***** Call ***** 1-800-459-1887 ***** TODAY ***** to Stop the Cuts! *****

[Sapphire Blue]

From the Coalition on Human Needs (http://www.chn.org...

Call TODAY to Stop the Cuts!

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives will try again to pass a budget that cuts food, health care, housing, and education – to pay for tax giveaways to the rich.

Your calls can stop them – just as you stopped them before.

Call your Representative toll-free at 800-459-1887 starting Monday, May 1, and say :

"Please oppose any proposal that forces cuts in human needs programs by setting spending as low as the President's budget. Funding set this low is a direct threat to children, seniors, and working families who need food, housing, Head Start, and education. Please support funding levels high enough to prevent cuts. Don't cut services to pay for tax giveaways to millionaires."

Use the toll-free number above to reach the U.S. Capitol Switchboard and ask to be connected to your Representative's office. (The person at the switchboard can figure out who your Representative is if you're not sure). When you’re connected, please give the message above. Say what’s most important to you by selecting some or all of the examples in italics or mention other vital services of concern to you.

Background: Logjam in the House. The U.S. House Representatives was unable to complete its budget resolution before the April recess in part because moderates could not support the deep cuts it required. Now Congress is back, and they are still having difficulty putting together enough votes to pass a budget. That is good news. But some now speculate that the House may be close to a deal.

Don’t let up now! Moderates will be under tremendous pressure to drop their objections to cutting nutrition, education, housing, and other vital services. But if members of Congress hold firm, they can prevent harmful cuts.

What keeps members of Congress holding firm? Your calls!

Why this message is needed: With or without a budget, Congress has to set total spending for all annually funded programs, with the Appropriations Committee then dividing up the total among defense, international, and domestic programs. If they can’t use the budget to set funding levels, the House may insert a total spending figure into the first appropriations bill they take up. There are reports that the House leadership will try to take the total from the President’s budget – a figure so low it will force cuts in domestic programs like education, nutrition aid, housing, Head Start and job training. These cuts were rejected in the Senate, and they are why House moderates have been opposing the House budget so far. House members must continue to hear how important it is to reject cuts.

The toll-free number is provided courtesy of the American Friends Service Committee which has launched a budget campaign, http://www.afsc.org/economic-justice/sos/ AFSC welcomes groups to circulate and use the toll-free number in support of non-partisan budget goals and without linking the alert to a website soliciting donations or actions which may be used to support partisan lobbying or work.

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The following Republican Representatives are considered possible swing-votes -- they could buck their leaders and stop the budget cuts from passing:

Don Young + (AK)

Rick Renzi * (AZ)

Bob Beauprez (CO)
Marilyn Musgrave (CO)

Nancy Johnson * (CT)
Chris Shays * (CT)
Rob Simmons * (CT)

Mike Castle * (DE)

Mark Foley (FL)
E. Clay Shaw (FL)

Jim Leach * + (IA)

Timothy Johnson (IL)
Ray LaHood * (IL)

Edward Whitfield * (KY)

Wayne Gilchrest * (MD)

Vernon Ehlers (MI)
Joe Schwarz * (MI)
Fred Upton * (MI)

Jim Ramstad * (MN)

JoAnn Emerson * (MO)

Walter Jones (NC)

Tom Osborne + (NE)

Jeb Bradley + (NH)

Frank LoBiondo (NJ)
Christopher Smith (NJ)

Heather Wilson * + (NM)

Jon Porter * (NV)

Sherwood Boehlert * (NY)
Sue Kelly (NY)
John R. Kuhl * + (NY)
John McHugh * (NY)
John Sweeney (NY)
James Walsh (NY)

Steve LaTourette * (OH)
Bob Ney * (OH)

Philip English + (PA)
Mike Fitzpatrick (PA)
Jim Gerlach * + (PA)
Melissa Hart + (PA)
Timothy Murphy + (PA)
Todd Platts * (PA)
Curt Weldon * (PA)

Ron Paul + (TX)

Members marked with an * signed a letter to House leaders asking for a 2 percent increase in domestic spending for the programs that are funded annually. To see this letter, click here: http://www.chn.org/images/FinalLettertoHastert.pdf.

Members marked with + signed a letter to House leaders asking that the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) be preserved. To see this letter, click here: http://www.chn.org/images/csfpletter.pdf.

Please also sign the Emergency Campaign for America's Priorities (ECAP) petition to Congress @ http://www.actnow.org /

For more info on the FY 2007 Budget, please visit

The Coalition on Human Needs @ http://www.chn.org

AFSC @ http://www.afsc.org/economic-justice/sos/moralfederalbudget.htm

[leftstreet]

1. k&r

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Just called my rep

he's not on the list (he's bankrolled by WalMart), but I figured it didn't do any harm to call. Thanks for the phone number-I could do this at work!

[Reader Rabbit]

3. I read the subject line wrong!

At first glance, my eyes saw it as "Stop the Cubs!" All I could think of is, "What the Hell for? They're just gonna shoot themselves in the foot by August anyway!"

:P

Seriously, though, I'll get on the phone during my prep!