Sequestration Such A Hit, House GOP Looks To Double-Down

Don’t let the headline fool you — the sequestration process imposed by the 2011 Budget Control Act has not been popular with anyone. This is as it should be, as it was never intended to appeal to anyone.  It was, in fact, supposed to be so onerous to both parties that they would be forced to the negotiating table to form a more elegant solution. Like most things in Washington these days, it should have surprised no one how that would turn out.

Now, while we are still struggling with the ugly reality of those  ‘across the board’ spending cuts, dozens of House Republicans are looking to make the BCA levels permanent. (Presumably, so as to prolong the magic.) But, because they are House Republicans, there’s an evil twist:

 [T]he bill would provide about $44 billion more defense funding, and about $44 billion less non-defense funding, than the sequestration level.  It would also halt implementation of (and delay funding for) health reform for one year…

The bill would require deep cuts in non-defense discretionary programs outside of veterans and homeland security.  The cuts would be like the indiscriminate, across-the-board cuts imposed under the 2013 sequestration, which both parties roundly criticized, but would be substantially larger. 

That’s right, folks: members of the House GOP, led by Tea Party congressman Rep. Tom Graves (R – GA), want an additional 10 percent cut from all domestic spending  except veterans and homeland security. That means more deep cuts to medical research, environmental clean-up, food safety inspection, job training, K-12 education, air traffic controllers, affordable housing, Meals-on-Wheels, transportation and infrastructure, and much, much more. Take Head Start education as an example:

In 2013, sequestration cut the program by 5 percent (about $400 million), forcing the loss of 57,000 children from the program and shorter school days or school years for thousands more.  If Head Start were cut by another 10 percent below the 2013 level next year, the total cut would exceed $1 billion and the number of children losing Head Start would rise dramatically.

The good news is that, of course, this proposal will never see the light of day. Even were it to pass the House, the Senate would reject it out of hand. Still, it is important to remain cognizant that this is the preferred solution for a sizable chunk of the U.S. House. It comes from the same faction currently prepared to kamikaze negotiations over both the budget and debt ceiling. In all likelihood, things are going to get awfully ugly, awfully soon.

By: Sandi Behrns

Sandi Behrns is a noted policy nerd, new media & web developer, and consultant to progressive organizations and campaigns. She is a senior contributor to Liberaland, and the Executive Editor of Progressive Congress News.