NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY TO STOP THE BUDGET CUTS!
Wednesday, April 21, 2004, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (EST)
Call your Members of Congress Toll-Free: 1-888-508-2974

Congress is returning to DC after its spring recess and will soon begin conferencing its FY2005 Budget Bill.
Anti-poverty and anti-hunger advocates have slated Wednesday, April 21, 2004, as National Call-In Day to stop budget cuts deemed unfair to low-income families. Participants are urged to call their representatives in Congress and tell them to "Get Your Priorities Straight! Reject a budget conference report that hurts low-income families in my state."

Budget resolutions -- passed by both the House and Senate -- make draconian cuts to programs that serve low-income families and children, including housing, Head Start, child care, veteran's medical care, law enforcement and juvenile justice programs. In addition, the House budget resolution would cut Medicaid by more than $2 billion and makes room for billions of dollars in tax cuts that are not paid for.

Action:

1. Call the toll free number 1-888-508-2974 on Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EST) to speak with your Members of Congress and give them the message. See the talking points below.


2. Please send this information to other groups or individuals to flood Congress with thousands of calls from individuals and organizations concerned about the priorities in this budget.


3. Sign an organization onto the group sign-on letter today, by emailing Adam Hughes at the Coalition on Human Needs, ahughes@chn.org.

Other suggested talking points include:

"I urge you to oppose a budget conference report if it offers little help to millions of American families and does considerable harm. Oppose a budget deal that cuts vital programs while continuing unfair and unpaid-for tax cuts."

"Protect public services and investments! While the wealthiest Americans would enjoy billions of dollars of new tax breaks under the proposed budget, poor and middle-class Americans would face larger class sizes, dilapidated schools, rising health care costs, fewer police in their communities, and a less secure retirement. For instance, with nearly 50 million Americans without health insurance and with 1.2 to 1.6 million Americans already kicked off Medicaid in the last two years, the budget would cut between $2 billion and $11 billion more from that program, virtually guaranteeing that more Americans will lose access to affordable health care."

No more draconian cuts in important programs while handing more tax breaks for the wealthy! The House and Senate budgets include steep cuts to housing, child care, Head Start and others. At the same time they make room for massive tax breaks for the wealthy. Tax breaks don't come for free. America's working families have already been forced to pay for massive tax breaks for the wealthy.

Get the full story at FRAC

Speaking Up Saves Lives In The Sudan
Times columnist advocates more 'arm-twisting' from the West

Just about two months ago, The WHY Reporter published an article about the dire situation at the Sudan-Chad border. New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas D. Kristof chimed in recently with his own piece about the atrocities he's witnessed.

Roughly 1,000 people in Sudan's Darfur region are still dying each week, though there is a glimmer of hope, according to Kristof. Now the world is paying some attention to the growing crisis in Darfur. "One of the lessons of the last week is how little it took -- from Washington, the U.N. and the African Union -- to nudge Sudan into accepting a cease-fire and pledging access for humanitarian workers," Kristof wrote.

With a little more arm-twisting from the Western world, the Sudanese government will comply more whole-heartedly with the cease-fire.

There is also more danger than violence in the region. In the refugee camps in Darfur, malnutrition and measles are claiming thousands of victims, expecially young children. According to the column, Roger Winter, assistant administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, estimates that even if the fighting stops today, at least 100,000 are still likely to die in coming months -- of disease, malnutrition and other ailments. Yet Sudan is still curbing access to Darfur by the U.N. and aid groups.

Get the full story at The New York Times