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For Immediate Release
Contact: Ali Jost, 202-730-7159,Mark McCullough, 202-730-7283,Kawana Lloyd, 202-730-7087

House GOP Budget: By the 1%, For the 1%

WASHINGTON

After House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) released his FY 2013 budget resolution, Mary Kay Henry, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), issued the following statement:

"The House Republicans' budget resolution was written by the 1%, for the 1%. It enables millionaires and corporations to avoid paying their fair share in taxes while making extreme cuts to programs that will cost American jobs and sacrifice essential services. These are misdirected priorities that would take our country in the wrong direction.

"This budget proposal is a giveaway to corporations and the wealthy that will do nothing to aid our economic recovery, but only serve the bottom line of the top 1%. Even worse, it contains the same radical cuts to vital programs that Chairman Ryan put forward last year. Block granting Medicaid and privatizing Medicare are irresponsible proposals that would ask working Americans and seniors to shoulder more healthcare costs.

"To continue our economic recovery, we need serious proposals that invest in America. A cut-only approach will not work. We need to invest in our infrastructure, job training and education, while protecting the programs that millions of Americans rely on for their healthcare or to put food on the table."

With 2 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers--not just corporations and CEOs--benefit from today's global economy.