Here is a “white paper” directly from the White House
site, trying to stoke the fires of
fear and concern for the fast approaching
Sequester that is due to be imposed at
the end of this month. Take a moment and
scroll down its text. Note its comprehensive
appearance. A simple glance at this
document would seem to tell you, “This is the beginning of the end of the
world.”
Now, think about
these two facts and know that the white paper is so much nonsense.
First, B Obama and
his buddy, Jack Lew, his nominee for Secretary of Treasury, came up this big idea. It was their idea, to begin with !!
Secondly, because of
a thing called “services baseline budgeting,
every category of government spending increases AUTOMATICALLY by 5 to 8
percent each and every year, depending
upon the category , itself.
In the coming 10 year period, we will add 47 trillion (with a T), to budgetary spending. The Sequester, takes that total down by 1.2 trillion ---
in other words, next to
nothing, so let's stop all the hair pulling and pretend grief. It is true that the military will be hit the hardest, but will survive. The blessing in all this, is the fact, that the Dems only want to cut military spending, but 500 billion dollars in this deal, will be taken out of entitlement spending (against their will) . Understand that Medicare is 47 trillion in debt and Social Security is 17 trillion. We have no choice but to do something -- and this 500 billion is spread over the course of 10 years, or 50 billion per year. I am saying, we can do this. Certainly, there will be a little pain, but, again, we have no choice; we are fast running out of money and "entitlements" are more the cause than is military spending - by far.
Fact Sheet: Examples of How the Sequester Would Impact
Middle Class Families, Jobs and Economic Security
Unless
Congress acts by March 1st, a series of automatic cuts—called a sequester—that
threaten thousands of jobs and the economic security of the middle class will
take effect. There is no question that we need to cut the deficit, but
the President believes it should be done in a balanced way that protects
investments that the middle class relies on. Already, the President has
worked with Congress to reduce the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion, but
there’s more to do. The President believes we can not only avoid the
harmful effects of a sequester but also reduce the deficit by $4 trillion total
by cutting even more wasteful spending and eliminating tax loopholes for the
wealthy. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Unfortunately,
many Republicans in Congress refuse to ask the wealthy to pay a little more by
closing tax loopholes so that we can protect investments that are helping grow
our economy and keep our country safe. Our economy is poised to take off
but we cannot afford a self-inflicted wound from Washington. We cannot
simply cut our way to prosperity, and if Republicans continue to insist on an
unreasonable cuts-only approach, the middle class risks paying the price.
The most damaging effects of a sequester on the middle class are:
• Cuts
to education: Our ability to teach our kids the skills they’ll need for the
jobs of the future would be put at risk. 70,000 young children would be
kicked off Head Start, 10,000 teacher jobs would be put at risk, and funding
for up to 7,200 special education teachers, aides, and staff could be cut.
• Cuts
to small business: Small businesses create two-thirds of all new jobs in
America and instead of helping small businesses expand and hire, the automatic
cuts triggered by a sequester would reduce loan guarantees to small businesses
by up to $902 million.
• Cuts
to food safety: Outbreaks of foodborne illness are a serious threat to
families and public health. If a sequester takes effect, up to 2,100
fewer food inspections could occur, putting families at risk and costing
billions in lost food production.
• Cuts
to research and innovation: In order to compete for the jobs of the future
and to ensure that the next breakthroughs to find cures for critical diseases
are developed right here in America, we need to continue to lead the world in
research and innovation. Most Americans with chronic diseases don’t have
a day to lose, but under a sequester progress towards cures would be delayed
and several thousand researchers could lose their jobs. Up to 12,000
scientists and students would also be impacted.
• Cuts
to mental health: If a sequester takes effect, up to 373,000 seriously
mentally ill adults and seriously emotionally disturbed children could go
untreated. This would likely lead to increased hospitalizations, involvement in
the criminal justice system, and homelessness for these individuals.
