Automatic spending cuts that will occur in America on March 1 if Congress does not intervene will significantly harm programs used by many Americans, such as police, small business assistance, food security, and tax collection, the White House announced on Friday.
U.S. authorities have called on Congress to mitigate the impact of these cuts as they will, according to the White House, reduce non-military programs by nine percent and military programs by thirteen percent. – These large and arbitrary cuts will be difficult for all sectors – states the White House statement. A few days ahead of the president’s State of the Union address, the White House is launching an aggressive campaign against congressional Republicans with whom it has long been at odds over fiscal policy. They disagree on government spending and taxes, but agree that it is essential to reduce the budget deficit that has grown enormously over the past decade. However, they fail to agree on the methods and speed with which to achieve this.
For Republicans, reducing government spending remains a priority. They hold a majority in the House of Representatives. However, the White House on Friday responded by illustrating the dire situation that would ensue if automatic cuts were allowed to take effect. The list includes a reduction of about one thousand police officers, a decrease of 2,100 sanitary inspectors, and approximately 600,000 women and children would be left without food assistance.
