Just finished talking with a Public Health worker - and is she PISSED.

[IdaBriggs]

By the end of the conversation, I was nearly stuttering in outrage myself.

Big cuts to the WIC program and health programs that benefit low income mothers and their children.

Head Start and Healthy Start both taking hits.

Our public health departments and the nursing staff working for them are already dealing with a department that is already underfunded and understaffed. Now they are about to have *even* less people and money to deal with a population already having problems thanks to the Detroit, Michigan economic issues.

This isn't right. Its just NOT RIGHT.

[atreides1]

1. Right has very little to do with it!

Those are programs for the poor and the needy...and as we've seen the poor don't have access to Congress the way that the rich do!

We can rant and rave all day long, but it won't matter...because the Republicans want to dump this on charities and churches, which can't afford it, and the Democrats are now talking about cuts to Social Security and Medicaid/Medicare.

The Democrats have spent so much time "keeping their powder dry", that they forgot they needed muskets for the powder to be useful.

Don't despair, when the the first children start dying because of these cuts...I'm sure Harry Reid and the Democratic "leadership" will have a solution...maybe they'll sell all that dry powder for milk....

[OldDem2012]

2. NY Times article today on cuts to Head Start program....

Head Start Program

QUOTE:

Overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start will spend more than $7.9 billion in 2012 and serves nearly a million children nationwide. However, tens of thousands of children could be dropped from the program if Congress cannot find a way to prevent automatic cuts to the federal budget in 2013.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2011 that the automatic cuts would slice $590 million from federal spending on Head Start. The National Education Association said the cuts would eliminate 80,000 slots for children and more than 30,000 jobs of teachers, aides and administrators in the program.

[Wednesdays]

3. Hey, as long as we've got thousands of bombs and missiles, all is well

Oh, and as long as the fatcats can gas up their yachts, everything's fine, too.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

4. You know what's really sad?

The Republican Base is going to be pissed off because they will hear about cuts to firemen, police, the military, etc. but will be CONVINCED that the MAIN thing they wanted cut didn't get touched. Namely that mythical welfare that's only for black people.

You have to remember,...these are the angry white male types to see a black teen girl with a cell phone and think it's an "Obama phone" which was paid for with HIS tax money.

The signs are all around them.

Look there! A black mom and kids in nice clothes at the market getting into a late model SUV!!! That was ALL paid for with welfare too!!! (Never mind that her husband is a doctor)

[SCVDem]

21. Or never mind that She is the Doctor! nt

[Spitfire of ATJ]

23. And he's a COP.

[RC]

28. Beat me to it.

My doctor is a Black woman.

[99Forever]

5. Where are your priorities?

Congress is so over-worked that they just HAD to have some time off. Besides, food and health programs for lazy people are luxuries we just can't afford. We need more weapons, lots of them, and tax cuts for the very rich.

[DhhD]

6. In Texas, Governor Rick Perry tried to get the Church people to take care of feeding poor children

when Perry told the State workers who ran the federal food stamp program that they were laid off or fired due to closure of the office, several years ago. The state needed to save money for his up and coming presidential campaign.

The church people could not keep up with the feeding and told Rick Perry to get the food stamp program back up and running again.

The State of Texas could not find properly trained workers so the food stamp paper work got messed up resulting in very few food stamps being given out. And the State of Texas was fined several million dollars because Governor Perry, "Messed with Texans".

In my opinion, these cuts are illegal because they should be funded by the State during a Sequestration. States should take over the responsibility until the fed is operational again. Did the state prepare for the next time something stopped food stamps and WIC? No. The federal government should again fine Texas and every state that is not taking care of this on a state level.

[DhhD]

22. The TEA Party is for State Rights and State Responsibilities.

[SheilaT]

27. So much for the bullshit idea that

the churches are all we need to take care of actual charitable needs.

I mean, plenty of churches do very good work. I myself volunteer to feed the homeless with friends who belong to a Presbyterian church. I myself am not a member. But the most important point is that churches can only do so much. They simply do not have the resources, financial or organizational, that the government has.

[FarCenter]

7. The cuts are 5%

See "OMB Report to the Congress on the Joint Committee Sequestration for Fiscal Year 2013 (March 1, 2013)" (83 pages, 1.25 mb)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative_reports

WIC is being cut from $6.66 billion to $6.33 billion. It is in the Department of Agriculture section

I couldn't find a line item for Head Start. It must be buried in a line item in Health and Human Services. It would also get a 5% reduction.

[Recursion]

11. Head Start is pre-funded until the autumn

They're telling their contractors to prepare for cuts in the fall -- apparently HHS had the good sense to get the money out the door early.

The WIC cuts are doubly painful because the recipients don't get the food and the farmers don't get the money.

[just1voice]

8. I thought "Affordable Health Care" solved everything, LOL

I just read a long article on freespeech.org about 100s of thousands of mentally challenged people losing all their help too:

https://www.freespeech.org/text/sequester-mental-health-crisis

[Berlum]

10. Republicans pissed all over the Affordable Care Act

To the extend that it is now screwed up in any way, you can blame the Republicans. They crapped on it -- just as they crap on everything beneficial and positive for America.

