We hear a lot these days about “cost cutting”, and “budget cuts” and “reckless spending” as code words for what the 112th Congress under House Speaker to be John Boehner will be addressing next year.
What it comes down to, though, is that the rich and privileged and the corporations will suffer no pain at all, and instead the poor, the young, and the retired (mostly elderly) Americans will bear the brunt of such a dramatic slashing of the budget!
It means that medical care will be denied, as it is, for instance, in Arizona to Medicaid recipients who need heart, lung, kidney and liver transplants, and instead will die, being given a “death panel” decision by Governor Jan Brewer! 🙁
It means that class sizes will be dramatically raised, making educational conditions in thousands of school districts across the country far worse than they already are!
It means that crime fighting and fire fighting will be impeded, which will affect poorer communities more than wealthier areas within the states!
It means many prisoners will be released because of overcrowding and budget cuts in state prisons, and that will add to the crime rate, particularly in poorer areas!
It means that college students in community colleges and state universities across the nation will, in many cases, be priced out of higher education, or go so deep into debt with rising tuition and housing costs, that they will be forced into bankruptcy in future years! 🙁
It means that dedicated civil service employees who have devoted their lives to serving the public in many capacities will now be cheated out of labor arrangements and retirement plans that they thought were legally binding!
It means that basic amenities such as parks, beaches, libraries, and other public services will be cut back dramatically, making the quality of life far worse!
It means that basic services to the elderly poor will be cut back, endangering many in their health and safety, and the whole concept of the “golden years”!
The more one thinks about this series of realities, the more the inequities of the situation scream out. So the rich and privileged will do just fine, while large portions of the population will suffer in an age of selfishness and greed, unparalleled since the 1920s and the previous Gilded Age (1865-1897), which one would think we would not repeat.
And now we will have a Republican leadership that does not apologize for this circumstance, and instead embraces it with impunity! 🙁