Republicans want to pay for Gulf Coast rebuilding with cuts to enviro and social programs 3

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1. 

   trouserdude Posted 7:22 am
   27 Sep 2005

   social responsibility?Who needs social responsibility?
   This is a horrendous attack on our society, coupled with the attacks orchestrated by the wealthy right for some time now.  
   Opportunism aimed at clothing their overtly self-interested goals in a "relief" effort.  This effort on further entrenches our society in the ineffective ways of the past and attempts to defund those effective programs the past has come up with.
   We need a response that will address the inequality that Hurricane Katrina exposed and build something new.  We have a unique opportunity to rebuild a region using the values of equality, freedom, and and environmental health that many profess to have.
   I am hoping a proposal is made which offers a positive future to the affected region.

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2. 

   gomothra Posted 1:00 am
   28 Sep 2005

   Operation Offset_______________
   From MoveOn.org:
   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=6042-3194599-x00foIAt66R32.GiuRFozg&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=6042-3194599-x00foIA
   t66R32.GiuRFozg&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=6042-3194599-x00foIAt66R32.GiuRFozg&t=5
   
   ____________________
   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=6042-3194599-x00foIAt
   66R32.GiuRFozg&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=6042-3194599-x00foIA
   t66R32.GiuRFozg&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.
   ____________________________
   
   ____________________________
   The VANGUARD PUBLIC FOUNDATION contributes $200,000 to the
   
   Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Fund at nationally televised
   
   benefit concert with Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte:
   http://www.alternet.org/katrina/25862/
   The Vanguard Public Foundation . . . has a long history of social justice philanthropy
   
   and activism, and has established a People's Hurricane Relief Fund.
   To support this effort, send tax-deductible donations to:
   People's Hurricane Relief Fund
   
   Vanguard Public Foundation
   
   383 Rhode Island Street, Suite 301
   
   San Francisco, California 94103
   For More Information call (415) 487-2111
   Want to Volunteer? Email Becky Belcore at: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
   
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3. 

   Storm Dragon Posted 1:39 am
   08 Oct 2005

   Time to get our priorities straightAs usual, this country seems to have its priorities backwards.  We wage costly, disastrous, and morally reprehensible "pre-emptive" wars overseas, and then, when disaster strikes at home, we wonder where the money will come from for repairs.  When are we going to get some sense?

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