OntheWilderSide

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US Uncut is a new movement inspired by UK Uncut, the anti-austerity movement that has swept the UK.

For starters, we suggest you read Johann Hari’s ten-step guide to launching US Uncut. And check out UK Uncut’s short video on how to make your action fun and unique. They’re both incredibly useful and insightful!

US Uncut is about taking action against unnecessary and unfair cuts to public services across the US. Washington’s proposed budget for the coming year sends a clear message: The wrath of budget cuts will fall upon the shoulders of hard-working Americans.

Obama seeks to trim $1.1 trillion from the budget in the next ten years by cutting or eliminating over 200 federal programs, many dedicated to social services and education. For instance, it cuts in half funding to subsidize heating for low-income Americans; limits an expansion of the Pell grant program for students; and decreases Environmental Protection Agency funding by over 12%.

Meanwhile, Republicans are using their new House majority to slash spending even more brutally. The GOP has made it clear that they are bent on raiding funds for Social Security, Medicare, education; determined to kill health care reform; and gut needed investments in infrastructure, climate change and job creation, at a time when America needs it most.

These cuts will come on top of very painful austerity measures made at the state-level across our nation–-worth hundreds of billions–since the recession began.

In short, budget cuts demonstrate that Washington has abandoned ordinary Americans.

But there is an alternative: Make corporate tax avoiders pay.

Enjoying record profits and taxpayer-funded bailouts as the economy slowly recovers from a financial crisis, nearly two-thirds of US corporations don’t pay any income taxes, instead opting to abuse tax loopholes and offshore tax havens. According to this study from the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, 83 of the top 100 publicly traded corporations that operate in the US exploit corporate tax havens. Since 2009, America’s most profitable companies such as ExxonMobil, General Electric, Bank of America andCitigroup all paid a grand total of $0 in federal income taxes to Uncle Sam. Tax havens alone account for up to $1 trillion in tax revenue lost every decade, money that could be invested in K-12 education, colleges, public health, job creation and hundreds of other worthy public programs.

If we pay our taxes, why don’t they? If corporations profit here, shouldn’t they pay here?

It’s time for ordinary Americans to fight back and demand an end to the corporate tax avoidance. Join US Uncut and together let’s make corporate tax avoiders pay.

US Uncut is a horizontal movement. There are no centrally planned protests. If you want one in your town or city, you’ll have to take it on yourself. Read our blog about what to do next.

Also remember to visit UK Uncut for some inspiration.

See you on the streets.

Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, Corporations, economy, international politics, Labor, News, politics, US Politics Tagged: | Barclays, ExxonMobil, Government Accountability Office, Johann Hari, London, UK Uncut, Uncut, united states