on immigrant communities.
We cannot keep allowing the passage of these unfair tax policies that disproportionately benefit the rich while making low-income and vulnerable communities suffer, including by taking food assistance and health care away from millions. That’s not good for our society or economy.
Now more than ever, it’s critical that Congress protect health care, nutrition, and other essential services that help millions of families meet their basic needs. We should strengthen support for these programs—not take them away. We need each and every Senator to get a strong and clear message that their constituents oppose these harmful proposals.
Let’s Stand Together in a Time of Emergency: The Mass Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March – ONLINE – Saturday, June 20
This pandemic and economic collapse, along with the recent wave of police brutality and racist murders, have forced this nation into an unprecedented season of crisis and action. The harshness of this emergency results from a deeper and much longer-term crisis, of systemic racism and inequality. The extra burden of death inflicted on Black victims of the coronavirus is a painful legacy of our nations’ racism. In fact, 14,400 more Black Americans would be alive if they died at the same rate from COVID-19 as White Americans. But even before the pandemic, discrimination and deeper poverty visited upon communities of color have created harm that we must work together to end.
This is a time that calls for us to join together, and empower the leadership emerging from poor and dispossessed people that is paving the way forward. And the Poor People’s Campaign has convened a historic, unprecedented digital event to lift these voices.
The Mass Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington is a 2.5 hour program that will be broadcast on Saturday, June 20th at 10am ET. There will be rebroadcasts at 6pm ET, and again on Sunday June 21st at 6pm ET, at June2020.org. Join CHN and our friends at the Poor People’s Campaign by registering here.
We cannot stress this enough: The June 20 digital rally will be an online rally without precedent. We are coming together to demand that the millions of poor and low-income people in our nation — from every race, creed, gender, sexuality and place — are no longer ignored, dismissed or pushed to the margins of our political and social agenda. Poor and low-income leaders will touch on a host of issues from healthcare to systemic racism, voting rights, housing, water, education, war and peace, and more. You’ll hear from some movement leaders with a history of supporting these causes. And to top it all off you’ll hear some great music from people around the country.
There are so many ways to get involved: By registering, you can take a selfie to have yourself included among thousands of others; your members of Congress will get an invite to join; and you’ll learn about voter registration opportunities and how to get involved in this movement for the long haul.
Register for June 20, 2020 here and tune in for the broadcast on June 20 at 10 AM ET. You can also watch the rebroadcasts at 6 PM ET or on June 21 at 6 PM ET at June2020.org.