[altroots] If you bury your head in the sand, guess what part of you is still vulnerable?

      Hello, my friends,
      (my words:) Cut funds to the Center for Disease Control? Can your kids go 
to college without loans? Why don't we just get Halliburton to do the New 
Orleans job it was awarded (without even having to bid for it) out of its own 
pocket - especially since the workers won't get paid prevailing wage for the 
labor.  Halliburton gets enough from us for "rebuilding" Iraq. 
      Please, dear friends, forgive the form letter below from MoveOn.org, but 
it expresses so well the urgency of our plugging our minds and hearts in to the 
real issues of the day. Let me interject another issue not even covered in the 
letter below: suspension of Posse Comitatus rule is the possible suspension of 
the law preventing thugs in the military from becoming our police force.  If 
your son, daughter, or other young loved one is in the military, ask them 
whether they can trust everyone in uniform.  I'm sure they are serving with 
people they would not allow into a mile radius of their loved ones, as well as 
good and honest young people of character. 
      But I digress.  The cuts: Center for Disease control - are they trying to 
wipe out the entire population? What about the symptoms of serious diseases 
that are already showing up from the exposure (to victims and rescuers) to 
deadly pollutants in flood waters from Katrina and Rita?
      The cuts mentioned in my subject line are just the tip of the iceberg.  
Please read, especially if you don't have C-Span or the time to watch it.  
Please pray for your own alertness to the need for attentive stewardship for 
your own freedom and safety.  Those are not things this administration or any, 
for that matter, hold as dear as you might wish.  It is our duty to watch out 
for our own well-being and take some action, even if it is only to sign a 
petition. This is not the time to follow blindly and satisfy ourselves with 
superficial knowledge of the issues.
      End of Paula's diatribe.
      Original copy from MoveOn.org:
      I'm writing because I just got this urgent message from MoveOn.org about 
a Republican plan to fund Katrina by slashing almost a trillion from things 
like health care for the poor and elderly, student loans, Amtrak, even 
eliminating all funds for PBS! 
      The proposal comes from over 100 members of congress and we need to 
respond quickly to keep it from gaining momentum. I hope you'll sign MoveOn's 
petition, asking Congress to rebuild the Gulf Coast by ending Bush's tax cuts 
for the wealthy, not slashing important services.

      You can sign here:
      http://www.political.moveon.org/rebuild/?id=3D6041-554637-=20

      The original email from MoveOn is below:

      Dear MoveOn member,

      Last week, congressional Republicans responded to hurricane Katrina by 
proposing to cut nearly a trillion dollars from vital national services, like 
health care for the poor and elderly, student loans, Amtrak, and eliminating 
the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (again!).[1] Republican leaders in 
Congress are now gauging the public's response to see if they can get away with 
their plan. We need to show them the answer is no.

      The cost of rebuilding the Gulf Coast, while huge, is far less than what 
President Bush has given away in tax cuts to just the wealthiest 1%[2]. 
National crises like Hurricanes Rita and Katrina are times for all Americans to 
stick together and put in our fair share.

      So today we're launching an urgent petition to Congress to fully rebuild 
the Gulf Coast and pay for it by ending Bush's tax cuts for the very wealthy, 
not by slashing vital services that Americans need. If we can gather a quarter 
million signatures this week, we can show that this destructive plan just won't 
fly.

      Please sign today:

      http://www.political.moveon.org/rebuild/?id=3D6041-554637-=20


      The Republican proposal, titled "Operation Offset," was authored by the 
Republican Study Committee, a group of over 100 influential members of 
Congress, including powerful committee chairs and members of the Republican 
leadership.[3] The proposal starts with support from at least these 100 
representatives, and they are looking to quickly build momentum.

