CWA 1180 - Political Action

Will Congress cut a blank check for war, but cut Food Stamps to pay for Katrina?
October 2005

Hurricane Katrina exposed the truth that we have "two Americas," one with decent-paying jobs, insurance, and savings, and another that has been left behind. But now Republican leaders in Congress have proposed to pay for Katrina aid by cutting $547 million from the Food Stamp program. The program serves some 25 million of America's working poor, who can't make their paychecks stretch to cover groceries at the end of the month. And need for the program has actually grown in recent years as wages drop and poverty rises. Some 1.2 million more people used Food Stamps in 2005 than in 2004.

Congress is poised to give the Bush administration a blank check to pay for the war in Iraq, yet somehow Katrina recovery funds—much of which are going to well-connected corporations such as Halliburton, where Vice-President Dick Cheney once served as CEO—are supposed to be paid for by slashing aid to the poorest of the poor.

Call your Senators Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer, as well as your Congressional representative, and insist that they protect Food Stamps and other urgently needed programs for the poor. Just call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for them by name.

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