 March 2005
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Sara Burke, Pat Farren, Founding Editor 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Telephone number: Fax number:
pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
AFSC Launches SOS! Campaign on the US Budget AFSC has joined groups mobilizing around the country to stop the most radical federal budget in years. March is a critical time for activists to weigh in, as Congress decides whether to adopt or change the President's proposal. President Bush's budget for the fiscal year starting October 1 calls for deep cuts in almost all domestic programs except Homeland Security, and for rules changes which would lock in these cuts for the future. Among its skewed priorities, it cuts $138 billion over ten years from "entitlement" programs like Medicaid, food stamps, and child care assistance for low-wage workers; cuts an average of 16% from "discretionary" housing, nutrition, education, veterans' health care, environmental, and other vital programs over five years; and locks in inequality by making permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts that primarily benefited the wealthiest households. AFSC's SOS! Campaign makes it easy to plug in. You can respond to action alerts, order an SOS! Action kit, order free postcards, and find sample letters, by clicking on www.saveourservices.org or calling 215/241-7037. The SOS! Campaign is being coordinated by economic justice activists in five states and Washington, DC. It is important to make the connections in each state between the federal budget and local needs. With the Bush Administration hoping to fast-track the budget through Congress -- counting on public apathy and confusion over the details -- activists are working with unions, churches, grassroots organizations, and advocacy networks like the Coalition on Human Needs to generate grassroots opposition to the budget. What you can do:
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