      A full reconstruction of the Gulf Coast region is generally estimated to 
cost around $200 billion.[4] We could more than meet this cost by rolling back 
Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for just the wealthiest 1% of the country, which 
would save us an estimated $327 billion.[5]

      "Operation Offset," however, calls for an astounding $949 billion dollars 
in cuts over 10 years to vital national services.[6] -- almost five times the 
full cost of reconstruction. To further put that in perspective, it's also more 
than 4 times what we've spent in Iraq.[7]

      This plan is not about "offsetting," or rebuilding - it's about 
exploiting this crisis to push their longstanding goals for America. As 
conservative kingmaker Grover Norquist has often put it, the goal is to get 
government "down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."[8] This 
proposal is their latest attempt to drown the public sector.

      The excess the Republicans' proposed cuts is almost unbelievable. You can 
read the full proposal here: 
http://www.moveonpac.org/images/operation_offset/operation_offset.htm Here are 
just some of the most egregious cuts: . $225 billion cut from Medicaid, the 
last-resort health insurance program for the very poor. . $200 billion cut from 
Medicare, the health care safety net for the elderly and the disabled. . $25 
billion cut from the Centers for Disease Control . $6.7 billion cut from school 
lunches for poor children . $7.5 cut from programs to fight global AIDS . $5.5 
billion to eliminate all funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting . 
$3.6 billion cut to eliminate the National Endowments for the Arts and 
Humanities . $8.5 billion cut to eliminate all subsidized loans to graduate 
students. . 2.5 bullion cut from Amtrak . $2.5 billion to eliminate the 
Hydrogen Fuel Initiative . $417 million cut to eliminate the Minority Business 
Development Agency . $4.8 billion cut to eliminate all funding for the Safe and 
Drug-Free schools program And the list goes on and on.

      Which and how many of these cuts move forward in congress depends largely 
on the public response this week.

      As the reconstruction begins our country faces a basic question: Will we 
respond to Katrina by banding together to solve national problems, or by 
helping the wealthy and powerful cut and run while those left behind fend for 
ourselves?

      The radical Republicans have spoken up loud and clear with their answer, 
and we must respond with ours.

      Please sign today:

      http://www.political.moveon.org/rebuild/?id=3D6041-554637-=20


      Thanks for all that you do.

      Paula A. Larke, from MoveOn.org's original letter.
      
***************************************************************************

      References:
      [1] "Lawmakers Prepare Plans to Finance Storm Relief," The New York 
Times, September 20th 2005 
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/21/national/nationalspecial/21cong.html Note: 
the $500 billion referred to this article only covers section 1 in "Operation 
Offset". The full proposal has six sections and calls for total cuts of 
$949,674,000,000 over 10 years. See the full proposal here: 
http://www.moveonpac.org/images/operation_offset/operation_offset.htm [2] 
Center for American Progress 
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/22/progressive-spending/

      [3] The Republican Study Committee 
http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/about.htm

      Some examples of prominent RSC members include:

      RSC Founder Rep. John Doolittle (AZ), Republican Conference Secretary 
Rep. Eric Cantor (VA) Chief Deputy Majority Whip Rep. Richard Pombo (CA), 
Chair, House Committee on Resources Rep. Joe Barton (TX), Chair, House 
Committee on Energy and Commerce

      [4] "How to spend (almost $1 billion a day)" Time Magazine, September 
26th, 2005 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1106310,00.html

      [5] Center for American Progress 
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/22/progressive-spending/ [6] Operation Offset, 
RSC Budget Options 2005 
Rephttp://www.moveonpac.org/images/operation_offset/operation_offset.htm [7] 
Based on a $196 billion dollar cost for the Iraq war to date. National 
Priorities Project http://costofwar.com/

      [8] "Grover Norquist: 'Field Marshal' of the Bush Plan", The Nation, May 
14th 2001 http://www.thenation.com/doc/20010514/dreyfuss  
The final step: 


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Paula A. Larke
paula@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.paulalarke.com
(212)234-7457 hm./off.
(865)384-4091 cell
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