New poverty data is out. Will you help it make headlines?


September 12, 2017
by Colin Smith, Director of Communications, RESULTS

Right now more than 1 in 8 of our neighbors lives below the poverty line. That’s according to new data just released today by the Census Bureau. Unfortunately Congress is considering proposals that could make things far worse.

The good news is the poverty rate is falling, and federal programs like SNAP (formerly food stamps) and refundable tax credits lifted nearly 12 million people out of poverty in 2016. But right now, some members of Congress are taking aim at these and other anti-poverty programs.

Will you send a letter to the editor right now urging your member of Congress to stand up against any proposed cuts?

Slashing SNAP would mean that more children would go to bed hungry. Gutting tax credits like the EITC would mean that low-income workers would have more impossible choices to make, like whether to pay to heat their house or for the car repairs that will take them to work.

Stripping basic assistance from people facing poverty to fund another tax cut for the wealthy is immoral and unconscionable.

This week when members of Congress pick up the local paper, you can make sure they see their constituents saying “no” to these bad proposals. Use a letter to the editor to ask your member of Congress to protect federal anti-poverty programs.

You can tailor our template or – better yet – write one of your own. If this is your first letter to the editor, here are some basics.

Ready to take the next step? Use our editable op-ed template on the Census Data to craft an op-ed.


Letter to the Editor Template

To the editor:

New census data shows that more than 1 in 8 Americans are living at or below the poverty line. So why are some members of Congress taking aim at the very federal programs that help working families put food on the table and get the basics to survive?

Programs like SNAP (formerly food stamps) and the Earned Income Tax Credit lifted millions of people out of poverty last year. Gutting these programs to pay for a tax break for millionaires is unconscionable. I hope I can count on our members of Congress [INSERT YOURS] to stand with families and kids here in [YOUR STATE].

[YOUR NAME]

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