[just1voice]

16. OK, I'll blame the corrupted and sucker repugs for everything, LOL

Or, perhaps I'll take a look at reality which involves corruption on every level, propaganda everywhere, torture camps that are still open and more to the point of health care, a political system that completely ignores the vast majority of Americans who want universal health care.

[daleanime]

26. It's not like we live in a democracy where what the people want matters....

[donnasgirl]

9. But yet

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=413726
WE HAVE 250 MILLION TO GIVE AWAY.

[L0oniX]

15. Haven't you heard ...that money was "released" not given away. Just like water behind a damn.

BTW we won't ...or will mention the 4 billion going to Israel every year.

[littlemissmartypants]

17. And doves. eom

[Zoeisright]

18. Are you really that stupid?

That money was SET ASIDE FOR FOREIGN AID. And $250 million is nothing when compared to the $85 BILLION the sequester is cutting every single fucking year, thanks to repukes.

[just1voice]

20. So "$250 million is nothing", thanks for that update

and for calling people names. Are you really that much of a bully?

[2ndAmForComputers]

35. Not bullying. Accurate assessment.

[donnasgirl]

30. Here is one for you

Fuck you zoeis,stupid you ask, drop to your knees and kiss my ass,people like you make me sick.I don't give a rats ass what that money was set aside for,it belongs to the people of this country and it's high time we spent it on this country.

[JDPriestly]

12. Cuts to these programs and to Social Security, Medicare,

SSI and Medicaid are criminal.

Cut the military budgets instead. We are way overextended with regard to our military involvement around the world.

[L0oniX]

13. Everything will be just fine as long as we maintain the largest military ever in the world. n/t

[KharmaTrain]

14. Outta Sight Outta Mind...

...unfortunately those who will be hurt the worst with these cuts are those with the softest voices. The beltway chattering class has no concept about how it is to have to choose between food and living in the streets or how the games they're playing affects the lives of real people. Sure...we'll see a couple of news stories that show someone struggling due to losing their benefits, the anchor will tsk, tsk, the talking heads will blame one another for causing this and the mental masturbation will be played. In the end a new bright shiny toy will come along the punditocracy will follow and those suffering will be left to their own devices.

It's never right...the least always get the short end of the stick. The hard part of those of us who are outraged by the games being played is to keep our own resolve to not forget those being left behind, help them where we can and put pressure on the media as much as the politicians to stop playing games with people's lives...or one can dream...

[blkmusclmachine]

19. Crony Capitalism.

The weak die, the Too Big To Fail gets Too Bigger To Fail.

Bipartisanship sucks

[JohnnyRingo]

24. Republicans are saying they want to keep these cuts.

They'll figure out a way to overturn Pentagon cuts later. The Republicans see this budget sequester as a way to roll back The New Deal safety nets.

What a bunch of dour-faced heartless pricks.

Thanx for posting. I wish I could rec more than once.

[Fire Walk With Me]

25. K&R.

[valerief]

29. Mustn't interfere with very rich people getting much richer. This is part of their "success" agenda.

[onethatcares]

31. So

what can WE do? To stop this stupid bullshit. Do we have die-ins? sit ins in the middle of the main streets in our towns? Write our congresspeople?

Seriously, what can be done to turn this country around?

[socialist_n_TN]

33. All of the above........

We've got to start being militant about our demands. That probably means getting arrested and/or beaten. But it won't stop until we demand it. A million plus people heading to DC to "occupy" might be a good start.

[phylny]

32. Early Intervention in my state (Virginia) is running out of or has run out of

money. So, parents are being told that they and their children can have one visit a month. Medicaid kids are covered, but private insurance kids who aren't generally covered and who rely on Part C and the state are screwed.

As long as we have money to pay for bombs, we're good.

[KoKo]

34. It's really bad for our States...I just checked and my state

is having devastating cuts that will go on and on throughout this whole year. It will be gradual but building until people get desperate.

It's SO WRONG...and UNNECESSARY...

[KoKo]

36. How the Sequester Will Affect Your State, HERE:

How the Sequester Will Affect Your State, HERE:
(I just checked my state and it's a real eye-opener. The poor, elderly, homeless, mentally disabled, teachers, food and environmental inspectors, water treatment, police, fire....on and on, as all of us will be effected in an economy that has barely recovered where people have been suffering since Wall Street and the Banks took down the economy over five years ago.)

---------------------

Ed. note: To see state-by-state effects of the sequester on jobs and middle-class families, click here.


http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/22/what-sequester#states


In less than a week, harmful automatic cuts — known as the sequester — take effect, threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs, and cutting vital services for children, seniors, people with mental illness and our men and women in uniform.



The state-by-state reports below show the impact the sequester will have on jobs and middle class families across the country.
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas

California Colorado Connecticut Delaware

District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii

Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa

Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine

Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota

Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska

Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico

New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio

Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island

South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas

Utah Vermont Virginia Washington

West Virginia Wisconsin

Wyoming Puerto Rico


http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/22/what-sequester#states

[alfredo]

37. Corporate America has China, they don't need us anymore.