Ecumenical Prayer On April 17, In Walpole After The Marathon Tragedy

We are all shocked and saddened by the act of violence at the Boston Marathon.  Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of those who were killed and to the people who were injured. Events like this must strengthen our resolve to work for peace and justice in our world.

We invite everyone to attend an ecumenical prayer service in Walpole tonight, April 17, 2013 at 7:00 PM. Sponsored by the Walpole Clergy Association, the gathering will be held at the labyrinth in  the field behind United Church, 30 Common St, Walpole.   See below for more information.

---

ECUMENICAL PRAYER IN WALPOLE AFTER THE MARATHON TRAGEDY

A community gathering will take place at the United Church in Walpole at 7PM on Wednesday, April 17. There will be lighting of candles, scripture reading, prayer and walking of the labyrinth. This will be an outdoor gathering. The church’s sanctuary will also be open for those who wish to gather for private meditation and prayer.

Walpole Peace Group vigil holding the Budget Banner on Saturday, April 13, from 10 to 11:30 AM on the Walpole Common at the corner of Main and West Streets

Please join us on Saturday,  April 13, from 10 to 11:30 AM on the Walpole Common,  bringing attention to how our U.S. tax dollars are used. April 15 is right around the corner, the day our Federal tax returns are due.  On Saturday, we will be holding a  20 foot “Budget Banner”.  

The banner is comprised of multiple colored segments, graphically illustrating the federal government’s discretionary budget, including military, education, health and human services, housing, justice, labor, and environment.  The length of each segment is proportional to the size of that program’s budget, clearly showing how much is spent for each.  Discretionary spending accounts for  $1.15 trillion of the proposed 2013 budget. The banner gives visual significance to the large amount the US spends on the Pentagon programs and the military. Our country spends more on the military than the next 13 biggest military spenders in the world, combined.  The banner also illustrates how tiny are the portions going to social services, programs that are important to each one of us. 

The banner also serves to remind us that the sequester cuts to these already underfunded programs will be disastrous.  Already, the legislators in Washington have slashed Meals on Wheels, Head Start, Housing, Education, Fuel Assistance, Unemployment, Health Programs, AIDS Housing, and family violence prevention. Now the President wants to cut even more vital programs  and cut Social Security benefits. Please stop by the Walpole Common this Saturday to stand against cuts to critical social programs  or to get a leaflet that further explains the distribution of our tax returns.

The Budget for All! Campaign and other groups are holding a vigil on Tax Day, Tuesday, April 16, to say:

Stop the Cuts!

When: 11 am

Where: Tip O’Neill Federal Building, 10 Causeway Street, Boston – North Station (Green Line)

See the following link for more information:   http://www.masspeaceaction.org/home/files/Tax%20Day%20Leaflet.pdf

Get the Facts: Why Social Security and Medicare Don’t Need to Be Cut

The Walpole Peace and Justice Group is sponsoring a presentation on ‘Get the Facts: Why Social Security and Medicare Don’t Need to Be Cut’ on Monday, April 8, 2013 at 7:30 PM  at the Walpole Public Library. Many of the proposals being offered by politicians, in the ongoing debate on how to handle the national budget and deficit, would drastically change Social Security and Medicare and reduce benefits. Social Security and Medicare are essential benefits that most people will depend on, in part, for retirement.  The result of these cuts could be grave.

This presentation will explain how Social Security and Medicare are funded, how they impact the national budget and debt, and describe some of the options for funding them without cutting benefits. It will cover questions like how much of a problem is the national debt and are there other options for funding these programs. The impact of proposals being discussed by political leaders, like changing the way the annual Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) is computed, are often not being adequately explained even though they will have a long term impact on benefits. Reports in the media often contain misinformation or obscure the facts.

As the debate continues in Washington, it is important for people to understand the facts, so regardless of what they think about Social Security and Medicare, they can make informed decisions and make their voice heard.  Any changes to these programs will affect most people at some point in their lives.

The presentation is open to the public and will be held in the Community Room at the Walpole library.

Action needed now before the March 1 Sequester kicks in!

As the federal budget looks like it will be subject to a major overhaul (either through sequestration or otherwise) in the coming months, and as millions of Americans face cuts that will have devastating impacts on their access to food, housing, jobs, education, health care, and more, it's as important as ever for us to bring home the fact that despite these cuts, the US military budget is greater than that of the next 15 largest militaries combined.

Here are 2 things you can do as the March 1 deadline for sequestration hits on Friday:

1.
Join the Budget for All coalition of peace, labor, community, and faith activists at a stand-out at Park Street Station on Wednesday from 4:30-6:00.  We'll be asking the public to hold our elected officials accountable and to listen to the votes of hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents that agree: it's time to Cut the Pentagon and Meet Human Needs!

For more information, click this link.

