The Real Christmas Scandal Continues

The Real Christmas Scandal Continues

As the world waits for Christmas, poor families are still waiting for a compassionate Congress.

First, the bad news: This morning, the Senate passed a budget hurting low-income families just four days before Christmas. Now the good news: Because of your prophetic voices, the vote was so narrow that Vice President Cheney was forced to cut short a diplomatic trip to the Middle East to break a 50-50 tie. (Civics class flashback: He's the president of the Senate.) More importantly, your voices helped remove some harmful provisions of the bill, changes that will force the members of the House to fly back to Washington to vote on the amended bill.

Bottom line: Because of our hard work, we have one last chance to reject these harmful cuts to children and families struggling to work themselves out of poverty.

Call *your Representative* now at 1-800-426-8073!

After you connect to *your Representative's* office, tell the staffer you reach:

As a person of faith from *your state*, I ask you to please vote "no" on the new budget bill that the Senate passed. Before you go home for the holidays, don't take away health care for low-income children and crucial work support for families trying to work themselves out of poverty.

Background

This morning, the Senate approved the budget reconciliation conference report. Vice President Cheney, president of the Senate, cut short a diplomatic trip to the Middle East to break the 50-50 tie. All Democrats and Independent Jim Jeffords (Vt.) opposed the bill, as well as five Republicans: Chafee (R.I.), Smith (Ore.), Collins (Maine), Snowe (Maine), and DeWine (Ohio).

But, just prior to the vote, the Senate removed several provisions from the conference report that the House had passed at 6 a.m. Monday (212-206). Therefore, the House must now approve the Senate's version and could vote as early as Thursday or Friday, or as late as January or February.

What does this mean? We get another chance in the House. We must appeal TODAY to congressional hearts and minds, asking legislators to oppose a budget that hurts the poor. Call *your Representative* now at 1-800-426-8073.

Many in the religious community cannot believe that leaders could pass a federal budget cutting health care, child support, and educational assistance to low-income families while further lowering taxes for the wealthiest Americans and increasing the deficit for our grandchildren. Making this decision just before Christmas does not proclaim goodwill toward all. Although the faith community played a strong role in preventing food stamps from being cut in this budget, we cannot ignore the many other cuts that could become a reality for many of the 36 million people living in poverty in the U.S. Despite clear messages from people of faith that the poor families and children with whom we work need better policies and support, our political leadership is missing the meaning of Christmas. Instead of filling the hungry with good things and sending the rich away empty, this budget process will only fill the rich with good things and send the hungry away empty.

Bipartisan efforts to prevent severe budget cuts continue to provide hope. Congressional leadership may cast today's slight change to the budget bill as a way to delay the inevitable. That is not the case, and your voice can continue to have an impact. Please keep doing the great work you have been doing all year!

Make sure your member of Congress knows you are still watching and praying. Call *your Representative* now at 1-800-426-8073 and ask the Representative to oppose the budget reconciliation bill.

Peace,
The political and organizing staff at Sojourners and Call to Renewal