Archbishop Robert J. Carlson requests your support for the Fourth Annual Archbishop’s Gala for the benefit of the Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation on April 25, 2013, at the Missouri Athletic Club downtown St. Louis. Proceeds from the Archbishop’s Gala will be used to provide needs-based tuition assistance scholarships to underserved families desiring a Catholic elementary school education for their children. To become a sponsor or purchase tickets please call 314-792-7621, email [email protected], or go to www.archstl.org/ttef.
From the USCCB:
This past Monday, April 15, Americans had to file their taxes and many are awaiting refunds. Millions of children in working families depend on powerful tax credits to escape poverty. As Congress continues to deliberate proposals to reduce the deficit and place our country on a sustainable fiscal path, we need to let them know that effective antipoverty programs should be protected.
Taken together, the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit are the most effective child antipoverty measures the federal government has. Last year alone they lifted over four million children out of poverty.
The EITC and CTC have traditionally enjoyed broad bipartisan support because they encourage family formation and employment. A substantial body of research points out that the wage supports for working parents like the EITC and CTC also improve school performance for their children.
And Catholic teaching clearly supports this type of policy. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church unambiguously states the importance of ensuring that workers make a wage that allows them to start and support a family, and also states, “There can be several different ways to make a family wage a concrete reality. Various forms of important social provisions help to bring it about, for example, family subsidies and other contributions for dependent family members. . .” (no. 250).
Millions of American families rely on this support to live in dignity, and they rely on us to stand in solidarity with them to protect these programs.
In the last budget deal, improvements to these pro-grams were only extended temporarily, and they are in serious danger of being scaled back. Act now and let your member of Congress and Senators know that tax reform should not increase poverty, and improvements to low-income tax credits must be made permanent in their current form.
Go to http://www.usccb.org/about/justice-peace-and-human-development/ for more information or to click on “Take Action Now” links…