Update [2006-1-31 15:40:5 by reahti]:: This should have been in the original posts, but...sources tell me that grassroots action has already gotten 2 Rs (Simmons-CT and Schwarz-MI) to promise to change their votes - we can win!
I know we are all exhausted and disillusioned and outraged and...(fill in the blank)...over the Alito nomination. And, I know the budget is never a really sexy issue to talk about.
BUT, there's a fight in the House tomorrow morning that we can win and in doing so send a strong message that, however the President tries to spin it tonight, his priorities are NOT the priorities of the American people.
Stay with me folks - the Dems are united on this one and we only need roughly 4-5 more R votes to kill this. Grassroots activism has kept this battle alive - we just need one more push for tomorrow to give a nice slap in the face to the Republican mockery of "fiscal discipline"..
Details below the fold:
The short and sweet of it is that tomorrow morning, the House will be voting on a package of budget cuts (S. 1932, the oh-so -ironically named "Deficit Reduction Act") that will slash Medicaid benefits for millions of Americans (and the President wants to talk about expanding health coverage??), tear even more holes in the safety net with cuts child support, foster, SSI, and really harmful welfare provisions. And then there's the gutting of the student loan program, that no matter how they try to work it, will force low-income students to pay more to go to college.
Here is wonderful fact sheet that gives a more detailed run down of what's at stake..
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Call your Republican Representatives - 1-800-426-8073 - and tell them to vote "NO" on the budget cuts. Direct DC office numbers are also included in the list below in case this line is busy.
CRITICAL Targets
Boehlert (R-NY) 202-225-3665
Buyer (R-IN)* 202-225-5037
Castle (R-DE) 202-225-4165
Ehlers (R-MI) 202-225-3831
Fitzpatrick (R-PA) 202-225-4276
Goode (R-VA) 202-225-4711
Gutknecht (R-MN) 202-225-4276
Johnson (R-CT) 202-225-4476
Jones (R-NC) 202-225-3415
LaTourette (R-OH)* 202-225-5731
LoBiondo (R-NJ) 202-225-6572
McHugh (R-NY)* 202-225-4611
Ney (R-OH)* 202-225-6265
Paul (R-TX)* 202-225-2831
Ramstad (R-MN) 202-225-2871
schwarz (R-MI) 202-225-6276
Shays (R-CT) 202-225-5541
Sweeney (R-NY) 202-225-5614
Walsh (R-NY) 202-225-3701
*These Republicans have voted against the bill once already, but we need to hold them.
Simple Talking Points
- My name is___and I live in [your town/city]. I would like Representative [name] to vote NO on the budget cuts bill (S.1932). This bill will cut billions in vital services, including Medicaid, SSI, foster care, child care, child support and student loans.
- I urge the Representative to vote against this bill because it chooses special interests over families.
- Do not allow these one-sided sacrifices to be inflicted on low-income Americans while Congress is preparing to give still more tax breaks to the rich.
I hope y'all will forgive me for my budget obsession, but the stakes in this numbers game are high too. We'll all feel the effects of these cuts in one way or another and they are one more great (as in massive) example of Republican
misgovernance. Remember, they don't have to pass laws to kill social programs...they can just defund them (the death of a thousand cuts).
I leave you with a snippet from E.J. Dionne's column this morning because it summarizes my frustration sometimes.
It's hard these days to get the media to pay attention to budgets and their impact on the lives of citizens. Budgets are complicated and easy to spin. It's much easier to generate immense moral outrage over a memoir writer who tells lies.
But long after we've forgotten the name of that writer, a mother on Medicaid will be deciding whether she can afford to take her sick child to see the doctor. Can we please spend at least a tiny bit of our moral outrage on her behalf?
C'mon Kossacks, I know you still have some fight and a helluva a lot of moral outrage in ya!