As the"sequester" unfolds in Washington, we see this same old patternholding firm: Republican leaders, now hustling to shirk responsibility for thecatastrophe they predicted, insist those automated budget axes won't do anydamage at all.
Has anyone feltany pain yet?
Not during thefirst few days, of course, but when the cuts begin to bite a month or so fromnow, the first to feel it will be the unemployed and the destitute for whom afew dollars of government support mean so much in their daily survivalcalculation. A decent policy would seek to spare them the brunt of politicalmistakes made by other, far more comfortable people, but this process permitsno such choices—and the most vulnerable will by definition be hurt most.
According to theCenter on Budget and Policy Priorities, which began to warn of sequestration'svery real impact weeks ago, the government will have to turn away as many as750,000 women and children who qualify for Women, Infants and Children (WIC),the "highly effective" national nutrition program. Back when therewas bipartisan opposition to letting people starve, legislators of both partiesworked to ensure that WIC funding was sufficient to enroll every qualifiedfamily. Everyone seemed to agree that the program's cost was trivial comparedwith the social, moral and, yes, economic benefits of properly feeding allhungry infants and children.
Not under thesequester, when common sense and compassion become impermissible. Not under thesequester, which not only enforces the cruel cuts but allows their perpetratorsto deny ownership of the specific consequences.
What makes theautomatic cutback in WIC funding even worse is that the amount involved issmall in modern terms. The WIC budget will have to be reduced by $692 millioncompared with 2012, or about the same amount as the projected price of one"Littoral Combat Ship," the Navy's latest vessel project.
Evidently aprinciple is at stake that can be vindicated only by taking food from themouths of pregnant women, breastfeeding women and infants, however. Enforcingthis decision—and it is a decision—are men and women who will assure voters oftheir fervent religious piety as well as their absolute devotion to America'sbeleaguered families.
Or some ofAmerica's families.
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