(WASHINGTON) - More than 1,500 People rallied on Capitol Hill Tuesday (February 12th) in support of Working Families and to tell Congress not to make any Benefit Cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. 

They also told Congress to Close Tax Loopholes for Big Corporations and the Wealthiest 2% and to Prevent the Sequester from going into Effect and harming the Country.

Throughout the Rally, Representatives of Working Families spoke with a Unified Voice calling for "Jobs, Not Cuts."

National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the Sequester was “nothing more than a scare tactic”: “The Opponents of Working People are always coming up with Technical Terms to ‘scare’ Good People into Accepting Bad Ideas, Ideas like Sequestration.  Let me tell you something - Sequestration is nothing but ‘a word.’  Nothing but a ‘long word with a simple purpose,’ and that’s to ‘hide a bad idea’ - that we can ‘Cut Our Way’ to a Prosperous Future.”

Trumka, meanwhile, emphasized that Unity was important for Working Families: “The American People are tired of downgrading ‘The American Dream.’  Remember that old phrase that ‘A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats’?  John F. Kennedy said that back in the 1960s and it’s true. And the opposite is true, too.  An ‘Outgoing Tide Leaves Everybody High and Dry.’”

American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees President Lee Saunders (AFSCME) called for Specific Policies that would help Americans: “Our Nation can only get Stronger through Investment.  We ‘don’t need’ Additional Cuts to Vital Programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.  We must get People back to work.  We need Jobs – ‘Good Jobs’ - that will take care of Families.  We need Good Jobs that will support Neighborhoods and Communities.  We need Good Jobs that will Grow our Economy.  We can only Fix our Broken Economy by ‘building up, not cutting back.’”

American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) President J. David Cox warned that Sequestration Proponents are going after Government Workers.  The Hill reported Cox said: “They want to see our ‘red.’  They want to see us ‘bleed.’  They just want to ‘kill us.  Death by a thousand cuts, Brothers and Sisters.  I’m not interested in going that way.  We have to end this Sequestration Madness ‘right now.’”

Participating in the rally were members from numerous Unions and their Allies, including: The AFL-CIO; AFGE; AFSCME; The American Postal Workers Union (APWU); The Communications Workers of America (CWA); The Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE); The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); The International Union of Painters & Allied Trades (IUPAT); Working America: The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT); and the DC-SEIU (Service Employees International Union) Fight For a Fair Economy Chapter from Washington, D.C.