Budget Chops $-Billions From Medicare, Harms PWAs

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon05/12/122105budget.htm

The Republican-controlled Senate passed legislation Wednesday slashing the budge by $39.7 billion a move that activists say will endanger people living with HIV/AIDS.

The Senate voted 50-50 with Vice President Dick Cheney casting the deciding vote but not before Democrats succeeded in forcing the bill back to the House for another vote before it can be sent to President Bush for his signature.

Passage is all but certain, but the timing remains in question, since most House members have returned home for the holidays.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada charged that the GOP was advancing "an ideologically driven, extreme, radical budget. It caters to lobbyists and an elite group of ultraconservative ideologues here in Washington, all at the expense of middle class Americans," he said.