From: Tammy Duckworth, A True American Hero!
After my dad lost his job when I was a teenager, my family relied on food stamps. For me, this program was the difference between going to bed hungry or having the energy to focus on school. Yesterday, House Republicans voted to cut $40 billion a year from this vital safety net. These cuts are simply unacceptable.
Baby Boomers and Senior Citizens Against Republicans & The Tea Party
There's been a lot of talk, much of it among Republicans, about how irresponsible Ted Cruz is being in his fight to defund Obamacare or shut the government down trying. But Boehner and the rest of the House GOP leadership is being much more irresponsible in their promises to delay Obamacare or cause a global financial crisis while trying.
The House just voted for a "continuing resolution" that defunds Obamacare (though it wouldn't actually stop Obamacare from being implemented). Here's what House Speaker John Boehner hopes will happen next:
This'll go well. (AP file photo/ J. Scott Applewhite)
This'll go well. (AP file photo/ J. Scott Applewhite)
What You Need To Know About The Funding Extension That Just Passed The House
The House of Representatives has passed a continuing resolution that would keep the government funded through Dec. 15 and withhold funding for the Affordable Care Act. The 230-189 vote comes just 10 days before a possible shutdown and includes instructions authorizing the Treasury “to pay some bills and not others in the event that no deal is reached in October on increasing the debt limit.” Rep. Scott Rigel (VA) was the only Republican to vote against the measure, while just two Democrats — Reps. Jim Matheson (UT) and Mike McIntyre (NC) voted for it.
As the resolution now moves to the Senate, here is what you have to know about the fight ahead:
1. The House has voted to maintain sequestration cuts. The continuing resolution totals $986.3 billion in overall discretionary funding and includes 100 percent of next year’s sequester spending cuts for nondefense programs and services and about 60 percent of the automatic defense spending cuts. These levels of spending are approximately $70 billion lower than the spending caps originally laid out in the Budget Control Act of 2011.
2. Republicans didn’t actually defund Obamacare. Defunding Obamacare in the continuing resolution only targets the parts of the law that are subject to annual appropriations. The pillars of reform — Medicaid expansion, the subsidies used to buy insurance — are exempt from this process and are funded through so-called “mandatory” spending and have permanent funding authority. The Department of Health and Human Services, the agency tasked with implementing reform, also “has the ability to fund related provisions without seeking additional appropriations from Congress.” The Congressional Budget Office estimates that there is “at least $50 billion in specified and estimated authorizations of discretionary spending” that Republicans could presumably target.
3. What comes next. The Senate is expected to file cloture on the House CR on Friday night, but will not vote until the end of next week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will likely strip the Obamacare defunding provisions from the bill and send the measure back to the House. The Senate will need 60 to get on the bill, 51 votes on the substitute and then 60 votes to move to a final vote. It is unclear if Boehner will bring the Senate version to the floor, though he will likely need Democratic support to ensure passage. Congress must pass a budget agreement by Sept. 30 or the federal government will shutdown on Oct. 1.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/09/20/2657331/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-continuing-resolution-that-just-passed-the-house/
Tue Sep 17, 2013 at 08:39 AM PDT
Under Republican plan, 3.8 million would lose food stamps in 2014
attribution: REUTERS
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Speaker John Boehner
Yes, the Republican proposal for $40 billion in food stamp cuts over the next 10 years would have horrific effects on millions of people, the dirty hippies over at the Congressional Budget Office confirm:
According to the CBO, 1.7 million people would be forced off the rolls in the coming year if the state waivers are repealed as proposed by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). Another 2.1 million would be dropped in 2014 as a result of the tighter eligibility rules backed by the GOP.In both cases, the impact would decline as the economy improves and more jobs become available. But on average, CBO estimates that a total of 2.8 million people would lose their benefits over the next decade, and another 850,000 households will see an average reduction of about $90 a month in benefits.That's 1.7 million people going hungry or being forced onto severely restricted diets now, with millions more to come. A $90 cut in the groceries a family can buy in a month is also a Big F'ing Deal, especially for a family that's already pinching every penny to get enough to eat. Taking $90 out of a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program allotment that already only lasts most families two and a half weeks is in itself cruel—and, from the most coldly financial perspective, shortsighted, since forcing people to eat more cheaply means increased risk of diabetes and other chronic conditions that will raise health care costs for the nation.
But this is what Eric Cantor and the starvation caucus of his party want. And even if they can't actually get $40 billion in cuts through the Senate or signed by the president, the farm bill—which nutrition assistance is usually part of and which House Speaker John Boehner isn't sending to conference with the Senate until these cuts get a vote—sure makes a nice hostage to take in the effort to force deeper cuts than either the Senate or the president would want to make.
Wed Sep 18, 2013 at 11:44 AM PT (Chris Bowers): Please send an email to your member of the House of Representatives, telling him or her to oppose all cuts to food stamps.
FROM DFA:
I personally have never known the kind of chronic hunger that keeps you up all night and never seems to end. But I've definitely experienced days where I wasn't sure where my next meal would come from.
I think back to when I was younger and first establishing a career in the midst of a failing economy. I had to work several short-term, temporary positions, many of which I had to move to take. Most didn't have benefits and there was no such thing as severance pay. I ate a lot of Ramen noodles and spent a few nights sleeping in the car, but I was lucky to have family and friends who could help me through it. But what if something horrible happened at that moment before I achieved security? What if an accident or a debilitating disease sent me to the hospital, with no insurance and no savings? What if my car had broken down? Where would that have left me?
I was lucky. Not everyone will be. Not everyone should have to be. We need a strong social safety net to save good people when bad things happen. As soon as today, Republicans in Congress could vote to slash a hole in our social safety net, taking vital food from millions of people on the edge of hunger. But only if we don't stop them.
Call your representative now and tell them not to let hard working Americans go hungry. Tell them to vote NO on cutting food stamps: (202) 224-3121.
Congressional Republicans have taken a lot of money from very wealthy donors who want to see the social safety net underfunded and eventually destroyed. But that's not who Congress should represent. They need to hear from their constituents. Your voices must speak louder than their big donors' deep pockets.
Call your representative now and urge them to vote NO on cuts to Food Stamps: (202) 224-3121.
Thank you for standing up for those who need it most,
Karli
Karli Wallace, National Campaign Organizer
Democracy for America
P.S. Can you chip in today to help DFA fight back and hold Congressional Republicans accountable for their votes?
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