Rock & Roll Farm

Tuesday! Mar 15 2005 // 2:03 pm //

CFSC Call to Action

A call to action from the Community Food Security Coalition:

“[Call] your Congresspeople TUESDAY the 15th and WEDNESDAY the 16th to voice support for low-income people, family farmers, and the environment.

The American Friends Service Committee is providing a toll-free number for people who call in on those days: 1-800-247-2971. You will be directed to your Congressperson’s office from there.

WHAT’S AT STAKE: Most domestic programs, except Defense and Homeland Security, are at risk of cuts during this budget cycle. The combination of Iraq and the tax cuts has limited funding available for other parts of the budget—and is putting a tight squeeze on many important programs. Every committee will have cuts for programs within its jurisdiction—this is called ‘budget reconciliation,’ and it isn’t pretty. The USDA will have to cut its budget somewhere between $3 billion and $5 billion over the next 5 years. The Agriculture Committees will determine where those cuts get made. Any USDA program is open—from subsidies to conservation programs to nutrition programs— and low-income people, family farmers, and the environment are all poised to lose something in this process. Already, proposals have been made to cut Food Stamps and the Conservation Security Program.

MESSAGE: 1) Don’t cut programs that benefit low-income Americans, family farmers, and the environment. 2) Support the Feingold-Chaffee amendment to hold new tax cuts accountable to the same limits as new spending (this will help prevent passage of new tax cuts that will reduce revenue available for crucial programs and potentially increase the deficit).”