At noon today hundreds of government employees, members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and MoveOn gathered at the US Labor Department to mark a national day of action against sequestration.
Organizers hope to send a strong statement to Congress that the people expect a solution to the austerity and sequester problems that Congress itself created.
There are more than 100 actions planned across the country, including this flagship event in DC to call for an immediate end to the sequester.
Ilya Sheyman, from MoveOn.org Civic Action explained:
‘When the unnecessary budget cuts known as the sequester were agreed to last year by Congress, no one thought they'd actually go into effect.
'In fact, the entire point was to create something so irrational and damaging that it would force compromise in the budget debate.
‘Well, it hasn't.
‘We're now three weeks into the sequester and, despite a brilliant one-line bill introduced by Representative John Conyers called the Cancel the Sequester Act of 2013, there's no end in sight.‘
Sheyman invites readers to sign their petition to demand that Congress cancel the sequester.
The consequences of the sequester are slow to take effect, which is part of the reason there has not been more public outrage, but MoveOn has released a well-researched and documented report on the dramatic impending impact on Americans, including:
- 70,000 children cut from Head Start programs
- Up to 29 million student loan recipients affected
- More than a million federal workers could be forced to take furloughs, possibly losing 20% of their pay over a five-month period
- 2,100 fewer food safety inspections by the FDA this year, resulting in higher risk for consumers, lower supplies and higher food costs
- Nearly 4 million people's unemployment benefits cut by more than 9%
“Before an entire generation of students is handicapped… and families are crushed by the squeeze in unemployment benefits,” Sheyman insists, “Congress has to act.”
DC MoveOn Organizer Jorae W. wrote to DCPS Examiner, explaining that:
'WE WILL BE RALLYING TO REPEAL SEQUESTRATION AND GET ON WITH THE REAL PROBLEM WE FACE -- REBUILDING OUR ECONOMY – NOT DESTROYING IT!'
Last week, Rep. Alan Grayson delivered over 250,000 MoveOn member signatures to Speaker Boehner's office calling for an end to the sequester.
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