I am a big fan of the 1950?s group, “The Platters.” And as the sequester enters it second month, I can honestly say “It Isn’t Right” that the American people are being forced to bear such consequences.
When it comes to Congress and the President, they are by no means “Enchanted.” And surely, they don’t think “You’ve Got The Magic Touch.” The damage to many Americans in just one month has been exponential and “Only You” can make it right. Now I may be the “Great Pretender” but “My Dream,” in fact
“My Prayer” is that for the sake of the well-being of the thousands of families who are being hurt, all parties will move “Heaven on Earth” to rectify this.
One night during the Johnson administration, Ohio Congressman Wayne Hayes was home sleeping. It was around 2:30 AM when the President called. He asked if he had awakened Hays to which he replied, “no, Mr. President, I was just lying here waiting for you to call.”
Now that’s a funny story. But the issue that I use that line to launch into my segment is no joke. In fact, it’s serious. Deadly serious. The sequestration is now entering its second month, and the consequences are mounting. The people who shoulder the responsibility are showing little inclination to fix it. That said, it should be obvious to all at this point that this is not routine business which will not be worked out between nine and five. Therefore, someone needs to put in a 2:30 AM phone call to someone.
What we have instead is a Congress on a two week break and the President is doing fundraisers for House Democrats. and real people are suffering? Is anyone doing anything besides the perfunctory meeting or press conferences blasting the other side. There are no serious negotiations going on and no one has a clue when it will end. That is not only unacceptable but it signals a colossal failure of government at the highest levels.
When the law mandating automatic budget cuts was signed in August 2011 mandating automatic, several areas were exempt, chief among them Social Security. But many were not. Defense Secretary Hagel spoke of “a damaging and disruptive effect on the military” and civilian defense personnel jobs have been borne much of the brunt. 249 air-traffic towers around the country have been forced to close, not to mention the inconvenience to the public in airports in terms of lines. This will only worsen.
An exponential number of workers are being faced with as many of two weeks of furloughs. To the average person, that may not sound like a lot but, for people who live paycheck to paycheck, well, I could use that famous Joe Biden quote when he whispered into the mic but I recognize the need to keep it clean.
Closer to home, Head Start and unemployment funding is being cut. As many as 60,000 customs workers were expected to be furloughed, though Government Exec magazine said that it had been postponed. About 20,000 court workers are impacted, which means the wheels of justice, which is already slow to be administered due to due to judicial shortages) will be moving even slower. And just this week, we are hearing that contractors connected to the space industry will be forced to lay off up to 10 percent of it’s workforce. Kevin Smith, president of the Transport Workers Union Local 525 whose workers would be greatly affected said,
“I haven’t seen a company out there that is immune at this point.”
In some cases, it is life and death, as in cancer treatments. You’d think Medicare cuts would’ve been immune from automatic mandates, right. Well, they’re not.
The Medicare cuts were somehow pushed off until April 1 but now, the funds that they provide for chemotherapy and other drugs are being substantially reduced. Consequently, Medicare will have to turn a way thousands of patients. That means patients will have to go to hospitals and other facilities for treatment, but they don’t have the capacity for all of these patients. Medicare is looking for other alternatives but a spokesman recently said he is “unaware of any authority that could exempt Part B drugs from the sequestration requirements.”
Now the President and other cabinet members have taken a pay-cut but that’s a drop in the bucket. And the adversity they will feel as a result is non-existent. That can’t be said for everyone else. Nonetheless, the President and Congress are elected by the people, and “for” the people. Having a Laissez faire, whatever will be will be attitude, is simply unacceptable.
To revert back to my “Platters” example, it has to be now. For those impacted, this truly is “Twilight Time.”