Expect It: $85 Billion Federal Budget Cuts To Hit Poor Hardest

President Obama signs order to begin the sequester, hopes for quick solution

Is it gonna happen? Despite all the warnings from President Barack Obama and heads of several federal agencies, political parties could not agree on a plan to avert $85 billion in across-the-board government spending. And guess who will be hit the hardest by the cuts… low-income minorities, of course! At risk are funds that give vouchers for housing the poor and that provide fortified baby formula to the children of poor women. A total of 125,000 individuals and families could become homeless, the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates. And an additional 100,000 formerly homeless people in emergency shelters could be removed because of the cuts. On the somewhat bright side, the "sequester cuts," as they’re called on Capitol Hill, will spare the Children’s Health Insurance Program and food stamps. So, people will be homeless and babies will be less healthy, but nobody will starve. (New York Times)

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