File Name: 3090.txt

Ä Area: Feminism ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Msg#: 242                                          Date: 05-20-95  08:54
  From: Randy Edwards                                Read: Yes    Replied: No 
    To: All                                          Mark:                     
  Subj: [1 of 2] PW Hotline #8
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Reply-To:     PolWoman@aol.com

Political Woman Hotline
Volume 1 #8
May 19, 1995
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Day 136 of the Contract ON America
Only 536 days until Election Day 1996
2,175 responses so far!
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copyright 1995 political woman inc.

#1. Our tentative new name is: *Women Leaders Online*.
Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions on our name change. We
struggled with this, and ultimately chose WLO because it is simple,
similar to our old name, and lacks the "p" word (political) that some
members consider to be an epithet. If you know of a group already
using this name, please let us know immediately! In the meantime,
we'll conduct a legal name search, and confirm the final name in a
future Hotline.

At the same time as we pondered our name change, Laurie Mann
volunteered to be our new web coordinator, earning our eternal
gratitude. Laurie is moving the web page to
http://worcester.lm.com/women/women.html, so reset your web browsers.
Laurie could use some help with individual pages, so if you'd like
to volunteer write her at lmann@telerama.lm.com.
For  those of you on AOL, you can get access to the web by downloading
the new version (2.5) of AOL software. Click on the Internet icon (the
globe), then click on the web icon and you'll get the directions.


#2. It's Budget Time
The budget process is underway, and social programs are the principal
target. The Republicans must cut $1.2 trillion over seven years to
balance the budget by 2002. The Senate budget gets there through
straightforward cuts, while the House budget includes a variety of
budget tricks and phony numbers. The House budget also includes $350
billion in tax breaks and a $70 billion defense increase, which would
force even deeper cuts in domestic spending.

House Republicans would eliminate the Department of Education, the NEA
and NEH, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the George
Bush's "Goals 2000" education reform project (remember the "Education
President"?). Senate Republicans would kill federal financing of
presidential campaigns (begun 20 years ago, after Richard Nixon's
monumental Watergate abuses were revealed), AMTRAK, the Arms Control
and Disarmament Agency, and Bill Clinton's National Service program.

The Republicans in both bodies would slash funds for elderly housing,
the homeless, national parks, student loans, public schools, mass
transit, Medicaid, and Medicare.

The Democrats are drawing the battle line on Medicare cuts. They
estimate seniors will have to pay an additional $3,000 over the next
seven years as a result of the cuts. On the advice of Newt's language
manipulators, Republicans vehemently deny they are "cutting" Medicare,
and instead claim to be "saving" it from a looming fiscal crisis --
one they denied existed during last year's health care debate.

An ABC/Washington Post poll found that 56% of those polled said they
opposed the Senate budget plan, and 60% opposed the House plan.
Support for Republicans dropped from 49% to 42% since the budget plans
were announced, while support for Clinton increased to 42%.

Progressive activists are struggling to call attention to the massive
amounts of "corporate welfare" that could be cut instead of essential
domestic programs. An article in the New Republic (5/29/95) compared
government giveaways to Dante's Inferno, and identified hundreds of
billions of dollars that could be recaptured to eliminate the deficit.
Even Republicans acknowledge that the term "corporate welfare" makes
Americans "flip out," according to pollster Frank Luntz, so they
refuse to even mention the subject because it would open up a
pandora's box as the public discovered exactly how special interests
are soaking the Treasury. In fact, initial GOP budget plans included a
paltry $25 billion in closed tax loopholes for large corporations,
mostly in oil, gas, timber, and mining. These cuts were intended to
demonstrate that the budget cuts would "target rich and poor alike,"
according to the Wall Street Journal (5/16/95). However, even this
pathetic cut was blocked by House Ways and Means Committee chair Bill
Archer, who declared that there are no "subsidies" in the tax code --
topic closed.

What you can do: read the New Republic article, and write your
representatives and your newspapers calling for cuts in corporate
welfare -- not programs for the poor.


#3. Rescissions Update

In part because of grassroots pressure, President Clinton said he will
veto the Republican "rescissions" bill, which would cut $16 billion in
current spending and mandate devastating timber cuts. The White House
has received more than 22,000 contacts urging a veto because of the
forest provision.  The breakdown is as follows:  8,000 calls, 13,500
E-mails, 1,200 other, and 600 pieces of wood.  This has exceeded the
volume of contacts after the Oklahoma bombing. Our thanks to members
who contacted the White House.


#4. Welfare Reform Update.
Senate Finance Chair Bob Packwood has drafted a welfare plan that
simply turns the program entirely over to the states, without imposing
conservative forms of social engineering (such as excluding children
born to welfare recipients from receiving aid). Such an approach will
create competition between the 50 states to drive their welfare
recipients to *other* states, with predictably disastrous consequences
for the poor -- none of which has been discussed in the media.
Meanwhile, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D/NY) finally weighed in
with a proposal of his own, which builds on the welfare reforms he set
in place in 1988. Moynihan's plan would increase funds for job
training, rather than slash benefits.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has calculated the impact
on each state under the Personal Responsibility Act's proposal to
block grant AFDC, reduce Food Stamps, deny aid to low-income disabled
children and block grant school lunch, WIC, and other child nutrition
programs. Nationally, funding would fall $2.6 billion, 15%, below what
would have been spent nationally on AFDC, JOBS and emergency
assistance under current law in the year 2000. For more information e-
mail HN0026@handsnet.org. (Source: Handsnet Weekly Report).


#5. Senate Licenses Dangerous Products.
This item appeared in the Washington Feminist Faxnet (5/12/95).
The Senate this week passed a product liability bill that is truly
revolutionary, and there is no doubt it will hurt women. In capping
punitive damages at $250,000 for companies whose products maim and

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