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Action Alerts
UUs for Social Justice has an Action Alert Network, currently consisting of about 85 individuals. Some receive Action Alerts and sample letters by e-mail. Other individuals receive background and sample messages by ground mail. Still other individuals, who support what we do but find they do not have the time to act timely, sign up to have our sample messages sent with their merged signature and address without needing to take action themself. Those individuals receive a copy of the sample message that was sent automatically. You can start the process of signing up to participate in the network by sending an e-mail request to: uusj@sbcglobal.net or leaving a message in the UUSJ box at 773-643-8061. Action Alerts currently applicable will be posted below:
Both The UUSJ Task Force on Economic Justice and Homelessness and the UUSJ Environmental Task Force Co-sponsored this Action Alert in mid January to President Obama and to Illinois Senator Dick Durbin:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Obama,
As you negotiate, over the next several weeks, with House and Senate leadership over the appropriate mix of revenue increases and spending cuts to incorporate into a package to reduce our nation’s long term deficit problem, I ask that you consider the following two large revenue options for the revenue side of the package.
- A Securities Transaction Tax (STT) – while the way it is structured would obviously impact the amount of revenue raised, economists have projected that a .5% STT would raise about $100 billion per year.
- A Carbon Emissions Tax (CET) - A CET on refineries, utilities, and other large emitters of carbon, could be scaled up so that it brings in over $100 billion per year. While some of that would likely be rebated to offset increased energy costs to the poor, a CET could be structured to bring in $100 billion per annum to help with the deficit. Such a tax would have the additional benefit of helping to encourage the use of non-carbon energy sources, thus helping to address climate change.
I look forward to hearing that these sources of revenue were considered as part of the revenue side of the package to reduce our nation’s long term deficit.
Sincerely,
Senator Richard J. Durbin
711 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Durbin,
As the President negotiates with House and Senate leadership over the appropriate mix of revenue increases and spending cuts to incorporate into a package to reduce our nation’s long term deficit problem, I ask that you consider the following two large revenue options for the revenue side of the package.
- A Securities Transaction Tax (STT) – while the way it is structured would obviously impact the amount of revenue raised, economists have projected that a .5% STT would raise about $100 billion per year.
- A Carbon Emissions Tax (CET) - A CET on refineries, utilities, and other large emitters of carbon, could be scaled up so that it brings in over $100 billion per year. While some of that would likely be rebated to offset increased energy costs to the poor, a CET could be structured to bring in $100 billion per annum to help with the deficit. Such a tax would have the additional benefit of helping to encourage the use of non-carbon energy sources, thus helping to address climate change.
I look forward to hearing that these sources of revenue were considered as part of the revenue side of the package to reduce our nation’s long term deficit.
Sincerely,