By CAP Action War Room

How The Republican Budget Hurts Students And Workers

We’ve written before about how the House Republican budget proposals present a fundamentally different vision for the country, a vision that hurts the economy and undermines hard-working Americans. When it comes to investing in the future of America – our children – their priorities are equally destructive.

The Republican budget would gut programs for pre-kindergarten education, low-income students, Special Education programs, and college students. Their budget even goes after workers looking to learn new skills to better compete in the 21st century economy. While the President has offered a budget that would keep our country competitive by investing in our workers and our future workers, here’s what Republican budget would do to students of all different kinds:

• Pre-K: Cut Head Start openings for 35,000 children;
• Students in low-income areas: Eliminate $1.2 billion in Title I education funding, which would fund 4,500 schools, 17,000 teachers and aides and 1.9 million students;
• Special education: Withdraw $347 million in IDEA funding, which would support up to 6,000 special education teachers, paraprofessionals and staff;
• Workforce development: Impede job training and employment services for more than 2 million workers;
• Higher education: Limit Pell Grants so that more than 8 million students would receive less financial aid and restrict loan forgiveness and income-based repayment programs that would amount to more than $160 billion in cuts.

And while this is at the federal level, conservative leaders at the state level have shown themselves to agree with these priorities. In Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker’s budget is wreaking havoc on institutions of learning. University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is close to laying off nearly a quarter of their employees. Rural Wisconsin schools have had to cut counselors and librarians in part because of a lack of funding.

That’s not all. In North Carolina, Governor Pat McCrory’s budget would force the University of North Carolina system to raise tuition, cut professors and increase class sizes. In Kansas, Governor Sam Brownback proposed slashing school budgets to make up for his massive tax cuts largely that benefited the rich and didn’t help the economy. Rather than making important investments, Republican governors are gutting education funding just like they are cutting taxes and hoping that things will magically improve. That’s not how the economy works, and it’s not how education works either.

BOTTOM LINE: Conservatives like to say that America’s workers are the best in the world. But when it comes to supporting our workers and our future by investing in education, whether it is in Congress or in the states, their proposals and policies do the exact opposite: jeopardize our economy both today and in the future.

Occupy Amazonia? Indigenous activists are taking direct action – and it’s working

Industrial projects like mega-dams contribute to climate change in addition to threatening to destroy indigenous peoples’ way of…

Brazil: hundreds of thousands of protesters call for Rouseff impeachment

• The Hague Rules Against Chevron in Ecuador Case
• Ecuadorian Indigenous Movement Unites in Defense of Territory
• http://amazonwatch.org/take-action/brazil-be-a-clean-energy-champion
• http://amazonwatch.org/take-action/keep-the-oil-in-the-ground-in-the-amazon

Amazon Watch is a nonprofit organization founded in 1996 to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. We partner with indigenous and environmental organizations in campaigns for human rights, corporate accountability and the preservation of the Amazon’s ecological systems.

By CAP Action War Room

This Year’s House Republican Budget Is The Ryan Budget All Over Again

Not too long ago, conservatives started to talk a little bit about how inequality was a major problem for our country. They even spoke about reforming government spending to help lower- and middle-income families, not just the wealthiest, get ahead. Well, when it comes to doing more than talking the talk, but also walking the walk, they have failed. Today, House Republicans released their budget, revealing their true priorities: help the wealthy few, not you.

Budgets are about both our values and our theory of how to grow the economy. On values, conservatives have shown that what they value is to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class, instead of working to help millions of middle class Americans and extend a hand to the millions more in poverty. On growing the economy, conservatives are going back to the same trickle-down playbook of giving tax breaks for the wealthy few who need them the least.

In their efforts to cut the deficit, the House GOP budget goes after seniors, the middle class and our students. Not only that, they are gambling with our economy by putting at risk real progress happening in communities across the country and working to make future progress more difficult to achieve. Here are just a few of the things that it does:

• The Republican budget proposes devastating cuts to Medicaid and food stamps by creating a block grant system. Instead of providing support for working families when they need it most, conservatives are increasing barriers for families trying to climb into the middle class.
• Cuts proposed to education funding in the Republican budget would hit the poorest children and most vulnerable communities hardest, including severe cuts for program like Head Start and Special Education funding. Instead of making education accessible, Republicans are cutting off opportunity for many young Americans and hurting our long-term economic growth.
• Republicans are again using their budgets as another attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act and take away health care coverage from millions Americans who now have access to quality care through the ACA. A new Obama administration report released just yesterday found that more than 16 million Americans have coverage as a result of the ACA — the largest expansion of health coverage in four decades — but Republicans will vote again to take it away.
• If there is one big winner in this budget, it is the wealthy. The House budget keeps a number of tax favors for the wealthy, including some for private jet owners and hedge fund managers. Their budget also keeps billions of dollars in tax credits for big oil companies.

We have included some graphics to share on social media so you can let everyone know how the House budget is #NotOnOurSide:

BOTTOM LINE: What we decide to spend money on shows what we value as a society. By privileging corporate welfare over families, the House budget shows that, despite protestations to the contrary, conservatives will continue to stand in the way of an economy that works for everyone, and favor the wealthy few.

The President has always made it a habit to read 10 letters from the American public a day. Matthew was one of these letter-writers, and he got a response.

A varsity basketball player from South Central Los Angeles, Matthew and his teammates noticed that neighboring schools had far more school supplies, nicer buildings, and even technology such as iPads in classrooms. Matthew asked the President to give all students a chance to succeed — promising that he and his peers would do their part in school.

The President wrote back, letting Matthew know that his generation deserves an education system that lets them dream as big as they can, and told him he’s fighting for the necessary investments every day.

Read both letters and learn how President Obama is working to help all of America’s students succeed.

The First Lady’s Travel Journal: A Journey That Began Decades Ago

The First Lady departs the White House today en route to Japan and Cambodia for a week-long trip centered around her new Let Girls Learn initiative. For the First Lady, this visit is part of a journey that began decades ago — a journey focused on education, equality, and empowerment. Join the First Lady’s trip by using social media and learn more about how Let Girls Learn will help the 62 million girls worldwide who are not in school.

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What They’re Saying: People From Across the Country Call on America to Lead on Trade

Voices from across the country — and from across the aisle — have expressed support for President Obama’s trade deal. His trade proposal gives us the greatest opportunity to level the playing field for American businesses and their employees, ensures the rights of workers around the world, protects endangered species and the environment, preserves a free and open Internet, and would hold our trading partners accountable.

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President Obama’s Trip to Phoenix: Visiting Veterans in Arizona

On Friday, President Obama traveled to Gilbert, AZ to pay a surprise visit to the new home of Sergeant First Class Cory Remsburg. This was the final stop in the President’s day-long trip, which began with a visit to the Phoenix VA medical facility and a roundtable discussion to hear about the progress we’ve made to improve the VA’s ability to serve our veterans.

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