Over the course of the week, Patch has outlined just a handful of the many departments in Montgomery County that may be impacted should sequester go into action. If Congress does nothing to change it, the automatic budget cuts will begin officially Thursday at midnight.
With just a few more hours on the clock, a compromise is not likely. Pennsylvania politicians sure have their doubts.
"I'm not sure the federal government has demonstrated it's qualified to teach financial literacy," said U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey during a conference call Wednesday.
After the White House report was released, showing the impacts to Pennsylvania, U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz said she blames Republicans in Congress for not cooperating.
“The report confirms what we knew all along,” Schwartz said. “If Republicans continue to reject a balanced approach to deficit reduction, which includes spending cuts, new revenue, and economic growth to protect our nation’s economic recovery, we will not create the right environment for long-term growth by investing in our domestic priorities.”
She worries change may not come quickly enough.
“Republicans must reject their partisan, one-sided approach and be willing to find common ground solutions to deficit reduction,” Schwartz said. “To ensure America's future prosperity and growth, we must restore confidence in our capacity to reach agreement, strengthen the middle class and create an environment in which the private sector can thrive. We have not yet seen the Republican leadership in the House be willing to engage in that kind of serious deficit reduction conversation that takes a balanced approach, respects our obligation to Americans and creates certainty for our families and businesses.”
What impact does it have on Pennsylvania residents? According to a release from Schwartz, there a lot of ways citizens will notice the change.
“Young children will be hurt by these cuts,” said Sharon Easterling, Executive Director, Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children. “In Pennsylvania, the statewide waiting list for child care subsidy will grow from 6,500 to over 11,000 children and at least 2,300 Head Start children would lose service almost immediately. This is bad for children and families, and undercuts our efforts to close the achievement gap for at-risk children.”
The local economy may suffer, with continued job losses.
“Sequestration will affect 2,000 Department of the Navy civilian jobs at three Navy commands located at the Philadelphia Naval Business Center. This will greatly affect the technical support these positions provide to the U.S. Navy around the world,” said John Garrity, President of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 3.
According to Politico.com, “many Republicans now support the sequester cuts as a way for the government to tighten its belt, barring any better budget-reduction plan.”
Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, has co-sponsored a bill to “soften the blow of sequester,” according to the Post Gazette.
He said the proposed bill he is sponsoring will help give decision-making power back to the administrators that deserve it.
“"[Sequester] gives no discretion to the managers of the agencies or the administration—or anyone, for that matter—to decide which of these programs has greater importance, greater urgency than another," Toomey said to the Post Gazette. "There are any number of contrasts and comparisons you could make, but—in my view—a government subsidy to Solyndra wouldn't be as high a priority as maintaining air-traffic controllers."
For the full report on Toomey’s response to sequestration, visit this Patch article.
Any Federal funds for specific programs are tied up in litigation based on the Welfare Program. Welfare denials are playing a big part . The government has offered funds to help the people out & most funds are not going any where. Any Federal applications are being scrutinized for eligibility & are being denied thus placing the federal funds back into Corbett's pocket. These bogus requirements & accusations are multiplying. All Pa Commonwealth low income are suffering and it is a catch 22. The welfare offices are making up excuses and not looking at previous information in their on line system to see how these problems have been handled in the past for the applicant. All LIHEAP claims have a closing date in March 2013. This is evil.
I have mentioned 2 scenarios that I have heard about in the last 2 weeks. The h***l with what is going to happen, it IS HAPPENING NOW. It's everywhere. The supermarkets, gas stations,utilities, the battle of Fios or Xfinity monopoly, & there are others. We keep paying , getting less salary, Congress needs to have their paychecks held until they start doing what they are suppose to do one way or the other, they have too much power. Not resolving situations & going home is unacceptable. We all sit in limbo waiting for them to decide our future is getting to the point of being inhumane. We all saw how it played out with the unemployment bill. That took weeks to resolve. Say what you want, all the skeptics do, it's not the future we need to be concerned about, it is right now. Our everyday life has been placed on hold till this passes again.
Washington Democrats’ new found concern about the president’s sequester is appreciated, but words alone won’t avert it. Replacing the president’s sequester will require a plan to cut spending that will put us on the path to a budget that is balanced in 10 years. Smart. fiscally responsible voters ask only one question: what other spending is the president willing to cut? If you're spending more than you take in, what do YOU do? If you're in a hole over your head, do you keep digging?
I would just LOVE for Allyson Schwartz to list for us all the Spending Cuts proposed by Democrats in Congress or The White House in what she describes as that "willingness to find common ground solutions to deficit reduction"!!! The quick answer: There weren't any! So please save your attempts to blame Republicans for this situation! The President's White House proposed and accepted sequestration as a method to FORCE a balanced approach ... Added revenue, which was won by Obama and the Dems in the January fiscal cliff "crisis" and - supposedly - Spending cuts, which so far are NOWHERE to be seen on the Democrat side. Do your job, Allyson!! Keep your word - as they are self-servingly portrayed above - and come up with a REAL balanced approach!
loosers/losers: grouth/growth: gerimandering/gerrymandering I care that your education sucked. Yoo xpress yur feelings, but site no xampls. Pleeze be mor speciphic.
These articles are being used in schools to debate the issues and responses. Did you know that? That little rant needs to be taken back on the xBOX & leave the normal people alone ~ Oh thats right, xBox sensors you there also. Might you have a red ring/ the box was banned? Ran out of things to do? Chill out.
Romnesia and the Republican liars have been crushed. This is what they get for aligning themselves with bafoons like Donald Duck Trump, Rush Limbaugh etc. and having Taliban ideas about Women. This election is a triumph of empathy over evil !
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