Pull the pork from the Pentagon!
Stop cuts to vital programs - –invest in jobs - –tax the 1% - –cut the Pentagon

Where: Park Street Station
When: Wednesday, February 27 at 4:30pm

2.
Call your senators and representative in congress on Wednesday or Thursday:
Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121

Tell them to support a deal that prevents cuts to social programs-raises revenues by closing corporate tax loopholes –and redirects Pentagon spending into creating jobs and saving vital public programs.

Walpole Peace Vigil on Saturday, February 2, 2013 at 10-11AM, Walpole Common to support Budget for All

Please join us this coming Saturday, February 2, 2013 to stand for a Society that Values and Preserves a support system of vital services for all! ‘Stop the Cuts, Invest in Jobs, Tax the 1%, End the Wars, and Cut the Military Budget continues to be an urgent message. We will be standing at the corner of West and Main Street, across from Walpole Cooperative Bank, from 10 to 11 AM.

As supporters of the Budget for All Coalition we join to oppose cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and essential social services. “The next few months, and above all the month of February, promise to be a fast-moving, intense period as Congress faces several key decision points. The “sequester” (automatic budget cuts) will hit March 1 unless new legislation is passed. The FY13 continuing resolution expires and must be extended by March 27. Finally, the House-proposed debt ceiling extension (still pending in the Senate and thus subject to change) sets a deadline of April 15 for each chamber to pass a budget, and May 18 for the nation’s debt ceiling to expire.”

We need to remind our state representatives that voters in 91 cities and towns in Massachusetts spoke out clearly for the Massachusetts Budget For All. The budget deal as passed by the U.S. Senate and House does not raise enough revenue and makes it likely that Congress will still seek cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and vital social programs as long term solutions are debated.

Cuts to Social Security are unfair as Social Security is funded through its own trust fund, having no short term shortfall, and nothing to do with the current budget deficit. Many people depend on Social Security as their major source of retirement income and we should not be penalizing them for a budget crisis that has nothing to do with Social Security.

The real problems with Medicare and Medicaid are rising medical costs. The answer is to control those costs rather than increase the Medicare eligibility age or cut Medicaid eligibility. It’s incomprehensible how the United States can be the only developed country without some form of single payer system that insures all people and eliminates the bureaucracy and overhead of the insurance companies. Most countries with single payer health care spend substantially less than ours on medical care yet are ranked higher in regard to people’s health.

Congress should not cut critical programs that provide a safety net and vital services to low-income people. It is unfair to shift the burden to poor and working families who have already borne a disproportionate share of the impact of the economic downturn that that they never caused. The wealthiest and corporations should pay their fair share, starting with ending tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent. Income tax revenue as a percentage of Gross National Product has been about the lowest since 1950.

For more information on the Budget for All Coalition, please see the web site: http://www.budget4allmass.org/

Next Friday: Deadline for Legislators to Co-Sponsor Single Payer Bills

There are two bills that will come before the state legislature this session regarding Single Payer health care (HD 1677, SD 875 and HD 699, SD 1059).  We are hoping that many reps and senators will actually co-sponsor one or both of these bills.  Mass Care has asked that we make phone calls to our senator and representatives, urging them to sign on.  Thanks for any help you can give with this.

• Go to http://www.wheredoivotema.com:
• Enter your address and click “Find My Election Information.”
• Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and find your “Senate in General Court” and “Rep in General Court.”
• By clicking on your Senator’s or Rep’s name, you will be taken to their web-site with phone numbers and email addresses.

Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan: Why Civilians Matter

Dr. John Tirman will give a talk on ‘Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan: Why Civilians Matter’ on Wednesday, January 23, 2013 at 7:30 PM at the Walpole Public Library.  Our government and the public rarely question the enormous toll in civilian causalities in wars, particularly those that the United States has waged. John will not only speak on the moral imperative of “body counts” but why civilian mortality and displacement affects the way we think about war, strategy, and responsibility. The Walpole Peace and Justice Group is sponsoring the talk. 

John is the Executive Director of MIT's Center for International Studies, where he is also Principal Research Scientist. Previously, he was Program Director at the Social Science Research Council (2000-2004), a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Cyprus (1999-2000), executive director of the Winston Foundation for World Peace (1986-1999), senior editor at the Union of Concerned Scientists (1982-86), and a researcher-reporter at Time magazine (1977-79).

He has written several books on global affairs and more than one hundred articles in a wide range of periodicals. Most recently he published The Deaths of Others: The Fate of Civilians in America's Wars, a major contribution to understanding conflict and America's involvement. His other books includeSpoils of War: The Human Cost of America's Arms Trade (1997) and Making the Money Sing: Private Wealth and Public Power in the Search for Peace(2000). He is editor or coeditor of several collected volumes, including The Maze of Fear: Security & Migration After 9/11 (2004); Terror, Insurgency, and the State (2007); and Multilateralism Under Challenge? Power, International Order, and Structural Change (2006). Periodicals where his articles have appeared include The Nation, International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Boston Review, the New York Times, and AlterNet, among others.

The talk will be in the Community Room at the Walpole Public Library, 143 School Street, Walpole, MA.