The
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) now calculates that sequestration will
require an annual reduction of roughly 5 percent for nondefense programs and
roughly 8 percent for defense programs. However, given that these cuts
must be achieved over only seven months instead of 12, the effective percentage
reductions will be approximately 9 percent for nondefense programs and 13
percent for defense programs. These large and arbitrary cuts will have
severe impacts across the government.
More
detailed explanations of these cuts as well as additional areas that will be
impacted include:
Security
and Safety
• FBI
and other law enforcement – The FBI and other law enforcement entities
would see a reduction in capacity equivalent to more than 1,000 Federal
agents. This loss of agents would significantly impact our ability to
combat violent crime, pursue financial crimes, secure our borders, and protect
national security.
• U.S.
Attorneys – The Department of Justice would prosecute approximately 1,000
fewer criminal cases nationwide, and some civil litigation defending the
financial interests of the United States would not be pursued, potentially
costing taxpayers billions of dollars.
• Emergency
responders – FEMA would need to reduce funding for State and local grants
that support firefighter positions and State and local emergency management
personnel, hampering our ability to respond to natural disasters like Hurricane
Sandy and other emergencies.
Research
and Innovation
• NIH
research – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) would be forced to delay
or halt vital scientific projects and make hundreds of fewer research
awards. Since each research award supports up to seven research
positions, several thousand personnel could lose their jobs. Many
projects would be difficult to pursue at reduced levels and would need to be
cancelled, putting prior year investments at risk. These cuts would delay
progress on the prevention of debilitating chronic conditions that are costly
to society and delay development of more effective treatments for common and
rare diseases affecting millions of Americans.
• NSF research – The National Science Foundation (NSF) would issue nearly 1,000 fewer research grants and awards, impacting an estimated 12,000 scientists and students and curtailing critical scientific research.
• NSF research – The National Science Foundation (NSF) would issue nearly 1,000 fewer research grants and awards, impacting an estimated 12,000 scientists and students and curtailing critical scientific research.
• New
drug approvals – The FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER)
would face delays in translating new science and technology into regulatory
policy and decision-making, resulting in delays in new drug approvals.
The FDA would likely also need to reduce operational support for meeting review
performance goals, such as the recently negotiated user fee goals on new innovative
prescription drugs and medical devices.
Economic
Growth
• Small
business assistance – Small Business Administration (SBA) loan guarantees
would be cut by up to $902 million, constraining financing needed by small
businesses to maintain and expand their operations and create jobs.
• Economic
development – The Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) ability to
leverage private sector resources to support projects that spur local job
creation would be restricted, likely resulting in more than 1,000 fewer jobs
created than expected and leaving more than $47 million in private sector
investment untapped.
• International
trade – The International Trade Administration (ITA) would be forced to
reduce its support for America’s exporters, trimming assistance to U.S.
businesses looking to increase their exports and expand operations into foreign
markets. In addition, ITA would not be able to place staff in critical
international growth markets, where there is a clear business opportunity for
many American businesses to increase their sales and create jobs at home. These
staff would have been part of a key program working to promote and facilitate
global investment in the U.S., supporting thousands of new jobs through Foreign
Direct Investment.
Government
Services
• Food
safety – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could conduct 2,100 fewer
inspections at domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture food products
while USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) may have to furlough all
employees for approximately two weeks. These reductions could
increase the number and severity of safety incidents, and the public could
suffer more foodborne illness, such as the recent salmonella in peanut butter
outbreak and the E. coli illnesses linked to organic spinach, as well as cost
the food and agriculture sector millions of dollars in lost production
volume.
• IRS
customer service and tax compliance – The cuts to operating expenses and
expected furloughs at the IRS would result in the inability of millions of
taxpayers to get answers from IRS call centers and taxpayer assistance centers
and would significantly delay IRS responses to taxpayer letters. The IRS
would be forced to complete fewer tax return reviews and would experience
reduced capacity to detect and prevent fraud, resulting in an inability to
collect and protect billions of dollars in revenue annually. Cuts to the
IRS would ultimately cost taxpayers and increase the deficit through lost
revenue from recoveries and additional fraud and abuse.
