Tell Your Representative to Say "NO" to a House Budget that Sacrifices Vital Services to Pay For More Tax Cuts

ADA ALERT

 

The House is expected to vote this week on the budget resolution for FY 2007. The budget recently approved by the House Budget Committee would force deep cuts in health care, education, and other vital domestic services while providing $228 billion in additional tax breaks for the wealthy few.

The House vote is expected to be extremely close. More than two dozen moderate House members have objected to a budget that cuts vital services-but they will be hearing from Republican House leaders urging them to support the budget. They need to hear from you that they must oppose it! Your calls can make the difference!

Help defeat a bad House budget call.

The House Budget Committee approved a budget that ignores the growing opposition to cuts - and ignores the needs of millions of Americans. It will force cuts in human needs programs. Its funding for annual appropriations is $9 billion short of the cost just to keep up the current level of services next year - for education, food packages for the poor, housing, child care, meals on wheels, and many other services. It forces $4 billion in cuts over 5 years from a category of funding that includes basic entitlements such as unemployment insurance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or income support for poor elderly or people with disabilities.

The budget is expected to reach the House floor sometime this week. If members who voted against the last round of painful reductions are joined by those who have gone on record against cuts now, it cannot pass in its current harsh form.

Over the past couple of weeks, more than two dozen moderate House Members who can prevent a bad budget from passing have been saying NO to cuts in services. Our coalition partners at the Coalition On Human Needs have a complete list of the moderate House Members and other background information. Click HERE

ADAction: Call Your Representative TODAY! Urge your Representative to vote against the Budget Committee's budget resolution. It forces cuts in nutrition aid, health care, education/training, housing, and other essential services. Its funding is so low that vulnerable people - infants, struggling workers, and the elderly - will lose needed services. Please support efforts to restore funding for domestic programs. This budget sacrifices essential priorities for tax breaks that favor the rich. Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 225-3121 or find their direct line at www.adaction.org/legislative.htm

Vote against the Budget Committee's budget resolution. It sacrifices health care, education and other vital services to pay for tax breaks that favor the wealthy few.

Background:

The budget resolution approved by the House Budget Committee would force cuts in education, health care, housing, and other domestic discretionary programs, because it provides nearly $9 billion less in 2007 than is needed just to keep pace with inflation. The budget also calls for $6.8 billion in cuts to entitlements, much of which could come from cuts to vital supports for low-income families. At the same time, the budget proposes $228 billion in additional tax cuts over the next five years, mostly for the wealthiest individuals, by extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. So, in spite of the deep and painful cuts that will be shouldered by working families, the budget would increase federal deficits over the next five years by $256 billion over what it would be if current policies were not changed. (And the real cost of the tax cuts-and the growth in federal deficits-is likely to be even higher, because the budget does not include the cost of extending relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) beyond 2006; including AMT relief would increase the five-year cost of the tax cuts to $605 billion.) For more background from our coalition partners at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities on the House budget resolution, click here.

Help to hold your Representative accountable.

The House budget's funding for annually appropriated programs is close to the amount proposed by President Bush, which means deep budget cuts that hurt many people. Here are a few examples of insensitive cuts in President Bush's budget:

Food aid eliminated for 420,000 seniors and 50,000 young children and moms: the President would eliminate the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.

Education for the disadvantaged would be cut by $2.4 billion.

650,000 fewer children will receive subsidized child care in 2011 than in 2000.

For more details about what the President proposed click on this link to a report by our coalition partners at the Coalition On Human Needs: http://www.chn.org/pdf/FY07BudgetAnalysis.pdf

 

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