Front desk placeholder today.
Holy cow. The Republican spending cuts, if they pass, could take place in the next few weeks.
They're trying to move fast, before anyone notices what would be cut:
- For starters, the spending plan would cost 700,000 jobs.
Are they out of their minds? People need jobs or our economic recovery will be toast.
You want to balance the budget? Get rid of the Bush tax cuts for the rich (and bring our troops home).
- Cut financial aid for low and middle income college students!
The Republicans squawk about the new global economy and the need for us to replace outsourced jobs with new markets, new ideas--yet plan to cut the very college educations that the new economy requires. This will also dump a huge number of students into the work force, just as the economy is recovering. It's mindless!
- Remove all federal funding for PBS, NPR, and all public broadcasting.
No, no, and no. These are not expensive line items. What's expensive? Military spending.
- Cut off funding for kindergarteners by cutting spending on Head Start.
This is seriously bad. Head Start does two things: helps kids, and helps working moms. Single mothers have to work to take care of their kids, but day care is extraordinarily expensive (often the entire income that would be earned by working, it's that bad). Head Start puts kids in school so that their mothers can earn a living. Without this program, many single parents are screwed. They will not be able to care for their kids or work.
- Cut $1.3 billion dollars from community health care clinics.
Across the country, the community health care clinics are praised for being lean, clean, and inexpensive to run because they rely on nurse practitioners and general practitioners. They save states millions per year because they keep the uninsured working poor and homeless out of expensive emergency rooms--where they can't pay and the rest of us end up footing the bill. This cut is short-sighted and stupid!
You know what? The US is not Greece. We're not a bad financial bet that's going to go under because of a deficit. As soon as the elections were over the GOP admitted that the deficit is not such a big deal.
Grar!
Also posted at http://icarus.dreamwidth.org, comment wherever you please.
They're trying to move fast, before anyone notices what would be cut:
- For starters, the spending plan would cost 700,000 jobs.
Are they out of their minds? People need jobs or our economic recovery will be toast.
You want to balance the budget? Get rid of the Bush tax cuts for the rich (and bring our troops home).
- Cut financial aid for low and middle income college students!
The Republicans squawk about the new global economy and the need for us to replace outsourced jobs with new markets, new ideas--yet plan to cut the very college educations that the new economy requires. This will also dump a huge number of students into the work force, just as the economy is recovering. It's mindless!
- Remove all federal funding for PBS, NPR, and all public broadcasting.
No, no, and no. These are not expensive line items. What's expensive? Military spending.
- Cut off funding for kindergarteners by cutting spending on Head Start.
This is seriously bad. Head Start does two things: helps kids, and helps working moms. Single mothers have to work to take care of their kids, but day care is extraordinarily expensive (often the entire income that would be earned by working, it's that bad). Head Start puts kids in school so that their mothers can earn a living. Without this program, many single parents are screwed. They will not be able to care for their kids or work.
- Cut $1.3 billion dollars from community health care clinics.
Across the country, the community health care clinics are praised for being lean, clean, and inexpensive to run because they rely on nurse practitioners and general practitioners. They save states millions per year because they keep the uninsured working poor and homeless out of expensive emergency rooms--where they can't pay and the rest of us end up footing the bill. This cut is short-sighted and stupid!
You know what? The US is not Greece. We're not a bad financial bet that's going to go under because of a deficit. As soon as the elections were over the GOP admitted that the deficit is not such a big deal.
Grar!
Also posted at http://icarus.dreamwidth.org, comment wherever you please.