If you could talk to the presidential candidates, what would you tell them?

Jewish Funds for Justice and our partners want to give you an opportunity to express your own domestic Jewish agenda to the candidates.

Here is how it works.

For more information on the campaign, read What's At Stake.

THE ISSUES:

CHILD CARE. Parents are finding it increasingly difficult to raise a family.  In 1999 and 2000, approximately 2.7 million people who needed to take leave couldn't afford the unpaid time off.  Poor parents are less likely to take time off for their child's birth and they are denied access or assistance for quality child care.   Full-time, center-based child care can cost from $3000 to more than $13,000 annually per child, placing a strain on even middle class families.   Since 2002, more than 150,000 families have lost critical assistance with these costs.  In 2001, 40% of poor, single, working mothers without federal assistance paid at least half their cash income for child care.
 
CIVIL RIGHTS. Despite significant progress, discrimination is still a reality for too many Americans. For every dollar white men earn, women earn approximately 77 cents, Latinas earn 56 cents, and African-American men earn 75 cents. Women are more likely to suffer violence; a woman is raped every 6 minutes and battered every 9 seconds. At the federal level and in most states gays and lesbians lack even basic civil rights protections. Affirmative action is being eliminated from the public sector, with colleges becoming increasingly homogeneous and opportunity blocked for many black and Latino students.
  
EDUCATION. A high-quality public education is essential to ensure opportunity for all Americans.  In 2000, 2 out of 3 fourth graders couldn't read proficiently and 7 out of 10 inner-city and rural fourth graders couldn't read at the most basic level.  The most recent data on urban 12th graders finds that 84% are not proficient in math and 83% are not proficient in science.   For students who do graduate, attending college now means taking on substantial debt as costs have risen and grants are scarce. Between 1994 and 2004, college costs skyrocketed by 30% and 26% at public and private colleges, respectively.   

ENVIRONMENT. Our world is waking up to the implications of the damage we have done to our environment.   The flow of ice from glaciers has doubled in the past decade. If nothing is done, sea levels could rise up to 20 feet.  There are twice as many Category 4 and 5 hurricanes as there were 30 years ago. Without action, global warming will cause an estimated 300,000 deaths a year by 2035. Pollution continues to do damage. Nine million children have been diagnosed with asthma; between 1980 and 1994, the number of children under 5 with asthma increased by 160%.   Each year, 1.8 million to 3.5 million illnesses are caused by swimming in water contaminated by sewage overflows and an additional 500,000 from drinking contaminated water.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

HEALTH CARE. Our health care system is in disarray. The cost of private health insurance is increasing at an annual rate in excess of 14 percent, far outpacing wages. Individuals are paying more out of pocket and receiving fewer benefits. 46.6 million Americans, including nine million children, are uninsured, and the number of uninsured is on the rise. States, suffering severe fiscal problems, are cutting eligibility and benefits in Medicaid and other health programs. Tens of thousands of people die from medical errors each year. Vital medical information continues to be withheld from pregnant women, sexually active teenagers, and populations at risk for STDs, while 87 percent of U.S. counties have no abortion provider.

HOUSING. In many parts of the country, affordable housing is scarce. One in three Americans spend at least 30% of their income on housing (the government's threshold for "un-affordability") and half of the working poor spend 50% or more of their income on rent. Parents are working farther from their jobs, which has led to increased commute times, less time at home with family, higher gas prices, traffic, and increased carbon emissions. For every family that receives federal housing assistance, there are 3 eligible families waiting in line. The government estimates that 754,000 people are homeless on any given night.

IMMIGRATION. America is a nation of immigrants . Yet today's immigrants face an atmosphere of hostility, violence, and a badly broken system of laws. Employers depend on immigrant labor, but recent policies have emphasized only enforcement, leading to worker exploitation. From 1986 to 1998, the border patrol budget increased sixfold and the number of agents on the southern border doubled to 8,500. Despite these efforts, millions of undocumented immigrants arrived to work in our fields, hospitals, and restaurants. Only 5,000 visas per year are granted for unskilled workers.

KATRINA/RITA. The Gulf Coast and New Orleans in particular continue to struggle to recover from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Only 45% of the pre-Katrina population of New Orleans has returned. Despite $7.5 billion of federal funding, Louisiana's Road Home program, which makes grants to help homeowners rebuild, delivered funds to only 2.5% of the 115,000 applicants they attracted in January 2007. About 9,000-12,000 homes are decaying and need to be demolished but only 118 houses were knocked down in January 2007. Local unemployment remains very high, while immigrant workers suffer from chronic underpayment of wages.

WAGES. Millions of working families struggle to make ends meet because their jobs fail to pay a living wage. Wages have fallen by 3.2% in real terms since October of 2001, while inflation and costs of living continue to rise. With the federal minimum wage stuck at $5.15/hour for almost 10 years, 31 states have recognized the inadequacy of $11,000/year and raised the minimum wage on the state level. Still, there are an estimated 7.4 million Americans who are classified as working poor.

SENIORS. Seniors in America remain are increasingly vulnerable. Half of today's workers do not have any retirement plan on the job and more employers have stopped offering guaranteed pension benefits. Americans' savings rate is now less than zero; only about half of families have any retirement savings. Seniors who want to remain independent are forced into nursing homes, instead of receiving personal care at home or in assisted living facilities. Health care costs continue to claim a greater share of seniors' fixed income.

Submitted by:

Campaign Launched:
March 21, 2007