Ames, Iowa – Today, December 18th at 12:30 p.m., Progress Iowa and local activists will join Iowa taxpayers at Rep. Tom Latham’s office in Ames to deliver letters and petitions from over 450 Iowans in support of tax fairness. As Rep. Latham’s staff moves out of his Ames office today, before the end of the lame duck session, volunteers will wish him farewell and deliver a holiday card telling Latham to “make it onto Santa’s list” by ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent.
The event is part of a statewide series of petition deliveries which also include events outside the offices of Sen. Chuck Grassley in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Waterloo, and Sioux City on Thursday. These and other events are being organized across the country in partnership with national coalition The Action.
“Rep. Latham seems content to stand on the sidelines while many of his colleagues are finally standing up for the middle-class. Instead of moving out of his Ames office before his term in the 4th district actually ends, he should be calling for an end to tax cuts for the wealthiest two-percent of Americans,” said Matt Denner, an organizer with Progress Iowa. “We’re joining with Iowa taxpayers to tell Latham his current constituents want him to quit treating Medicare, Social Security, and our social safety net like bargaining chips, and act now for tax fairness, especially if he wants to make Santa’s list.”
Progress Iowa is working in conjunction with AFSCME Iowa Council 61, Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, Iowa Alliance for Retired Americans, Iowa Citizen Action Network, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Working Families Win, SEIU Local 199, South Central Iowa Federation of Labor, and Citizens for a Healthy Iowa to organize events this week and in the coming weeks with a focus on tax fairness and the “fiscal cliff.”
Middle class Iowans are gathering in Ames and around the country to tell Congress: “It’s time to set our priorities straight–tax cuts for the wealthy means fewer Pell Grants, cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits, and more kids shoved into crowded classrooms.”
