GWB is at it again

Old Bubba is at it again. Wanting to cut more funding in programs we, as Americans, deserve to have. Hasn't he done enough damage to our country as it is?

This time he wants to cut funding for vital mental health programs for consumers! It's time we stand up and make him listen to us, the people *he* works for! We are the ones he gets his fat paychecks from!

"The President’s latest budget request for SAMHSA, the Substance Abuseand Mental Health Services Administration, drastically reduces the agency’s funding of its Centers for Mental Health Services (CMHS). The cuts are substantial with a reduction of 50% in funding that supports Statewide Consumer Network Grants. The grant program is important because it helps to ensure that there is consumer input and leadership in the development of consumer-driven mental health care systems." -- Read more here: http://www.dbsalliance.org/Advocacy/StopCutsToVital.html

What can YOU do to help try to stop this from happening? Contact your elected officials. The website above gives you a nifty little link to do just that. Just type in your zip code and it will give you a form to contact your representatives. They work for YOU too, ya know.

Here is the note I sent to my elected officals as well as the president:

What a travesty of American Rights it would be if funding for mental illness were to be cut. There is not *ENOUGH* funding for it as it is!!!
If it were not for state funded clinics and such I would be unable to get the crucial help I need and there are THOUSANDS of others in the same boat with me.

Why PUNISH those of us with a mental illness such as Bipolar Disorder, Clinical Depression, Unipolar, Schizophrenia, Panic & Anxiety disorders, those who self-injure due to MI, and so many more????? We didn't ask for these disorders! We were born with them! Is that our fault?

Would you rather see hospital costs skyrocket due to emergency room care for those who attempt suicide or hurt themselves in some other way?

Would you rather see prison costs skyrocket because people with MIs couldn't get the help they needed and ended up committing crimes ranging from drugs to murder? It happens all the time, just turn the news on some night and see it for yourself.

What about state funded burials for the poor who can't afford funeral costs for loved ones who complete suicide? Do you propose those families just keep their dead loved ones in their homes? Their loved ones dead because they couldn't get the medical treatment they so deperately needed?

I know there is no easy answer in how to balance the national budget but cutting funding for the mentally ill is not the answer. You will hurt so many people in this country if this happens. Isn't America supposed to take care of it's own? We sure do spend enough taking care of those other countries! Why not cut some of that funding and concentrate on helping our own FIRST?????

Haven't we lost enough people to death already? Do you really want to add more to that total? It'll happen if funding is cut for mental health.

Please, I'm begging you, don't cut funding like this.

You, yes you, can do the same thing. Just tell them what you think about this. If we all join together, our voices *will* be heard!

It is NOT enough to sit around with your family and friends and bitch about this problem or any other problem we have in our great nation. You have to MAKE your voice HEARD by those in the positions to do something about it! It doesn't take much time to let your voice be heard. Just a few minutes and a few keystrokes and you're done. Painless as can be and think of all the people you would be helping! You can do this for any issue! It is time (past time actually) to take a stand and *make* our government officials take care of our own FIRST!!!!!!!!!

Stormy SheWolf Stevens