[NOW Action List] House to Vote Thursday on Devastating Budget Cuts

Support NOW's Work  |	November 9, 2005	|  Tell a Friend

Action Needed Background All NOW Actions Fight Looms on Budget Cuts, Tax Breaks - Many Programs Slashed		House to Vote Thursday on Devastating Cuts to Key Programs Thanks to your persuasive calls and letters over the past few weeks, the House vote on these terrible budget cuts will be VERY CLOSE. We are down to the wire and need you to contact your Representative immediately. The House is slated to vote on the budget bill sometime Thursday and the final vote count is up for grabs. Every Democrat in the House is opposed to the budget bill and the Republican leadership knows it ? which is why they will probably schedule this vote as late as possible on Thursday in the hope that a few Democrats will have gone home. Action Needed: Please contact your Representatives, especially the Democrats and moderate Republicans, and ask them to stay in DC for the vote and to vote NO! Background: On November 3, the Senate passed its version of the budget reconciliation bill by a vote of 52 to 47. The House is currently debating its own budget bill, which includes $54 billion in cuts. On the table are cuts of $9.5 billion in Medicaid, a total of $30 billion over ten years, achieved by requiring co-pays for children and pregnant women for the first time, despite evidence that higher costs cause low-income families with children to go without needed care. States will also be allowed to restrict benefits. More info... Also included are cuts of $8 billion in foster care, child support enforcement and aid to the disabled. Specifically, it would cut $730 million over 5 years from aid to poor seniors and to people with disabilities that prevent them from working. They would be forced to wait longer to become eligible for SSI and then forced to wait longer for the benefits that are owed to them. More info... In addition, cuts of $844 million in the Food Stamps Program would prevent 300,000 people from receiving food stamps. Forty thousand children would no longer be able to receive reduced-price school lunches. Lawmakers intend to follow these program cuts with another tax cut ? $70 billion in tax cuts that will primarily benefit the top 3% of taxpayers. The message from Congress is that in response to Hurricane Katrina, they're going to cut services for the poor, cut taxes for the rich, and increase deficits for our children and grandchildren. The vote will be close because our concerns have resonated BUT we must continue the pressure. They said it best in a Washington Post editorial today: "This is the moment for thoughtful Republicans in both chambers to draw a line." Send an email to or call your Representative today demanding that they not cut aid to the poor, elderly, disabled, uninsured, hungry and homeless!
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