NYT editorial and call to action

**To be an effective advocate, DO NOT answer the question--"Well if you don't want us to cut X, then what should we cut?"

** Simply say: I am calling to inform you about the effectiveness of programs that I have expertise and am familiar with, and I am not comfortable making recommendations on cutting programs that I am not fully educated on.

-------------------------------- Member of Congress BUERKLE: Syracuse 423-5657 DC 202 225-3701 Hello my name is ______ and I live in Onondaga County. I am calling to urge Representative Buerkle to vote against any budget cuts to entitlement programs such as Medicaid or food stamps (SNAP) for FY 2011 or FY 2012. Significant cuts or block granting funds for these programs makes them less effective in responding to economic recessions and helping people make ends meet. We should not attempt to balance the budget on the backs of people who need help the most.

-------------------------------- Senators SCHUMER Syracuse 423-5471 DC 202 224-6542 and GILLIBRAND: Syracuse 448-0470 DC 202 224-4451 Hello my name is _____ and I live in Onondaga County. I am calling to thank the Senator for voting against drastic budget cuts proposed by the House and I encourage them to continue to stand strong! Significant cuts or block granting funds for entitlement programs and drastic cuts to discretionary programs will only slow our recovery from the economic recession. These programs are effective and have a huge impact on people in our communities so please protect them from unnecessary attacks. We should not attempt to balance the budget on the backs of people who need help the most.

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New York Times editorial
March 24, 2011
Let Them Eat Cutbacks

Food stamps are part of the social safety net, but they work more as the ultimate ground-level crutch for Americans staggering against poverty. During the recession, food stamps were an important factor in helping an estimated 4.5 million Americans stave off the official poverty (no more than $21,756 annually for a family of four) that engulfed nearly 16 percent of the nation. The stamps are win-win: $9 in fast economic stimulus for every $5 spent on food for a hungry family. Sad wonder, then, that cuts in food stamps are the latest proposal heading for the House Republicans' budgetary chopping block. An attempt to set them back at the levels of 2007 - and cost a family of four $59 out of their $294 monthly allotment - is part of welfare "reform" legislation being proposed by leaders of the powerful Republican Study Committee. This group, embraced by two-thirds of the House majority, is the conservative engine driving much of the deficit-slashing mania to extremes. Even last year, when the Democrats controlled the House, the political vulnerability of food stamps was clear as sleazy budget deals were attempted to tap the program to protect farm subsidies and other power blocks. Now the threat is worse as Republicans wildly estimate that they could save $1.4 trillion across a decade in cutting the full array of welfare programs - yet still help down-and-out families. Vicious politics is already in the mix, including a surly provision to deny food stamps to any family that includes a worker on strike. Surely hard times should find public servants protecting the neediest first, not targeting them for crumbs from a program more vital to society than another tired round of antiwelfare politicking. Robert Nickerson NYC Washington DC Office of Mayor Bloomberg 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue,NW, Suite 350 Washington, DC 20004 tel: 202-624-5912