CHICAGO - While the Democratic Congressional Caucus Committee distributes information conveying the devastation the budget sequestration would bring onto Illinois, the question remains why President Obama would allow it to be brought onto the nation, and in particular, Illinois? Over the years, Obama's home state has become more and more dependent on federal funds to meet its staggering financial obligations.
Democratic US Senator Max Bachus from Montana said this week that the White House recommended sequestration, and must accept responsibility for its part in the impending crisis:
But what does the DCCC say could be the projected impact of the Obama sequestration plan?
Study: Sequester Would Cut 53,656 Jobs in Illinois. According to a 2012 study by George Mason Professor Stephen Fuller, the automatic spending cuts affecting Department of Defense and non-Department of Defense discretionary spending would lead to significant job losses in every state.
- Sequester Would Cost Illinois $2.7 Billion in Total Lost Income
Study: Sequester Would Slash Critical Maternal and Child Health Services. The American Academy of Pediatrics studied the impacts that sequestration will have on Illinois and projected that:
- 24,200 mothers and young children would lose access to food assistance and critical health care.
- 8,200 fewer children would receive vaccinations.
- 306,000 fewer women, children and families would receive critical preventive health care.
- $86 million would be cut from the NIH’s research projects based in Illinois.
- $25.8 million would be cut from special education funding, affecting 13,095 students.
- $2.1 million would be cut from grants for career and technical education, affecting 26,030 students.
- $1.9 million would be cut from need-based grants that would help 49,300 low-income students pay for college.
- $16 million would be cut from Head Start.
