Call it the "Blame the 99%" bill – a spiteful new bill (H.R. 3813) that would force you to pay thousands more for your pension and slash supplemental retirement benefits.

H.R. 3813 already passed a key committee, and then House leaders attached it to the must-pass Highway Bill to achieve two sinister goals – increase the odds of passing pension cuts and steal $45 billion out of federal employees' pockets to help cover the bill's cost.

And now the Highway Bill could see a full vote in the House as soon as this Tuesday – the same day that hundreds of AFGE members will visit Capitol Hill to defend your pay and pensions. But if we wait until then to express our outrage, it will be too late.

Email your lawmakers today – make sure they know their vote will have consequences this November.

House leaders are intent on robbing federal employees blind instead of asking Wall Street and the very rich to pay their fair share. Since House Republicans are in the majority, getting the pension cuts out of the Highway Bill and blocking other attacks on our pay and pensions is going to be a tough fight.

But if the Republicans want this fight, we're all in. Even as I write, a combined House-Senate conference committee is meeting to hammer out a payroll tax deal. If we fail to make it clear that targeting middle-income federal workers isn't sitting well with voters, we could see an unfair compromise that could mean even more out of your wallet. You can't afford to stay silent.

We're facing a critical moment here in Washington. Boehner, Cantor, and the rest of the Republican leadership in the House are coming after us hard:

They're proposing to cut our pensions and freeze our pay, while letting millionaires and billionaires avoid paying their fair share.
They're trying to dismantle unemployment insurance, with drastic cuts in benefits and outrageous new barriers for jobless workers trying to access the unemployment insurance they've already paid for.
They're padding the wallets of corporate contractor CEOs while slashing agency budgets and undermining our ability to provide quality services.
Hundreds of AFGE members will be fighting back next week at our legislative conference, but that's not enough. Your fellow AFGE members need you to speak out too in order to amplify their efforts and show Congress that we won't back down.

Lay the groundwork for your brothers and sisters before next week's legislative conference in Washington – email your lawmakers TODAY!

Your calls, emails, faxes, and demonstrations over the past six months have shown members of Congress that federal workers are ready for a fight. But we can't let up the pressure now.

I hope you'll contact your lawmakers today. Thank you for all that you do.

John Gage
AFGE National President