schools

Probably a lot of you got this already. I wouldn't just leave it at
signing this petition however. Write your own letters to Senators and
Reps and so on. We have to convince people that apathy can no longer be
counted on.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 6 May 2003 08:44:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Wes Boyd, MoveOn.org" <moveon-help@...>
Subject: Save Our Schools from Budget Disaster

Dear MoveOn member,

Across the nation, schools are suffering. Tens of thousands of
teachers have received pink slips and looming budget deficits only
promise worse to come. Yet in Washington, Congress seems unaware
of the problems at home. They're talking about cutting taxes and
cutting budgets -- not about how to keep the schools and essential
services going.

The final vote on these budget cuts will come in just a few days, and
we're leading a campaign to bring focus to who is getting hurt --
especially to the cuts that will hurt our kids and fail our schools.

Please join us and sign a petition to Congress, asking key
Congressional leaders to lead the fight against tax and budget cuts,
and to save education and other basic services from drastic cuts.
Just go to:

http://www.moveon.org/saveschools/

With this petition, we're also collecting personal stories about the
impact budget cuts have already had on schools in your area. Tell
Congress about teachers who have been fired, about schools closed,
about the impact on your own children or grandchildren. Instead of
proposing a plan to support the states and our schools during this
difficult time, the Bush administration is cutting back billions in
federal support, just when it's most needed. We've got to expose
the real-world pain of these cuts.

We'll deliver the petitions and the stories to key leaders in
Congress who have the power to block this dangerous tax bill.

Help us highlight what's at stake at

http://www.moveon.org/saveschools/

This petition is part of a seven day countdown campaign, called the
"Countdown to Budget Disaster", leading up to the final vote.

In the past, the administration has succeeded in framing budget
negotiations in terms of the size of a tax cut. Of course, this a
continuation of the right-wing strategy of forcing historic program
cuts by driving the U.S. budget into deep deficit. This ideological
maneuver may be good political strategy, but it's terrible policy.
It's time to fight back.

Critiques based on sound economic policy have largely fallen on deaf
ears. Even Alan Greenspan objects to tax cuts, yet Congress continues
to argue over the size of cuts. We have ignored the vast pain that
will result from a crippled federal government. This pain is already
beginning to bubble up from across the nation. It�s time to connect
the dots. It�s time to focus on the pain, and to lay responsibility
for this pain on Bush and the right-wing ideologues.

Our campaign will be a daily drumbeat, in the midst of congressional
debate on the budget. Each day will focus on a different kind of
pain, and highlight who is gaining by these cuts and how. We will
lay bare the costs of blind ideology -- to our children, to our
elders and to ourselves.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

-Wes Boyd
MoveOn.org
May 6th, 2003

P.S. I've attached Senator Jeffords May 3 radio address on the budget
cuts below. He summarizes the situation very well.
_____

Saturday, May 3, 2003
SENATOR JIM JEFFORDS DELIVERS THE
WEEKLY DEMOCRATIC RADIO ADDRESS

Hello, this is Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont.

Two years ago this month I made my decision to leave the Republican
Party and become an Independent. One reason I made that change was
that I felt the Republican Party that I knew, and grew up with, had
changed its priorities dramatically. Those changed priorities were best
exemplified by President Bush's insistence on a budget that
short-changed so many of our national needs: education and special
education; health care and prescription drugs for our elderly,
environmental protection; and, importantly, deficit reduction.

It is now two years later, and it seems that we're having the same
debate again. The President is again proposing a budget that does not
adequately fund America's needs and includes new tax breaks that are
likely to force disastrous cuts in urgent national programs, and create
horrendous future deficits. And again, those who are expressing their
reservations are being vilified for taking stands of conscience. This
happened in 2001 when I made my decision to leave the Republican party,
and it is sad for me to watch it happen again. When did standing on
principle, speaking your conscience and representing your constituents
become unacceptable in certain Republican circles?

When he was pushing for the first tax cut, President Bush said that we
could do it all, we could afford a tax cut, make investments in our
national priorities, and still have money left over to pay down the
debt. Time has proven those words wrong, and we have massive job losses
and a soaring deficit to show for it. After the President's proposal
was reduced, I supported the 2001 tax cut. That was a mistake, one I
will not make again.

Now, those needs I spoke of two years ago have become even more
pressing, and we face the new challenges of protecting America and
fighting a war against terror. President Bush has said that his plan is
a, "jobs growth package." But the only thing guaranteed to grow is the
federal budget deficit, something Republicans used to care about, and I
still do. We will be paying for these tax cuts with borrowed funds,
money borrowed from our children and grandchildren who will be forced to
foot the bill. And these deficits will explode just as the baby boom
generation begins to retire, further endangering the health of Social
Security and Medicare, both of which are so critically important to our
seniors.

Perhaps more importantly, the President's plan doesn't benefit the
people who need it most. In my home state of Vermont, 2,200 people have
lost their jobs. Many who are lucky enough to have jobs are just barely
scraping by. What will this plan do for them? Well, two-thirds of
Vermont taxpayers will get a tax cut of less than $100. Yet, someone
who makes a million dollars a year will get a tax cut of $90,000.

This fervor for tax breaks at the expense of all else demonstrates that
there are some who see tax cuts not as a policy, but as a theology.
Their belief that tax cuts will solve any problem is uncompromising,
unyielding, and, sadly, undeterred by past experience. Our goal should
not be a tax cut for the sake of a tax cut, especially one that gives
most of its benefits to a very few people. Our goal should be a policy
that puts Americans back to work, gets our economy growing and keeps us
on the right track for future generations.

What should we do to boost our ailing economy and help those Americans
most in need? We should start by extending unemployment insurance
benefits, currently scheduled to expire at the end of May. More than
100,000 additional jobs were lost in March, and the overall number of
jobs fell to a 40-month low. We should help the states, which are
facing the worst budget crisis in 50 years. To close budget deficits,
some states are cutting back school days, eliminating effective early
education programs and eliminating health insurance coverage for our
neediest families. We should support programs that encourage job
creation, like boosting federal spending to improve our nation's highway
system, money we are going to have to spend someday anyway. According
to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 47,000 jobs are created for
every billion dollars spent on our highways and bridges.

That is the approach I support. Millions of Americans need help. Yet,
the President insists on a tax cut that hurts those who need help most,
and helps those who need it least. In Vermont we take care of our own,
and as a nation we should do the same.

This is Jim Jeffords, Independent Senator of Vermont, thanks for
listening.
_____