Middle Class families are in for a big shock if the "Sequester" goes through March 1st. The impact of the Sequester will be felt by hundreds of thousands of middle class families in job cuts, cuts to vital services for children and seniors and most of all our military troops around the world.
Yes it's true, we need to cut the deficit, but it needs to be done in a responsible fashion and a balanced way that protects investments that the middle class relies on. Congress, in it's infamous dereliction of their elected duties, are playing a dangerous political maneuvering game that could result in a crippling economy and hundreds of thousands of job losses.
Here are just a few of the consequences of the sequester:
Cuts to education by eliminating funds for the Head Start program that would cause 70,000 young children to lose access to Head Start and 10,000 teacher jobs would be cut.
Small business would lose out as automatic cuts to loans guarantees would be reduced by approximately $900 million.
If sequestration takes effect, up to 2,100 fewer food inspectors could occur putting families at risk of outbreaks of foodborne illnesses creating a serious threat to public health.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies would lose up 1,000 Federal agents which would greatly impact violent crimes, financial crimes and security of our borders and the protection of national security.
Veterans services would be cut by the reduction of staff, leaving 150,000 veterans a year without transitioning services as they move from active to private life. It would also reduce the capacity to serve tens of thousands of veterans assistance to find civilian work.
Many of the 398 National parks would either be closed or have shortened operating hours. There would be reduce maintenance and visitor services would be cut. As a result, surrounding small businesses and regional economies would suffer greatly.
Title I education funds would be eliminated for more than 2,700 schools and 1.2 million disadvantaged students. 10,000 teachers and aides would also feel the impact as they would be at risk of losing their jobs.
Federally assisted "Meals On Wheels" programs would be affected as there would be a reduction of 4 million fewer meals to seniors unable to get out on their own and prepare their own meals.
Approximately 600,000 women and children would be dropped form the Department of Agriculture's Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program from March through September. And again, job losses could amount to at least 1,600.
More than 100,000 formerly homeless people, including veterans, would lose their current housing and emergency shelter programs.
Emergency unemployment compensation would be cut by nearly 11% causing a reduction of nearly $450 in benefits that families count on while they search for employment and smaller unemployment checks will also have a negative impact on the local economies.
These are certainly just a handful of sober impacts the sequester will have across the country and in many cases world wide if we include the cuts to military spending. Allowing the sequester to happen on March 1st. is a self-inflicted would the United States may not recover from. The sad thing is the Congress has known about the deadline since it's inception and once again it comes down to the last minute, but will anything really get done this time or is the US simply going to limp along with a severe affect in the economy.
Yes it's true, we need to cut the deficit, but it needs to be done in a responsible fashion and a balanced way that protects investments that the middle class relies on. Congress, in it's infamous dereliction of their elected duties, are playing a dangerous political maneuvering game that could result in a crippling economy and hundreds of thousands of job losses.
Here are just a few of the consequences of the sequester:
Cuts to education by eliminating funds for the Head Start program that would cause 70,000 young children to lose access to Head Start and 10,000 teacher jobs would be cut.
Small business would lose out as automatic cuts to loans guarantees would be reduced by approximately $900 million.
If sequestration takes effect, up to 2,100 fewer food inspectors could occur putting families at risk of outbreaks of foodborne illnesses creating a serious threat to public health.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies would lose up 1,000 Federal agents which would greatly impact violent crimes, financial crimes and security of our borders and the protection of national security.
Veterans services would be cut by the reduction of staff, leaving 150,000 veterans a year without transitioning services as they move from active to private life. It would also reduce the capacity to serve tens of thousands of veterans assistance to find civilian work.
Many of the 398 National parks would either be closed or have shortened operating hours. There would be reduce maintenance and visitor services would be cut. As a result, surrounding small businesses and regional economies would suffer greatly.
Title I education funds would be eliminated for more than 2,700 schools and 1.2 million disadvantaged students. 10,000 teachers and aides would also feel the impact as they would be at risk of losing their jobs.
Federally assisted "Meals On Wheels" programs would be affected as there would be a reduction of 4 million fewer meals to seniors unable to get out on their own and prepare their own meals.
Approximately 600,000 women and children would be dropped form the Department of Agriculture's Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program from March through September. And again, job losses could amount to at least 1,600.
More than 100,000 formerly homeless people, including veterans, would lose their current housing and emergency shelter programs.
Emergency unemployment compensation would be cut by nearly 11% causing a reduction of nearly $450 in benefits that families count on while they search for employment and smaller unemployment checks will also have a negative impact on the local economies.
These are certainly just a handful of sober impacts the sequester will have across the country and in many cases world wide if we include the cuts to military spending. Allowing the sequester to happen on March 1st. is a self-inflicted would the United States may not recover from. The sad thing is the Congress has known about the deadline since it's inception and once again it comes down to the last minute, but will anything really get done this time or is the US simply going to limp along with a severe affect in the economy.
