By Mary Hill

The full impact of the trillion dollar sequester has not yet fully hit.  Many more cuts are coming down the pike that is going to directly implact the middle class.  Congress has made some inroads on certain bills to limit the full impact of the sequester.  For example, the cuts in funding for veteran’s college education were restored last week by the House. The Senate is expected to pass this bill without much discussion.

Other areas are still in jeopardy. More people are expected to join the homeless ranks in the next few month,  according to a Huffington Post article. The article states that those in the most jeopardy actually work.  More than 140,000 families in our major cities like Las Angeles and New York rely on rent vouchers to help pay for their rent monthly.  Without these vouchers, the families will not be able to pay their rent and therefore will be facing evictions. 

These are families with full-time working parents They are doing their best to make ends meet, but they make too little money to pay their full rent. How would you feel if this was your situation?   

Announced closing of airport towers are delayed until June because local officials are suing the federal government saying that the closing of these towers will impact the safety of people in their communities. The Washington Post  reported that more 1,000 traffic control officers will loss their jobs once the closings become a reality. Jobs are being lost and now precious funds are being lost because of lawsuits filed against the Federal Aviation Administration. 

Why should the average mom care about all these cuts?  Well, now the cuts are also going to hit Head Start programs across the country. Fewer numbers of children are going to be accepted into this program next year.  If your children go to school is a Title One School, their class sizes are going to be larger next year. 
Teachers at these schools could lose their jobs increasing class sizes which will mean larger classes and less individualized attention. Special education programs are also facing huge reductions in funding and thus will have to cut budgets and staffing.

The Sequester is just one unfolding drama as Congress and the White House turns its attention to the 2014 fiscal budget.  More cuts to important programming that help our children and impoverished families are threatened in the new budget process.  

Republicans, Democrats, and the President have or are releasing their own budget plans.  One plan in particular, if it were approved, hits federal programs that help the poor and middle class like a bulldozer while at the same time ask nothing more of the rich and corporations in terms of revenue.  Proposed by Representative Paul Ryan, the budget proposal would eliminate aid to college students, cut food stamp programs, and jeapordize health care for the elderly.  

Meanwhile, President Obama is proposing cutting medicaid and social security, according to a Huffington Post article. The White House will release his full budget plan this week.  He is saying he is being forced to make the cuts by Republicans who will refuse to work with him without them. Why is he caving? Seniors will lose out if this plan goes into effect! 

Another plan is being offered by the House Congressional Progressive Caucus.  This plan is more middle class friendly and still reduces the deficit by $3.7 trillion over 10 years. It increases funding for programs that help the poor and middle class but also cuts tax loop holes for the rich and corporations.  We will not be paying for business meetings at expensive restaurants or for private jets under this plan.  We will be helping college students achieve a more affordable college education without graduating with $100,000 worth of student loan debt. 

The National Priorities Project has more information comparing all of the competing plans at their Competing Visions website.

Whether liberal or conservative, we all benefit economically from government programs that help the middle class and poor.  We need to make smart investments for the future of our children. Take a look at these budget visions, which do you support? Why?  Share your ideas.