Do more about Furloughs...
Send a letter to your Local Media.
How to...
- Either copy this sample letter (in order to paste it later), or just read it as a sample:
Dear Editor,
I would like to bring a very serious situation to your attention, as well as to your readers.
The Senate and the House Appropriations Committees have approved significant cuts to the President's proposed FY 2007 Social Security Administration budget. SSA Commissioner Jo Anne Barnhart has advised that these cuts would prevent the agency from completing critical workloads and would force SSA to close its doors for two weeks next year. The equivalent of 6,000 positions would have to be eliminated. Most of these would be lost from local Social Security offices, such as those that serve our area. Overtime, which SSA depends upon to process workloads due to excessive staff losses, will be severely diminished.
Basic services for the elderly and infirm will be denied as Congress prevents the agency from spending its own FICA-financed funds. Instead, this money is being used to pay for tax cuts for the rich, no-bid Halliburton contracts, and the war in Iraq.
If you or a family member has ever filed for Social Security disability, you understand that it could take months to receive benefits. Without proper funding at Social Security, that wait could grow to years. When SSA is not properly funded, it hurts everyone, the elderly, the disabled, and most of all our county and state funds. Social programs administered by the state and county are heavily relied upon by many families until Social Security claims can be approved.
I urge you and your readers to contact their Congressional representatives and urge them to ask Senate and House appropriators to fully fund the Social Security Administration. After all, we have paid already paid for Social Security. Shouldn't it be there when you really need it?
Sincerely,
- At the next step, you will click on a link to locate and E-mail your letter to the media outlet(s) you select from a list.
Now fill in your zip code (5-digit or zip+4). When you click on the GO button, a new window or tab will open on the Congress.org site. There you will see a list of media outlets, starting with national media, and followed by a list of your Local Media outlets. Click on those you want to send your message to. It's probably best to click on one at a time and tailor a message for each. If you only send one letter, make it a local newspaper or local newsletter, and see if you can get it published. Select those you want and click on Compose Letter at the bottom. On the next page you will want to click on "Compose your own Message" at the bottom of a list of messages. That will take you to the web form where you paste and edit what you copied earlier, fill in required fields, and send.
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National