***** P L E A S E ***** CALL FOR BIGGER HUMAN NEEDS BUDGET ***** 1-800-459-1887

[Sapphire Blue]

CALL FOR BIGGER HUMAN NEEDS BUDGET

It's Federal Budget Decision Time -

If you call, Congress will do better for human needs. If you don't, they won't.


Call Thursday, March 15 - Tuesday, March 20 800-459-1887 toll-free


Call your legislators toll-free and help convince Congress that it must provide enough funding so that more people get the health care, housing, education, nutrition, and other services they need. Time is of the essence. The House and Senate Budget Committees are now creating the spending outline that will determine whether the budget pie is big enough to provide adequate funding for human needs.


Over the next week YOU can make a difference! Here's how:

Step 1: Call 1-800-459-1887 and ask the Capitol Switchboard operator to connect you to your member of Congress' office. (If you don't know your Representative's or Senators' names go to http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/index.htm )

Step 2: Make 3 calls - one to your Representative and two to your Senators. Deliver this message to the staffer that answers the phone:

Please work to pass a budget resolution that includes a significant spending increase for pressing needs that have been neglected for years, such as (Mention examples that mean the most to you, such as, housing, child care, services for senior citizens, education, Head Start, Food Stamps, children's health coverage, child support collections…). Our nation needs these investments - we don't need billions in tax cuts for the wealthy.

Step 3: Help Spread the Word!


Call any day that's convenient - but you may want to join with groups around the country who are focusing their efforts on specific days. Below are the issue areas some advocates will focus on with links to issue pages that provide talking points on the issue. But if you miss the suggested day, it doesn't matter: please deliver the message that means the most to you when you can.

Thursday, March 15: Children and Youth Issues http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/support_kids )

Friday, March 16: Workers' Issues (http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/support_working_fami... )

Monday, March 19: Education Issues (http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/fund_education )

Tuesday, March 20: Housing and Nutrition Issues (http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/nutrition_and_housin... )


Want to know more about why the upcoming budget decisions matter so much? Take a look at this explanation by CHN's Deborah Weinstein on TomPaine.com: http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/03/06/undoing_bus... . And for a page with a national and 50 state-specific reports about what's at stake: http://chn.org/statereports.html .

The toll-free number is provided courtesy of the American Friends Service Committee. 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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Sapphire Blue
Resident DU Fanatic Beggar
:hug: :loveya: :grouphug: :loveya: :hug:

[Monkeyman]

1. Done and K&R

[Sapphire Blue]

3. Thanks, Monkeyman!

:hug:

[jwirr]

2. Yes, and add the ARC's concerns to that:

The ARC identified these critical areas of need for those with special needs.

1. Preserving Medicaid.

2. Increasing wages of support workers.

3. Increasing affordable housing.

4. Ensuring that the No Child Left Behind reauthorization supports special education student's access to the general curriculum.

5. Increasing funding for family support.

6. Preserving Social Security.

[Sapphire Blue]

4. Can you please post more info about & a link for the ARC? Thanks!

[jwirr]

5. The only link I have is only a local affiliate to the national group.

www.arcnorthland.org

[bobbolink]

6. Don't let this get lost in all the current excitment!

Please, this is important for so many of us!

THANX!!