Fw: Save health care, student loans, Amtrak and PBS (again!)

[Guest guest]

A

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 16:56:51 -0400

Fw: Save health care, student loans, Amtrak and PBS (again!)

 

 

Last week, congressional Republicans responded to Hurricane Katrina by

proposing to cut nearly a trillion dollars from vital national

services, like health care for the poor and elderly, student loans,

Amtrak, and eliminating the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

(again!).1 Republican leaders in Congress are now gauging the public's

response to see if they can get away with their plan. We need to show

them the answer is " no. "

 

The cost of rebuilding the Gulf Coast, while huge, is far less than

what President Bush has given away in tax cuts to the wealthiest one

percent.2 National crises like Hurricanes Rita and Katrina are times

for all Americans to stick together and put in our fair share.

 

So today we're launching an urgent petition to Congress to fully

rebuild the Gulf Coast and pay for it by ending Bush's tax cuts for

the very wealthy, not by slashing vital services that Americans need.

If we can gather a quarter million signatures this week, we can show

them that this destructive plan just won't fly.

 

Please sign today:

 

http://www.political.moveon.org/rebuild/?id=6043-5341994-AliEJ2G7Epsit2kpwpDYeg & \

t=3

 

The Republican proposal, titled " Operation Offset, " was authored by

the Republican Study Committee, a group of over 100 influential

members of Congress, including powerful committee chairs and members

of the Republican leadership.3 The proposal starts with support from

at least these 100 representatives, and they are looking to quickly

build momentum.

 

A full reconstruction of the Gulf Coast region is generally estimated

to cost around $200 billion.4 We could more than meet this cost by

rolling back Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for just the wealthiest one

percent of the country, which would save us an estimated $327 billion.5

 

" Operation Offset, " however, calls for an astounding $949 billion

dollars in cuts over 10 years to vital national services.6—almost five

times the full cost of reconstruction. To further put that in

perspective, it's also more than 4 times what we've spent in Iraq.7

 

This plan is not about " offsetting, " or rebuilding—it's about

exploiting this crisis to push their longstanding goals for America.

As conservative movement leader Grover Norquist has often put it, the

goal is to get government " down to the size where we can drown it in

the bathtub. " 8 This proposal is their latest attempt to drown the

public sector.

 

The excess of the Republicans' proposed cuts is almost unbelievable.

You can read the full proposal here:

 

http://www.political.moveon.org/images/operation_offset/operation_offset.htm?id=\

6043-5341994-AliEJ2G7Epsit2kpwpDYeg & t=4

 

Here are just some of the most egregious cuts:

 

* $225 billion cut from Medicaid, the last-resort health insurance

program for the very poor.

* $200 billion cut from Medicare, the health care safety net for

the elderly and the disabled.

* $25 billion cut from the Centers for Disease Control

* $6.7 billion cut from school lunches for poor children

* $7.5 billion cut from programs to fight global AIDS

* $5.5 billion to eliminate all funding for the Corporation for

Public Broadcasting

* $3.6 billion cut to eliminate the National Endowments for the

Arts and Humanities

* $8.5 billion cut to eliminate all subsidized loans to graduate

students.

* $2.5 billion cut from Amtrak

* $2.5 billion to eliminate the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative

* $417 million cut to eliminate the Minority Business Development

Agency

* $4.8 billion cut to eliminate all funding for the Safe and

Drug-Free schools program

 

And the list goes on and on.

 

Which and how many of these cuts move forward in Congress depends

largely on the public response this week.

 

As the reconstruction begins our country faces a basic question: Will

we respond to Katrina by banding together to solve national problems,

or by helping the wealthy and powerful cut and run while those left

behind fend for ourselves?

 

The radical Republicans have spoken up loud and clear with their

answer, and we must respond with ours.

 

Please sign today:

 

http://www.political.moveon.org/rebuild/?id=6043-5341994-AliEJ2G7Epsit2kpwpDYeg & \

t=5

 

Thanks for all that you do.

 

–Ben, Tanya, Matt, Justin and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team

Monday, November 26, 2005

 

 

1 " Lawmakers Prepare Plans to Finance Storm Relief, " The New York

Times, September 20th 2005

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/21/national/nationalspecial/21cong.html

Note: the $500 billion referred to this article only covers section 1

in " Operation Offset " . The full proposal has six sections and calls

for total cuts of $949,674,000,000 over 10 years.

See the full proposal here:

http://www.moveonpac.org/images/operation_offset/operation_offset.htm#total?id=6\

043-5341994-AliEJ2G7Epsit2kpwpDYeg & t=6

 

2 Center for American Progress

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/22/progressive-spending/

 

3 The Republican Study Committee

 

http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/about.htm

 

Some examples of prominent RSC members include:

 

RSC Founder Rep. John Doolittle (AZ), Republican Conference Secretary

 

Rep. Eric Cantor (VA) Chief Deputy Majority Whip

 

Rep. Richard Pombo (CA), Chair, House Committee on Resources

 

Rep. Joe Barton (TX), Chair, House Committee on Energy and Commerce

 

4 " How to spend (almost $1 billion a day) " Time Magazine, September

26th, 2005

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1106310,00.html

 

5 Center for American Progress

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/22/progressive-spending/

 

6 Operation Offset, RSC Budget Options 2005

http://www.political.moveon.org/images/operation_offset/operation_offset.htm?id=\

6043-5341994-AliEJ2G7Epsit2kpwpDYeg & t=7

 

7 Based on a $196 billion dollar cost for the Iraq war to date.

National Priorities Project

http://costofwar.com/

 

8 " Grover Norquist: 'Field Marshal' of the Bush Plan " , The Nation, May

14th 2001

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20010514/dreyfuss

 

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.