ADDITIONAL VOTER RESOURCES         

Less than a week now remains before congressional mid-term elections. We are happy to have heard back from so many of you that you have found our election guide, “Voting Good Shepherd Values,” a helpful resource.  We hope that it continues to provide useful reflections and questions for discussions and prayer.  And just in case you feel the need for more information, here are a couple more resources from some of our Catholic partners that you may find helpful.

From the Catholic Alliance for the Common Good: Bulletin inserts on Faithful Citizenship  and Being Peacemakers (PDF).

From NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby:  A voting guide with background info and additional questions for candidates.

For those who have already voted and even for those still waiting to go to the polls, there are still ways to make your voice and concerns heard during these last few days. You can reach out to others in your community and encourage them to vote, write a letter to the editor on one or more of the issues you are most concerned about, volunteer to help others get to the polls on election day, and even check with your local board of elections to see if they still need volunteers to help on election day.

          POST ELECTION “LAME-DUCK” SESSION - BUDGET CUTS LOOMING         

At the National Advocacy Center we are also beginning to prepare for the congressional “Lame Duck” session that will occur right after the election.  Lots of rumors are circulating about what issues Congress will take up when members return on November 13th and no one is sure how long the session will last.  However, one of the big things that Congress does have to finish is the budget and unfortunately the outlook for a lot of the programs we care about is fairly bleak.  Decisions made right before the election recess have left the major social services spending bill several billion dollars short, which could force deep cuts in child care, job training and education, and other important services.  With everyone so focused on the election, these budget cuts have received little attention, but a little help from you now can make a big difference in stopping these cuts! To prevent further billions in cuts, we need to shine a light on threats to human needs programs as often as possible – before the election and afterwards

          ACTION NEEDED:         

Send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper urging members of Congress to work to prevent budget cuts when they return after the election. We've prepared a sample letter to the editor for you to edit and send along with additional background information.  If you are able, please include local or personal information about the impact of these cuts. 

Even after the elections your current members of Congress still have a job to do-- let's hold them accountable to prevent dangerous cuts to health, education, and other services.

Finally, as today is All Saint's Day, I will close with a link to a beautiful litany (PDF) honoring some of the "social justice saints" around the world from our friends at the Center of Concern.