{
"type": "rich",
"version": "1.0",
"provider_name": "Action Network",
"provider_url": "https://actionnetwork.org",
"html": "",
"author_name": "Texas Poor People's Campaign",
"author_url": "https://actionnetwork.org/groups/texas-poor-peoples-campaign",
"title": "Fight Poverty, not the Poor!",
"thumbnail_url": "https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/letters/photos/000/318/205/normal/TexasPPC.png",
"description": "There are more than 7,173,844 poor and low-income voters in Texas and 85 million across the nation. Together, we account for one-third of the electorate in Texas. Together, we can ensure that the days of poverty and low-wages - and the unnecessary cruelty of abandonment amidst abundance - are numbered! On the following page, you will find a letter template to send to the Governor, your state senator, and your state representative. Please note that you must select a topic from the drop down menu in order to submit this letter to the Governor. Please select "taxes and revenue" or "other" from that menu. ------------------------------------------------------------------ In 2019, before the pandemic hit, 140 million Americans were living in poverty or just one emergency away from economic ruin. Poverty was the fourth leading cause of death, claiming more lives than homicide, gun violence, diabetes or obesity. Long-term poverty was responsible for 295,000 deaths a year - or over 800 deaths a day. The pandemic festered in these fissures, taking root in systemic racism, poverty, the denial of health care, ecological devastation, wealth inequality and rampant military spending. During the first two years, governments at all levels responded to the crisis by expanding access to health care, housing, water, food and utilities. These overdue changes proved that in the world’s richest country, we can ensure a dignified life for all. But these pandemic programs were temporary. When they ended abruptly, poverty and related interlocking injustices began to rise once again. Today in Texas, we have seen more than one million people wrongfully removed from the Medicaid rolls, eviction filings soaring to pre-pandemic levels, and $11 BILLION in taxpayer funds on militarizing our southern border. While millions of people remain without work, living wages, housing, clean water, food or health care, corporations and the wealthy are doing exceedingly well. Between 2020-2022, billionaire wealth grew by $1.5 trillion - more than $2 billion a day. Religious and moral texts are clear that making policy that does not protect the rights of the poor and puts the cause of the wealthy first is evil and wrong. Isaiah 10 says, “Woe to those who legislate evil, who make unjust laws to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed.” Jeremiah 22 reminds us, “Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor those who have been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the immigrant, the orphan, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.” Matthew 25 tells us, "'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'” Indeed, the first governing principle of the US Constitution is to establish justice. If we do not want to enable this wrongdoing, we must speak out and stand up against it. Please send a letter to your legislators and tell them that we must fight poverty, not the poor! (letter template can be found on next page)",
"url": "https://actionnetwork.org/letters/fight-poverty-not-the-poor"
}