Goodwill Asks: What's Important to You This Election Season?

What’s on your mind this election season?
Campaign season is fully underway as both major political parties prepare for their respective conventions.  Living in a swing state means I’m exposed to even more commercials, radio ads and newspaper editorials than those lucky enough to be able to avoid seeing such negativity — and I’m a policy wonk who usually loves this stuff, especially when the issues are being debated.  There is certainly no lack of issues critical for nonprofits and supporters like you that can be discussed.
The stakes for nonprofits during this election are substantially high. Given our country’s fiscal crisis, high unemployment rates, percentage of people in poverty and failing social safety nets, nonprofits will be relied on more and more. While there aren’t many things that the candidates can agree upon, they can find common ground when listening to nonprofits and realizing that work conducted by agencies like Goodwill will be essential to the country’s economic recovery.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle have proposed restricting charitable giving when trying to solve the deficit. Severe cuts and/or consolidation of job training programs of importance to Goodwill and the people we serve will likely take place, negatively impacting seniors, veterans, people with criminal backgrounds and people with disabilities to name a few. States and localities are also imposing new payments and services in lieu of taxes on nonprofits.
These are just a few examples of why advocacy and education is so important.  As supporters of Goodwill and perhaps beneficiaries of Goodwill’s services, what would you tell the candidates to focus on?