If you’ve been paying attention to our dysfunctional Congress, you know that they operate in crises mode when the GOP knows it can push a bill through for one of its special interests buddies.
Last week the Congress wasted no time fixing one of the many budget cuts it is responsible for activating: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cuts in air traffic personnel resulting in 1,000 daily flight delays. That’s because over 47,000 FAA employees have been forced into taking furlough days and 149 airport towers were closed.
In a best case scenario for a squeaking wheel getting the oil, we saw the coming together of media, the airline companies and the Congress itself. But the passage of the bill to ease the FAA’s pain happened so fast last week, you probably did not see it.
According to an analysis of mainstream media by Huffington Post, the sequestrations impact on FAA was mentioned far more often than the impacts on areas like Head Start or Medicare. Commerce was being stymied and the One Percenters mobility was definitely curtailed. The airline companies filed a suit in federal court. The rest is history.
Sequestration was the ultimate chicken game between the Republican and Democrats in Congress. When the Congressional Chuckleheads couldn’t come to agreement over debt reduction and tax increases, they all signed off on the Budget Control Act which aimed to cut domestic spending by $1 trillion over the next 10 years – $85 billion in this fiscal year alone. Since the cuts would be across the board and affecting projects of both parties, the illogical thinking was that the draconian and cavalier slashes would never happen. Wrong!
All governmental agencies face the cutbacks from defense to parks to health. The Congressional Budget Office estimates sequestration will cost around 750,000 jobs in total. Economic experts project a huge, negative impact on the economy. Once again, Congress proves that it knows nothing about job creation or economic development. We all have to suffer because of their ignorance and/or dysfunction.
And suffer we will.
the “rolling impact” as described by President Obama will ultimately be catastrophic for the 99 Percenters. Head Start will lose about 70,000 of the 1 million slots for children of poor and working class families. Cancer clinics are refusing Medicaid patients because there’s no money for pay for the expensive treatment. Vouchers for Section 8 housing and other housing subsidies are at a standstill. Senior citizens who depend on Meals on Wheels will have to look elsewhere for food but not at food pantries–they are also shutting down. Unemployment payments, emergency disaster assistance, scientific research grants, small business loans and more are all in peril.
This is just the beginning of the Congress’ austerity plan for America. And because the cuts will be slow and not affect families in the same way, it is sure to because the new normal if we don’t fight back.
I urge you to call or write your Congressperson and tell them you expect a humane and balanced approach to these cuts. Tell them you know they exempted their salaries from the knife but millions of Americans will be adversely affected by the sequestration as the various agencies implement their budget decisions. Outline how you think the money for drones at the borders could be better spent.
Let them know that you already anticipate there’s going to be an outcry for more money to the War on Terror coffers in the wake of the Boston bombing. Tell them that you are part of a wave of citizens engaging in democratizing government budgets so that the real needs of the majority of people are met and not a hand full of elites getting goodies at taxpayers’ expense.
