National Alliance of HUD Tenants
42 Seaverns Avenue/Boston/MA/02130/617-267-9564
Email: naht@saveourhomes.org Website: www.saveourhomes.org
News Advisory
Tenants to Send Valentine’s Message to Congress:
“Have a Heart: Tax the 1%, Cut Pentagon Pork, Save Our Homes!”
Who: Tenant leaders representing millions of low income families, elderly and disabled
people who will be made homeless by proposed federal budget cuts, and peace, labor and
community allies
What: Participants will demand that Congress reject extremist proposals to tie the debt limit
to deficit reduction and instead close corporate tax loopholes, tax the 1%, and redirect
Pentagon spending to invest in jobs, to prevent any cuts to vital social programs
Where: 15 cities in 10 states, including Boston and Springfield, MA; Chattanooga, TN;
Beaumont, Dallas and San Antonio, TX; San Jose and Sacramento, CA; Sanford, FL; Raleigh, NC;
and Seattle, WA
When: Valentines’s Day, Thursday, February 14, 2013, following President Obama’s State of
the Union budget proposals and the same day as a Senate hearing on “sequestration,”
where HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan will be testifying on HUD rental housing cuts
Contact: Michael Kane, NAHT 617-233-1885 (c) michaelkane@saveourhomes.org
For information, background links and referrals to local actions
Highlights (see attached list):
 In Boston, the Budget for All Coalition of tenants, peace and labor groups will march
from the JFK Federal Building to Bowdoin Square to deliver a Valentines “gift” of the
Budget for All referendum results in MA and progressive budget alternatives to new
U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and William “Mo” Cowan, who have been invited to
comment on budget proposals by the Congress and President Obama.

Tenant activists will deliver postcards urging Congress to “Have a Heart” during the
Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on “sequestration” to the District offices of
Committee members Lamar Alexander (R-TN) in Chattanooga, TN and Dianne
Feinstein (D-CA) in Sacramento ,CA

In Texas, tenants will deliver “Have a Heart” cards to the Dallas office of Sen. Ted Cruz
(R-TX), the San Antonio office of Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), and the Beaumont office of
Rep. Randy Webber (R-TX). In Washington, tenants will deliver cards to the Seattle
office of Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA). In Sanford, Florida, tenants rallied February 9 to
address cards to members of the Florida Congressional delegation.
Background: The Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Valentines Day and
the President’s State of the Union address will focus much needed attention on the
devastating impact of $500 billion in “sequestration” cuts to domestic programs like housing.
But Congressional Republicans are demanding far greater cuts of $4 trillion to Social Security,
Medicare and other vital programs as their price to not shut down the government and throw
the US into default.
“Republican proposals to slash Social Security and Medicare make the sequester cuts
look like a ‘Tea Party’,” comments NAHT Board VP/South and Chattannooga tenant leader and
retiree Roxann Larson. “On Valentines Day, we urge Congress to ‘Have a Heart’ and replace
this ‘cuts only’ approach entirely with new revenues--by making corporations and the 1% pay
their fair share, cut the bloated Pentagon budget and invest in jobs instead. We need
prosperity, not job-killing austerity.”
The House has twice voted for the Ryan Budget that would slash Social Security,
Medicare and Medicaid and cut all non-defense programs by 28% in the next decade, beyond
the sequester cuts of $500 billion. In the Senate, 30 Republicans led by Sen. Robert Portman
(R-OH) have proposed $4 trillion in spending cuts to social programs only, not the Pentagon,
beyond this amount. The House has also voted to shift the Pentagon cuts in the sequester
entirely to non-defense programs for the American people.
To cite one example, on March 1, the sequester will eliminate 125,000 Section 8
vouchers that keep rents low for poor families this year; the Ryan/Portman budgets would cut
1.2 million low income families, elderly and disabled people from HUD programs by 2021.
“Congress has already cut $1.5 trillion, mostly from programs for the poor. We cannot
afford any more cuts!” exclaims NAHT Board President Charlotte Delgado of Sacramento, CA, a
retired restaurant manager and mother of five veterans. “Republican proposals would turn
the US into a Third World country and force millions of Americans out onto the street. Its
appalling that anyone would propose anything so heartless and unpatriotic for any reason, let
alone a member of Congress.”
Proponents of further spending cuts claim they are needed to bring the deficit under
control. But only $300 billion over 10 years would be needed to stabilize the long term
deficit, once the sequester is enacted or replaced, according to the Center for Budget and
Policy Priorities (CBPP).
“The Ryan/Portman proposals have nothing to do with reducing the deficit and
everything to do with dismantling Social Security, Medicare and the entire New Deal,”
comments NAHT Board VP/West Rachel Williams of Beaumont, Texas, a caterer and military
widow who lived on US bases in Germany for several years. “If they were really concerned
about wasteful spending, they can find plenty to cut in the Pentagon budget, like planes that
don’t fly, nuclear weapons to fight the Cold War, and overseas bases in Europe 70 years after
World War II. Lets bring our troops home to rebuild America.”
The Congressional Progressive Caucus has proposed the “Balancing Act” to replace the
sequester with $1 trillion in new revenues by closing corporate tax loopholes and redirecting
$300 billion from the Pentagon to create jobs in education and infrastructure. The Economic
Policy Institute has identified $3 trillion in potential new revenues over the next decade by
closing corporate loopholes, raising taxes on the top 2% earners, taxing financial transactions
and similar measures that would promote economic growth. Several think tanks from left to
right have identified $100 billion a year in Pentagon savings that would not enhance, not
undermine, the nation’s security. Contact michaelkane@saveourhomes.org for more
information and links.