Since our last update, ECAP's consistent pressure on the budget and tax debates facing Congress has exposed a divided GOP. The media has been running with that theme all month and our momentum has now coalesced in a legislative victory.

After weeks of struggle within the GOP ranks, the House Republican leadership gave up on reaching a consensus on the fiscal 2007 budget resolution and the conference report on tax reconciliation, and went home for a two week recess. ECAP partners opted against taking their own vacations and kept up the pressure on moderate Republicans while they were in their home districts.

Over the last two weeks the Republican leadership has been struggling to unify a divided GOP on the fiscal 2007 budget and tax reconciliation. ECAP has been keeping the pressure up on moderate Republicans to refuse to cave to leadership and stand up for the priorities of American families. Yesterday, Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) finally cried uncle. Failing at what the press has described as his first real leadership test, Boehner was forced to pull the Republican leadership's immoral budget from the House floor because he didn't have the votes.

The conflict over the budget reconciliation bill signed by President Bush last month continues. The two Houses of Congress passed versions of this bill that were substantively different – an error affecting billions of dollars in spending that GOP leaders previously blamed on a clerk. Consumer watchdog group Public Citizen has filed a lawsuit over the validity of the contested Deficit Reduction Act. Speaker Hastert's office confirmed the White House was informed of the $2 billion discrepancy in bills.

This month the Emergency Campaign for America's Priorities launched an aggressive new campaign to defeat the President's FY 2007 budget proposal. With events and press conference calls across the country ECAP is announcing this new emergency campaign and demanding that federal lawmakers be accountable to their constituents.

The message of the new emergency campaign is consistent with our message for the 2006 budget: Don't Target America's Priorities. With this slogan ECAP is using symbolism with creative bullseye signs and highlighting the many groups who have been thrust into the crosshairs by this Administration's budget cuts, from babies to seniors and students.

The Emergency Campaign for America's Priorities effort to defeat budget reconciliation seems to be the battle that never dies. The conflict over the budget reconciliation bill signed by President Bush earlier this month continues. The two Houses of Congress passed versions of this bill that were substantively different – an error GOP leaders blame on a clerk. But in a flagrant power grab, House and Senate Republican leaders were aware of the discrepancy and knowingly sent a bill to the president to sign that had not passed both Houses of Congress – violating the Constitution.

It might be hard to believe, but our campaign for a budget that reflects America's priorities in 2007 is already underway.  Last year, our state affiliates got to work early, kicking off the successful national campaign to protect Social Security from privatization and benefit cuts right after the president announced his plan in the State of the Union.  This year is no different. 

In immediate response to the president's State of the Union address last week, USAction affiliates in Tennessee and New Mexico and ECAP in Minnesota held well-attended and well-covered events calling on Congress to reject the familiar formula of budget cuts to vital programs and tax breaks for millionaires.  President Bush's agenda is a familiar one; so is our strategy for defeating it.

We're back in our highest gear.  185 events are taking place in January – multiples in some target Members' districts - with Call to Renewal and USAction organizing the largest number (in November and December, we generated 394 events). We generated over 2600 phone calls in just over a day – more even than last fall.  SEIU has an additional calling project going on. We have scheduled vigils for 24 – 48 hours before the vote at key Congressional offices around the country, and have some town hall meetings still happening.

Twelve days to go before the House votes on the budget February 1.  Our campaign is – as usual – in the highest gear, with nearly 100 events in progress:

The joint SEIU-AFSCME ad campaign is up, running and getting noticed.  The buy of over $500,000 is targeting swing Republican Representatives Beauprez, CO; Boehlert, NY; Emerson, MO; Green, WI; Johnson, Simmons and Shays, CT; Fitzpatrick and Gerlach, PA; Nussle, IA; and Upton, MI.  Beauprez, Green and Nussle are all running for Governor.  View the ads here.

Welcome back to the Budget Battle, now in its fourth month after Fiscal Year 2006 began.  ECAP began the year with a bang with 150 people from nearly 100 advocacy groups and service providers attending a standing room only meeting in Washington, DC on January 5th to launch “Take a Stand for America’s Priorities” month.  During this month ECAP and its partners in 35 states will use every campaign device at our disposal – from television and print advertising to emails, letters, phone calls, town hall meetings, press conferences and vigils to defeat the irresponsible and immoral budget and tax agenda of President Bush and his allies in Congress.

Last week may well mark one of the most crucial weeks of the Bush Presidency.  Last week, we made substantial progress in undermining the core ability of the Right wing to advance their agenda to "shrink government until it’s small enough to drown it in the bathtub."   Remember the searing picture of that quote, from Grover Norquist, superimposed on a picture of New Orleans under water? That horror was what brought ECAP together to prevent the Right from cutting programs for our neediest citizens, including Katrina and Rita victims, while continuing to shower the wealthiest Americans with tens of thousands of dollars each in tax breaks.

Yesterday, the House voted, 237-194, for a $56 billion package of tax cuts, making $90 billion overall in tax cuts that they are proposing. An Economic Policy Institute (EPI) study shows that the vast majority of those cuts are to the wealthiest. The average millionaire will get $51,000 in cuts from the dividend tax cut alone. That's equivalent to nine students who may not be able to afford college due to increased student loan costs. Does that represent American values?

Will the Republicans be able to pass their tax cuts in the House, and will they be able to get a federal budget through Conference Committee and back to both Houses before Christmas?  Rep. Blunt, the Acting Majority Leader, says yes.  But only yesterday, Congress Daily reported that "even if House leaders succeed in staging a vote on the tax bill next week, it is questionable whether Senate and House negotiators can resolve their differences in conference before Congress adjourns later in December."

Last week was typically tumultuous.  First the House, with 22 Republicans joining every Democrat, rejected the Labor-Health and Human Services appropriations bill – the first such defeat since Gingrich became Speaker in 1995.  Then, by the slimmest of margins – not even a majority of Members – the House Republican leadership scraped a 217-215 victory on the budget bill early Friday morning.  This follows many concessions on their part – removing drilling in ANWR, adding back in $4.5 billion including $500 million for Medicaid, keeping the Medicaid co-payment at $3/visit for people under the poverty level (instead of raising it to $5; people over the level, meanwhile, face substantial increases), eligibility for 80,000 for food stamps and 40,000 for school lunches, and more.

The big news is obviously that Congress was simply unable to act last week.  The House could not move its budget bill with $50 billion in onerous cuts; the Senate Finance Committee couldn't move the tax cuts, thanks to Sen. Snowe joining the Democrats in rejecting them.  This was an historic and unexpected victory, as the Associated Press noted.