March 20, 2013

Dear Senator Warner,

We are writing to strongly support the plan to raise $975 billion in new taxes over the next 10 years that is contained in the Senate Budget Resolution, which will be voted on this week. When this budget is considered, please OPPOSE any amendments that would REDUCE the amount of revenue to be raised.   

Each of our organizations has serious concerns about some of the spending cuts proposed in the budget.  Already, Congress has cut far too much from programs and services that educate our kids, help seniors qualify for Social Security, keep our food safe, make our communities more secure and create jobs. At the same time, we support the intent of the Senate budget to make the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share of taxes. The public overwhelmingly supports that position in poll after poll.

The $975 billion in tax revenue that the Senate budget would raise is the bare minimum needed. Many of our organizations believe much more should be raised to make sure that deficit reduction is balanced and that we can grow the economy and create jobs through new investments. 

Working families are already bearing most of the burden of deficit reduction. In budget agreements reached so far, just $600 billion has been raised in tax revenue from the wealthy and $1.5 trillion in spending has been cut. If the Senate budget becomes law, there would be about $1.6 trillion in new revenue and $2.5 trillion in cuts. That would still be far from balanced.

The Senate budget does not detail how the nearly $1 trillion should be raised, leaving it up to the Finance Committee to fill in the details before the full Senate votes. We look forward to working together with you in coming months to identify the best options for reform. There are many good ideas contained in this tax reform options paper prepared by Americans for Tax Fairness, which is available at http://bit.ly/145lTx5. 

As the budget plan proposes, tax reform must close loopholes and end special-interest tax breaks for wealthy Americans and large corporations. It should also ensure that new tax revenue be used to lower the deficit and make vital investments – NOT be used to lower tax rates for the richest 2% and big corporations. We just can’t afford to keep giving tax cuts to those who need them the least. 

We thank you for your support in these important matters.

Sincerely,

MoveOn.org Hampton Roads

Social Action Linking Together (SALT)

SEIU Virginia 512

The Commonwealth Institute

Virginia AFL-CIO State Federation

Virginia Alliance for Retired Americans

Virginia Civic Engagement Table

Virginia Fair Share

Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy

Virginia Organizing

The Wayside Center