The 32 Dumbest and Most Devastating Sequester Cuts
March 3, 2013 Think Progress / By _Igor Volsky_ (http: //www.alternet.org/authors/igor-volsky-0) [1] With Congress unable to reach a deal to avert the indiscriminate spending cuts put in place in the Budget Control Act of 2011, President Obama on Friday signed an order authorizing the government to begin canceling $85 billion from federal accounts for this fiscal year. As Obama said during a press conference yesterday, “This is not going to be a apocalypse, I think as some people have said. _It’s just dumb_ (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/03/01/statement-president-sequester) [2]. And it’s going to hurt. It’s going to hurt individual people and it ’s going to hurt the economy overall.” In a _83-page letter_ (http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/legislative_reports/fy13ombjcs equestrationreport.pdf) [3] to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), the Office of Management and Budget details the specific reductions each government program will face. Here are the dumbest and most painful cuts:Health care $20 million cut from the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Programs $10 million cut from the World Trade Center Health Program Fund $168 million cut from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration $75 million cut from the Aging and Disability Services ProgramsHousing $199 million cut from public housing $96 million cut from Homeless Assistance Grants $17 million cut from Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS $19 million cut from Housing for the Elderly $175 million cut from Low Income Home Energy AssistanceDisaster and Emergency $928 million cut from FEMA’s disaster relief money $6 million cut from Emergency Food and Shelter $70 million cut from the Agricultural Disaster Relief Fund at USDA $61 million cut from the Hazardous Substance Superfund at EPA $125 million cut from the Wildland Fire Management $53 million cut from Salaries and Expenses at the Food Safety and Inspection ServiceObamacare $13 million cut from the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan Program (Co-ops) $57 million cut from the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control $51 million cut from the Prevention and Public Health Fund $27 million cut from the State Grants and Demonstrations $44 million cut from the Affordable Insurance Exchange Grants programEducation $633 million cut from the Department of Education’s Special Education programs $184 million cut from Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research $71 million cut from administration at the Office of Federal Student Aid $116 million cut from Higher Education $86 million cut from Student Financial AssistanceImmigration $512 million cut from Customs and Border Protection $17 million cut from Automation Modernization, Customs and Border Protection $20 million cut from Border Security Fencing, Infrastructure, and TechnologySecurity $79 million cut from Embassy Security, Construction, and Maintenance $604 million cut from National Nuclear Security Administration $232 million cut from the Federal Aviation Administration $394 million cut from Defense Environmental Cleanup Republicans, who _refused to raise_ (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/03/01/1661141/gop-debate-taxes-over/) [4] any additional revenue to avoid the budget cuts, have described the reductions as “modest” a “_homerun_ (http://www.politico.com/multimedia/video/2013/02/pompeo-sequester-will-be-home -run.html?hp=s1) [5]” and something that “_needs to happen_ (http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/21588235/article-U-S- -Congressman-DeJarlais-speaks-to-local-constituents?instance=latest_articles) [6]” in order to “_get this economy rolling again_ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-jH5h-WcXw&feature=player_embedded) [7].” The latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office show that the nation’s deficits have _shrunk by trillions of dollars_ (http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/budget/news/2013/02/05/51991/weve-made-remarkable-progre ss-toward-reducing-the-deficit/) [8], and the debt is close to being stabilized as a percentage of the economy. Meanwhile, budget cuts have already reduced spending by $1.5 trillion and even with the revenue included in the fiscal cliff deal, the ratio of cuts to revenue stands at an unbalanced _3 to 1_ (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/01/07/1405651/democrats-revenue-right/) [9]. See more stories tagged with: _sequester_ (http://www.alternet.org/tags/sequester) [10], _economy_ (http://www.alternet.org/tags/economy-0) [11] ============================================================================ ActionLA Action for World Liberation Everyday! Tel: (213)403-0131 URL: _http://www.ActionLA.org_ (http://www.actionla.org/) e-mail: _Info@ActionLA.org_ (mailto:i...@actionla.org) To join the list, send e-mail to: _actionla-subscribe@lists.riseup.net_ (mailto:actionla-subscr...@lists.riseup.net) **WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! Please support our important works of ActionLA! Send your donations to: ActionLA P.O. 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