House Votes, But It's Not Over

The House of Representatives voted on Friday evening to slash services now, and slash more deeply in six months, as the price of allowing the federal government to pay its bills.

This is not the final outcome - Please write to Congress NOW so the final outcome will protect our people, not endanger them.

The deadline for increasing the federal authority to borrow money to pay bills Congress has already approved is Tuesday. In order to get enough Republicans to vote for Speaker Boehner's bill, they made it even more unpalatable to the Senate majority than it was before.  (It will still force a second vote on raising the debt ceiling by the end of this calendar year, and ties that to approval of $1.8 trillion in additional cuts, likely to come mainly from mandatory programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, SNAP, etc. But now before the debt ceiling can be raised again, Congress will also have to take a vote on a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget.)  The House voted 218-210 for the Boehner plan, with no Democrats supporting it and 22 Republicans opposing it (most if not all the Republican "no" votes were because they wanted even deeper cuts).

The Senate has announced it will reject this approach. They will vote for another plan; when we see more details, we will share them.

We are getting closer to the brink of a serious blow to our economy - one that we will all pay for.  The House and Senate MUST agree on legislation to increase the debt ceiling by tomorrow, August 2.  But they must NOT tie it to dangerous cuts and caps that will hurt people and slam the brakes on our very fragile economy.  They must NOT give in to the radical extreme in Congress that wants to change the constitution to prevent the federal government from responding to economic needs.

Please write your Senators and Representative NOW.  We've updated an emailable letter here.

Please tell them that increasing the debt ceiling MUST NOT be used to force irresponsible cuts and caps to vital services needed by many millions of Americans.  Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, education, housing, nutrition aid, services for children and for seniors, unemployment insurance - all these and much more are threatened by the plan that just passed the House.  And the House will take up another constitutional amendment to balance the budget over the weekend - this too would jeopardize our economy and our future.  The letter text also asks Congress to reject balanced budget amendments.

Even if you've sent a letter last week, please send this.  THANKS!

Want more info?
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Statement Opposing Boehner Plan
Half in Ten Campaign Press Statement Opposing Boehner Debt Plan
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Statement: Robert Greenstein, President, on the Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendments Before the House
Both Versions Would Threaten Full Faith and Credit of U.S.
Coalition on Human Needs' Human Needs Report, Closer to the Brink In Order to Save Tax Cuts for the Rich (http://www.chn.org/humanneeds/110715a.html)

Also check CHN's SAVE for All webpage for much more.