something that actually matters

In the wee hours of Monday morning, the House passed the budget reconciliation conference bill 1932. The bill includes crippling cuts in Medicaid, stricter demands on states to receive funding for TANF and child care, and cuts in child support enforcement. The vote was a characteristically close 212-206 (I get the sense that the conservative leadership likes to pass bills with pathetically small margins to show that they refuse to compromise on pieces that might get a broader consensus. You know, just because they can.)

The bill is currently under debate in the Senate, so especially if you are from Ohio, Maine, Oregon, Minnesota, or Pennsylvania, call your senators and express your strongest possible objection to a bill that will result in further strain on the most vulnerable among us, especially children. That's Voinovich and Dewine for Ohio, Snowe and Collins for Maine, Coleman in Minnesota (in Paul Wellstone's seat, I still cannot stomach it), and Specter in Pennnsylvania. I think Chafee (RI) and Nelson (NE) are also persuadable. I know y'all aren't in school for a while, so just dial 800-426-8073 if you don't know the office # and aask to be connected.

Edited: I don't know why this didn't go live until yesterday, I tried to post it on Tuesday. Sorry for that, though not as sorry as I am for all the people hurt by this bill, which passed by a tiebreaker vote from the Vice President. And I add, Cheney isn't really the surprise here, but the fact that too few undecided Republicans were persuaded to vote no.