BREAKING: RECONCILIATION VOTE HAS BEEN PULLED!

HOUSE WILL NOT VOTE ON CUTS TODAY!!
*Please recommend this diary to keep it on the front page*

As predicted in my diary yesterday the Republican leadership is trying to pass their draconian budget reconciliation ammendment by pulling or adding things to sweeten it.  They've pulled the ANWR and off-shore oil provisions.

So sometime today (They are currently in recess), the U.S. House will vote on whether to cut Medicaid, Food Stamps, foster care, SSI, and child support, and to restrict TANF.

The leadership has made a deal to delete the Arctic and offshore drilling, which will make the bill easier to pass. They have also made an extremely small and temporary change to their Food Stamp cuts (see below), but have not changed any other human needs provision. It's close - your call is urgently needed!

Details below the flip ---

Even if you have already called, you should call your Representative today to say the new changes do almost nothing to protect people from the cuts.  This bill still hurts needy people!

So please drop what you are doing and start dialing and CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN!!

It's easy to call.

REPUBLICAN --
Step 1: Just dial 1-800-426-8073 to be connected toll-free to the Capitol Switchboard. Ask to speak to your Congressman (They can tell you who it is if needed).

Step 2: After you are connected to your Representative:

"My name is __ and I live in (your town/city). I would like Representative __ to vote NO on the reconciliation bill to cut $50 billion in vital services to vulnerable people, including Medicaid, SSI, foster care, Food Stamps, and child support.  These cuts are the wrong priorities. Vote against cuts that hurt the poor and sick and vote against more unfair, unwise, and unaffordable tax breaks for the well-heeled."

DEMOCRAT --
Step 1: Just dial 1-800-426-8073 to be connected toll-free to the Capitol Switchboard. Ask to speak to your Congressman (They can tell you who it is if needed).

Step 2: After you are connected to your Representative:

"My name is __ and I live in (your town/city). I would like to thank Representative __ for his/her opposition to the reconciliation bill to cut $50 billion in vital services to vulnerable people, including Medicaid, SSI, foster care, Food Stamps, and child support.  I'm calling to confirm that Rep. __ will make be present for this vote on Thursday regardless of what time they hold the vote.  We will need every single Democratic vote to win."

More about the extremely small Food Stamp change:

The original bill makes legal immigrants wait for 7 years to be eligible for Food Stamps, instead of the current 5 years. The new change temporarily allows legal immigrants who are now in food stamp households and are over 60 and/or have applied for naturalization to continue receiving food stamps even though they have not been here for 7 years. That would affect very few people, and after two years the 7-year eligibility would be in force, meaning that 70,000 legal immigrants a month would not receive food stamps starting in 2008. This is a puny change. It helps few immigrants, and does nothing whatever for the 225,000 low-income working citizen families who will lose food stamps under the bill.

This ammendment must fail or must pass WITH AS FEW DEMOCRATIC votes as POSSIBLE!

So PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE NOW!!!!

Unless of course your DHinMI and you've got the Whip countthat Pelosi doesn't have.