Bush's Budget Disaster in Ohio

From: "DNC Grassroots Action Team" Subject: Bush's budget disaster in Ohio Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2005 Greetings to All, Stop the devastating cuts in Bush's budget from hurting Ohio. Congress is debating this plan right now, so make your voice heard! Write a letter to the editor of your local paper today. www.democrats.org/action Ohio residents are facing severe cuts if George Bush's new budget becomes law -- but you can help stop it in its tracks. Bush recently unveiled his reckless plan to privatize Social Security, and now he's touting a budget that slashes key programs that help Ohio's working families. Bush plans devastating cuts to America's top priorities, from homeland security to health care to education to benefits for veterans and much more. Despite these cuts, this budget is a fiscal disaster, with Bush's trademark irresponsibility pushing America deeper into the red with another record deficit. And this budget is a huge disaster for Ohio. Here are just a few of the cuts Ohio faces under Bush's 2006 budget: Homeland Security The Bush 2006 budget cuts $420 million to state and local funding for homeland security, including a $32.7 million cut for Ohio. These cuts will take police and firefighters off your streets. The Bush budget cuts the COPS program, which has put 3,757 officers on Ohio streets, by 96 percent. Health Care The Bush budget cuts $45 billion from Medicaid, enough to provide health care to 1.8 million children. Ohio's share of these cuts is $1.9 billion. Bush's budget cuts the very same community and rural health care programs he touted during the campaign, even though more than 114,000 Ohio residents have lost their health care coverage since Bush took office due to his failures. Education Bush underfunds his own No Child Left Behind Act by $13.1 billion in his budget. In Ohio, that means a shortfall of $354.6 million, leaving behind 82,594 Ohio children. Bush promised to fund Pell Grants in his State of the Union address, but his budget is $6.6 billion short. That's $233.6 million less than what's needed in Ohio, a real burden for the 177,447 students in Ohio who receive the grants. Other Priorities Bush cuts $24.7 million from Ohio job training programs in his 2006 budget. The Bush budget would require many veterans to pay a new $250 annual "user fee" to use the Veterans Administration health care system, and would double the prescription drug co-payment for the 1,144,007 Ohio veterans. Bush cuts Ohio clean water programs by $21.8 million. Bush's 2006 budget also cuts the Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program -- which helps low-income families afford heating fuel in the winter -- by $234.4 million, including $11.8 million cut for Ohio residents. And Bush's irresponsible budget is a record $427 billion in the red, increasing each Ohio family's share of the federal debt by $38,563. Take Action Take action today to help stop Bush's disastrous budget in its tracks. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper explaining why Bush's budget is such a disaster for America. Be sure to include some of the facts about Ohio above, or download our full report here for even more useful information. Write your letter here: http://www.democrats.org/action And be sure to tell your friends to join in. Forward this email to all your friends in Ohio, or tell them to find the report for their own state here: http://www.democrats.org/bushbudget Sincerely, The DNC Grassroots Action Team

Statewide Education Rally

Statewide Educators Rally On May 24 at 5:00 p.m., OEA is hosting an Educators Rally at the Ohio Statehouse. The rally’s purpose is to mobilize educators around House Bill 66 (the budget bill). Holding this rally emphasizes the critical nature of school funding in Ohio and allows Educators to shift the spotlight of the Public Education crisis to a lack of funding provided by the State of Ohio. Please join educators around the state to express your concern over House Bill 66. Recall when Education was fully funded? . . . No? Recall Taft? Yes!

Coincidence?

"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time is enemy action. - Ian Fleming" The Republicans have become a "good-old-boy" network of favors, campaign contributions, and secrecy. They are set on making themselves and their friends richer - and doing it with our money. I want to believe people are generally good. The actions of the Republican Party - nationally and in Ohio - make me wonder. As a recap: Tom Noe is being sued so we can find out where $50 million of our money has gone. The Republican-run state government "invested" our money in rare coins with Mr. Noe. Mr. Noe is a big-time Republican fundraiser. He and his partners have now made over $3 million from this deal. Coincidence? I think not. Over a hundred of these rare coins are now missing. The lawsuit is so we know what coins were invested in, and who sold them to Mr. Noe. It is a simple request. Ohioans deserve to know where their money went. Surprisingly, Mr. Noe and the state government are keeping where our money has gone a secret. The Bush administration also has a history of hiding things for no obvious reason. Now it seems that Ohio Republicans have the same patterns of behavior. Why would they keep these secrets - especially who the coins were bought from - unless there was something to hide? We turn to the courts to find a fair and just resolution. The case has come before the Ohio Supreme Court - also controlled by Republicans. Or it was - five of the six Republican justices cannot work on the case. They also took money from Mr. Noe. Despite attempts at secrecy, Coingate is involving more and more of the Republican "good-old-boy" network. I would rather have an "activist" judge who had principles than one who was bought and sold by campaign contributions. So once again, there is a pattern of behavior. Republicans are hiding what is happening with YOUR money – and making sure they take care of their friends. It's not a "few bad apples" - it's a whole rotten basket. I still want to believe that people are generally good. As Republicans make a habit of abusing our trust and money, it gets harder and harder to believe. But there's hope - Democratic State Senator Marc Dann and the Toledo Blade. They are the ones suing for information about our money - information that should never have been hidden from us. Take a moment to thank Sen. Dann and the Executive Editor of the Toledo Blade for looking out for Ohio and Ohioans, and not for "good old boy" special interests.

I want my air back.

My youngest son is having difficulty breathing again. It’s a spring cold. They’re hard on him because of his Reactive Airway Disease, or RAD. Sometimes, he and my wife make a sniffling, wheezing duet – she also suffers from RAD. It’s not just outmoded 80’s slang – it’s a type of asthma caused by things in the environment. We aren’t alone – not by any stretch of the imagination. Asthma is the ninth leading cause of hospitalization nationally. Over 10% of Ohioans will suffer from asthma at some point during their lives. In 2004, Dayton was among the worst twenty cities in the nation for asthma sufferers. Industrial polluters want to make it worse. We all know that pollution makes asthma worse – and may even cause the disease. Yet “lobbyists for the chemical industry, manufacturers, and other businesses” are trying to let polluters spread their mess in our lungs. The Ohio EPA protects us from over 690 pollutants, some of which cause cancer. Ohio requires new businesses to use up-to-date technology to keep our air safe. Yet big business wants to strip these protections away from us. Over five hundred pollutants would not be regulated if they have their way – and you can bet that our health would suffer. Their whiny excuse is that the 30-year-old rules are “too restrictive”. Even those rules are not enough – Ohio still has the worst air pollution in the nation. Does having a sick workforce “attract jobs”? I don't think so. Pollution doesn’t help anybody make money – except the out-of-state fat cats poisoning our air, and the Republicans they’re paying off. I’m not hopeful for our health – Republicans control our state government. It’s another pattern of behavior. It starts at the top and goes all the way to state and county Republicans. They let businesses do whatever they want – no matter how unsafe it is. There’s nothing wrong with making money – but it’s just plain wrong to make us sick to do it. Call or write your state congress critters TODAY to let them know you want to have safe air. You can easily find their contact information at Project Vote Smart. Your ability to breathe may depend on it.