***** What good does it do to call Congress? *****

[Sapphire Blue]

Sometimes it does a lot of good! Sometimes they listen & represent the people!

I contacted my Representative's office this morning & confirmed that there will not be a budget vote today. Our Representatives will be in their home districts for the two-week recess; please continue to call them! Attend a town meeting if you have the opportunity, or arrange a meeting w/your Rep. (http://www.house.gov/)

GOP Budget Talks Collapse in the House

By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 7, 2006; Page A11

House Republican efforts to forge a budget blueprint for the coming fiscal year collapsed last night amid acrimony and name-calling, as the fissures between GOP moderates and conservatives once again burst into the open.

The failure to secure a budget plan before the two-week spring recess was an embarrassment to a new Republican leadership eager to show it could hold its ranks without the party's chief discipline enforcer, Rep. Tom DeLay (Tex.). After he announced his resignation this week, DeLay took a swipe at his successors, labeling them splintered and "without an agreed agenda."

(snip)

Boehner last night blamed the Democrats for standing united against the budget plan, but budgets have long been the responsibility of the majority party to pass. With the collapse, House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said, it is time the Republican leadership realizes that the deep fiscal problems facing the nation will take bipartisan solutions.

"The decision by House Republican leaders to pull their budget resolution from further floor consideration this week clearly demonstrates that the party is deeply divided and on the political run," he said.

Read the entire article @ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/06/AR2006040602086.html

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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x870553

[lonestarnot]

1. Kickadee!

[Dr. Jones]

2. Congress is obsolete.

Not to take away from your cause, Congress is important in this matter. But on the whole Congress has allowed itself to become obsolete. We now have a fascist dictator in office and Congress is no longer useful.

We had NSA wiretapping, swept under the carpet. We had Katrina, swept under the carpet. We had the false reasons for war, swept under the carpet. CONGRESS HAS ABDICATED ITS ROLE and should be ashamed!

Unless Congress FINALLY STANDS UP TO BUSH, it will sink further and further into obsolescence.

[lonestarnot]

7. Approval rating for Congress is an embarrassing 30%.

Maybe it would behoove them to start listening. LOL

[Iowa]

13. The screw is turning...

Here's how I look at it: Yes, it often looks grim, but we can still make a difference. So I'll fight the beast however I'm able, but I will work within the system too. It doesn't have to be one or the other.

Let's all join Sapphire Blue and call. Keep the pressure on. Look what we did this week. They're weakening. They're confused. They're afraid. The herd is splitting. Keep hammering away.

[acmejack]

3. It has been fun to watch the internecine squabble.

Not to look a gift horse in the mouth or anyhting, but I do wish there were more of those moderate republiCons.

[Sapphire Blue]

5. I missed last night's debate... would love to have seen it!

I was beginning to wonder if there was such a thing as a 'moderate republiCon' anymore. Perhaps w/enough calls, we can turn some of them into humans again!

[jsamuel]

4. What good does it do to talk?

What good does it do to speak up when something is wrong?

lots of good

[Sapphire Blue]

6. *** Victory For Human Needs -- But More Work To Be Done *** (CHN update)

Email update from the Coalition on Human Needs ...

Conservative leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass their budget resolution before leaving for their two-week April recess.

After receiving phone calls and letters from you, moderate members of the House declined to support cuts of $9 billion out of health care, education, housing, child care, and job training to pay for tax breaks for the wealthy. Thank you for your work in defeating these cuts!

But it's not over yet. Many moderates will be pressured to support these cuts when they return from their recess. This means that we need to make sure Representatives hear from us over the next two weeks while they're at home in their districts. CHN will be sending out information about how you can stay engaged in the budget debate over the next two weeks.

Many Representatives in the majority have already admitted that this budget is draconian. It sacrifices America's most important priorities to give tax breaks to the rich. For a review of the House budget resolution and the reasons it would hurt people in need, see the recent Human Needs Report budget article at http://www.chn.org/humanneeds/060331a.html.

==============================================
Please forward this e-mail!

