My in-box has been crowded these last days by requests that I sign on to this draft letter or that, all demanding that budget cuts proposed by House Republicans be restored. AmeriCorps fears it will be eliminated entirely. Federal help to states to defray some of the costs of special education would take a significant hit; so would the program that helps poor people pay for heating oil in the winter, a 66 percent cut. Mentoring for children of prisoners would be eliminated and Head Start cut by 15 percent. Community health centers would lose 46 percent of their current funding, and treatment of substance abuse cut by more than $200 million