• Native
American programs - Tribes would lose almost $130 million in funding from
the Department of the Interior. Reductions would be necessary in
many areas including human services, law enforcement, schools, economic
development and natural resources.
• Workplace
safety – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) could
have to pull its inspectors off the job for some period of time. This would
mean roughly 1,200 fewer inspections of the Nation’s most dangerous workplaces,
which would leave workers unprotected and could lead to an increase in worker
fatality and injury rates.
Education
• Title
I education funds – Title I education funds would be eliminated for more
than 2,700 schools, cutting support for nearly 1.2 million disadvantaged students.
This funding reduction would put the jobs of approximately 10,000 teachers and
aides at risk. Students would lose access to individual instruction,
afterschool programs, and other interventions that help close achievement gaps.
• Special
education (IDEA) – Cuts to special education funding would eliminate
Federal support for more than 7,200 teachers, aides, and other staff who
provide essential instruction and support to preschool and school-aged students
with disabilities.
• Head
Start – Head Start and Early Head Start services would be eliminated for
approximately 70,000 children, reducing access to critical early
education. Community and faith based organizations, small businesses,
local governments, and school systems would have to lay off over 14,000
teachers, teacher assistants, and other staff.
Economic
Security
• Social
Security applicant and beneficiary services – The Social Security
Administration (SSA) would be forced to curtail service to the public and
reduce program oversight efforts designed to make sure benefits are paid
accurately and to the right people. Potential effects on SSA operations
could include a reduction in service hours to the public, the closure of some
offices, and a substantial growth in the backlog of Social Security disability
claims.
• Senior
meals – Federally-assisted programs like Meals on Wheels would be able to
serve 4 million fewer meals to seniors. These meals contribute to the
overall health and well-being of participating seniors, including those with
chronic illnesses that are affected by diet, such as diabetes and heart
disease, and frail seniors who are homebound. The meals can account for
50 percent or more of daily food for the majority of home delivered
participants.
• Nutrition
assistance for women, infants and children – Approximately 600,000 women
and children would be dropped from the Department of Agriculture’s Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) from
March through September. At least 1,600 State and local jobs could be
lost as a result.
• Rental
assistance – The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD)
Housing Choice Voucher program, which provides rental assistance to very
low-income families, would face a significant reduction in funding, which would
place about 125,000 families at immediate risk of losing their permanent
housing.
• Emergency
unemployment compensation – People receiving Emergency Unemployment
Compensation benefits would see their benefits cut by as much as 9.4
percent. Affected long-term unemployed individuals would lose an
average of more than $400 in benefits that they and their families count on
while they search for another job. Smaller unemployment checks will also have a
negative impact on the economy as a whole. Economists have estimated that
every dollar in unemployment benefits generates $2 in economic activity.
• Homelessness
programs – More than 100,000 formerly homeless people, including veterans,
would be removed from their current housing and emergency shelter programs,
putting them at risk of returning to the streets.
Public
Health
• Mental
health and substance abuse services – Cuts to the Mental Health Block Grant
program would result in over 373,000 seriously mentally ill adults and
seriously emotionally disturbed children not receiving needed mental health
services. This cut would likely lead to increased hospitalizations, involvement
in the criminal justice system, and homelessness for these individuals.
In addition, close to 8,900 homeless persons with serious mental illness would
not get the vital outreach, treatment, housing, and support they need through
the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) program.
• AIDS
and HIV treatment and prevention – Cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program
could result in 7,400 fewer patients having access to life saving HIV
medications. And approximately 424,000 fewer HIV tests could be conducted
by Centers for Disease Control (CDC) State grantees, which could result in
increased future HIV transmissions, deaths from HIV, and costs in health
care.
• Tribal
services – The Indian Health Service and Tribal hospitals and clinics would
be forced to provide 3,000 fewer inpatient admissions and 804,000 fewer
outpatient visits, undermining needed health care in Tribal communities.
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