If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for CHN emails at http://www.chn.org/signUp.jsp

[rodeodance]

8. so Boehner blames the Dems. typical

Boehner last night blamed the Democrats for standing united against the budget plan, but budgets

[Sapphire Blue]

9. House Democrats Force Republican Budget Collapse (From Leader Pelosi)

From our House Democratic Leader...

House Democrats Force Republican Budget Collapse

This was a bad week for Republicans. On Monday, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay announced he is resigning. On Thursday, the Republicans were scheduled to bring their fiscal year 2007 Budget Resolution to the House floor. But in the face of a united Democratic front, combined with disarray from some of their own Members who could not stomach supporting such a heinous bill, the Republicans are now on the run. This immoral document continued a pattern of misguided budget policies. In the face of mounting debt, the budget would have made a record deficit even worse, and offered no plan to bring the budget back into balance. At the same time, the budget made harmful cuts to critical services for working families – including health, education, veterans’ services, and environmental protection – and used these cuts to partly pay for new tax cuts rather than to reduce the deficit.

The Democratic substitute to the Republican budget is values-based and fiscally responsible, and it addresses the concerns of the American people.

Read Leader Pelosi's statement: http://www.democraticleader.house.gov/press/releases.cfm?pressReleaseID=1501

More on the Republican Budget: http://www.democraticleader.house.gov/Republican%20Fiscal%20Year%202007%20Budget%20Resolution.pdf

[dogday]

10. Since all of my Reps are Republican, I

sometimes feel that way, but I keep calling... I also call the Democrats as well... It's not much, but it is something.. I feel better when I do it...

[ClassWarrior]

11. Makes them uncomfortable, too. Which is always good.

NGU.

[Sapphire Blue]

12. Here's the undecided moderates target list from CHN...

The following Republican Representatives are considered possible swing-votes -- they could buck their leaders and stop the budget cuts from passing:

Don Young + (AK)

Rick Renzi * (AZ)

Bob Beauprez (CO)
Marilyn Musgrave (CO)

Nancy Johnson * (CT)
Chris Shays * (CT)
Rob Simmons * (CT)

Mike Castle * (DE)

Mark Foley (FL)
E. Clay Shaw (FL)

Jim Leach * + (IA)

Timothy Johnson (IL)
Ray LaHood * (IL)

Edward Whitfield * (KY)

Wayne Gilchrest * (MD)

Vernon Ehlers (MI)
Joe Schwarz * (MI)
Fred Upton * (MI)

Jim Ramstad * (MN)

JoAnn Emerson * (MO)

Walter Jones (NC)

Tom Osborne + (NE)

Jeb Bradley + (NH)

Frank LoBiondo (NJ)
Christopher Smith (NJ)

Heather Wilson * + (NM)

Jon Porter * (NV)

Sherwood Boehlert * (NY)
Sue Kelly (NY)
John R. Kuhl * + (NY)
John McHugh * (NY)
John Sweeney (NY)
James Walsh (NY)

Steve LaTourette * (OH)
Bob Ney * (OH)

Philip English + (PA)
Mike Fitzpatrick (PA)
Jim Gerlach * + (PA)
Melissa Hart + (PA)
Timothy Murphy + (PA)
Todd Platts * (PA)
Curt Weldon * (PA)

Ron Paul + (TX)

http://www.chn.org/issues/opportunityforall/housebudgetresolution.html

[dogday]

14. Thanks, I have unlimited long distance,

so the phone is my friend.. And email, I write loads of email... As long as my Son is fighting in Iraq, I will continue to do my very best to make a difference....

[Sapphire Blue]

18. Keep calling them for the next 2 weeks - esp the undecideds!

[lonestarnot]

15. And again!

:kick:

[lonestarnot]

16. and again!

:kick:

[lonestarnot]

17. Kickaroo!

:kick:

[Sapphire Blue]

19. Thanks for the kicks, lonestarnot!

:hi:

[goclark]

20. It does a lot of good Sapphire and thank you

for keeping this issue front and center!

Why are we Democrats.

We are Democrats because we should CARE about others.

[lonestarnot]

21. Absolutely...kick

[lonestarnot]

22. My pleasure Sapphire Blue!

[lonestarnot]

23. kick

:kick:

[Sapphire Blue]

24. Thanks again for kicking, lonestarnot!

:hi: