Forum Post: What sequestration will mean to me
Posted 11 years ago on Feb. 22, 2013, 4:08 p.m. EST by highlander
(-163)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I believe March 27th is the deadline before the automatic cuts take place. I looked ahead and I have decided on how I will act on that day. First, I will wake up, shower, shave, have a gallon of caffeinated beverages of various sorts, and drive to work and the local community pharmacy. I will work for perhaps 8-9 hours helping patients to the best of my ability while listening to my own selection of rock music. Around 5:30, I will drive home. Next, my wife and I will spend the next 4 hours going through the process of feeding our 3 children, cleaning them up, and helping them with their studies. After they go to bed, we will spend a couple of hours winding down and getting ready for bed. If it is not apparent yet, sequestration is a joke and will not amount to shit for me.
Do you seriously believe ANYONE cares what the sequester does to YOU?
We care about what it does to everyone:
Hopefully, you don’t need food, or airports, TRICARE healthcare, meals on wheels, AIDS/HIV help, Headstart, child care,
or a federal job.
By Matt Vasilogambros - National Journal
President Obama has been warning that deep cuts triggered by sequestration could be devastating to millions of Americans. But most Republicans, prioritizing a reduction in federal spending over anything else, show no sign of wanting to cut a deal with the president to avoid the sequester.
From the White House Office of Management and Budget:
Health Services:
$350 million cut from the Centers for Disease Control.
109,000 fewer people in need of critical treatment might not get admitted to inpatient facilities.
91,000 fewer people would receive substance-abuse treatment.
30,000 children would go without child-care services.
373,000 seriously ill adults and emotionally disturbed children would not receive treatment.
4 million fewer meals would get delivered to seniors' homes.
424,000 fewer HIV tests would be administered.
540,000 fewer doses of vaccines would be available for the flu, hepatitis, and measles, among other diseases.
$1.6 billion cut for medical research at the National Institutes of Health.
$120 million cut in federal support for health centers, which could lead to 900,000 fewer patients served.
$168 million cut in embassy security.
Humanitarian Aid:
$200 million in global humanitarian assistance, citing American efforts in Syria, the Horn of Africa, and the Sahel.
$400 million in global health funding that fights AIDS and child hunger.
$500 million in security-assistance accounts, which goes toward conflict prevention.
$70 million in operations expenses for USAID.
Education:
$406 million would get cut in Head Start programs, resulting in 70,000 children losing access to the service.
That would lead to the layoffs of 14,000 teachers, teacher assistants, and staff who work in the program.
Air Travel: An estimated $619 million would be cut from the operations and facilities and equipment accounts of the Federal Aviation Administration. This will mean major flight delays and an economic hit on the millions of people who depend on air travel every day.
$483 million cut from the FAA operations budget, forcing all FAA employees to be furloughed for 11 days. On any given day, that could mean that 10 percent of the FAA’s 40,000 employees could be on furlough, resulting in longer delays, reduced air-traffic control, and losses in tourism. There will also be a hiring freeze.
$136 million cut from the FAA’s facilities and equipment account, which helps maintain and modernize the air-traffic control infrastructure.
Transportation Security Administration screeners would receive a seven-day furlough also causing delays.
National Parks: The National Park Service would have to slash $110 million - cutting park hours and visitor services in some of the nation’s leading national parks—from Yosemite to the Great Smokey Mountains.
The Pentagon: Most of the 800,000 civilian employees of the Defense Department would get unpaid leave, called a furlough,for up to 22 days, saving the Pentagon between $4 billion and $5 billion through the rest of the fiscal year.
TRICARE, which provides health care for millions of active and retired military personnel and their dependents, would get cut by $3 billion for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Disaster Relief:
FEMA would receive a $1 billion cut.
Food inspections will be reduced – reducing the food supply and thus raising prices for everyone.
I know people that are going to lose money. But they can probably afford it. I have seen the federal government double in size since 1998... everything doubled except for the FBI, HUD, and Job Training from all the data that I downloaded. Defense Vendor Payments in the DOD ... they have Quadrupled in the Federal Budget ... it is a massive transfer to taxpayer dollars to the Defense Contractors.
But I'm guessing there is some stuff that is not included in the Treasury data of federal Outlays from 1998-2010. DHS outlay expenditures sort of looks ok as it is so much smaller than the DOD. But it has me wondering if they haven't spent a lot more than stated.
After Reagan left the White House, the Bush Budget had some large adjustments as I think they had to clean up the books ... eventhough reagan didn't spend as much as he had first planned. Clinton might have gotten some big adjustments or ballons too. Obama looks like he got some ballons ... then he spent like a drunken Sailor. Obama spent with even larger budget increases than George W. Bush.
So, I don't know if people will start Riots over Sequestration ... Budget cuts will be austerity and likely recessionary. But maybe we can get some Defense Cuts.
Clinton had a DOD budget of like $300 Billion and things worked fine. Today DOD is out of control - we saw $680 Billion in 2011 in DOD. So we will be $700 B in DOD in a couple of years if we let congress take a break and operate as usual.
The Education Budget Soared as well in something called secondary Education (K-12) ... from what I know it is for children of special needs. So if they get your kid on psychotropics or medications ... you K-12 gets more federal money is my guess. Anyway how is our Education now that the Budget has go up 500% in 12 years? Getting better or getting worse?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/equity-and-excellence-commision-report-schools_n_2720305.html
Defense Vendor Payments 1998 = $95.6 Billion
Defense Vendor Payments 2011 = $394 Billion
DOD Federal Outlays 1998 = $256 Billion
DOD Federal Outlays 2011 = $680 Billion
Department of Education outlays 1998 = $43.7 Billion
Department of Education outlays 2011 = $245.6 Billion (500% increase)
Federal Highway Administration 1998 = $19 Billion
Federal Highway Administration 2011 = $44.8 Billion
Health and Human Services Grants (misc) 1998 = $37.7 Billion
Health and Human Services Grants (misc) 2011 = $101.9 Billion
Food and Nutrition Service (misc) 1998 = $ 13.7 Billion
Food and Nutrition Service (misc) 2011 = $ 95.7 Billion
Supple. Nutrition Assist. Program (SNAP) 1998 = $20 Billion
Supple. Nutrition Assist. Program (SNAP) 2011 = $77.6 Billion
Total Food and Nutrician Services 1998 = $33 Billion
Total Food and Nutrician Services 2011 = $102 Billion
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families 1998 = $13 Billion
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families 2011 = $18.9 Billion
Total Administration for Children and Families (HHS) 1998 = $32.5 Billion
Total Administration for Children and Families (HHS) 2011 = $54 Billion
Unemployment Insurance Benefits 1998 = $23.4 Billion
Unemployment Insurance Benefits 2011 = $117 Billion
Medicare 1998 = $210 Billion
Medicare 2011 = $552 Billion (no price controls)
Medicaid 1998 = $ 100 Billion
Medicaid 2011 = $ 269 Billion
Total Centers Medicare & Medicaid Services 1998 = $380 Billion
Total Centers Medicare & Medicaid Services 2011 = $1.095 Trillion
Federal Salaries (EFT) 1998 = $87.5 Billion
Federal Salaries (EFT) 2011 = $178.4 Billion
https://fms.treas.gov/fmsweb/viewDTSFiles?dir=a&fname=11093001.pdf
Well as long as you are ok. I guess that's all that matters.
Exactly. The gubment will shrink and no one will notice. It's awesome!
150 billion in cuts in a year, in a 3+ trillion dollar budget is a joke.
Life will go on.