For Martha Brand, who is 81, the $85 billion in automatic budget cuts that went into effect Friday add up to one thing: another reason to fear and loathe Washington politicians.
“All these automatic, going-over-the-cliff problems are just putting fear and anxiety on the people of America, especially senior citizens,” she said.
Lee Weber, an executive search consultant, thinks the politicians came off badly, but he embraces the so-called “sequester.”
“Just because they couldn’t agree on specific cuts, doesn’t mean these cuts aren’t the right thing,” Weber said. “There’s too many stories about government waste and fraud.”
Across metro Atlanta Friday, residents greeted the onset of automatic cuts with anxiety, anger, indifference, applause and everything in between. Only one thing bound them together: With few specifics coming out of Washington, their reactions were based largely on conjecture rather than solid information about how the cuts will play out.
Although Social Security and Medicare benefits for individuals are exempt, Brand, who lives in Lawrenceville, said that Washington’s continual bickering has her always fearful. “I’m very concerned (about the sequester) — in fact, I’m very concerned about everything going on in Washington,” ”she said.
If these mainstays of the social safety net don’t stay strong, she said, “it’ll really be a bad situation in America.”
But Weber, who lives in Brookhaven, said he sees little to fear personally from the budget cuts beyond the possibility of longer lines at the airport. As for potential damage to the economy, he said, he expects it to be minimal.
Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security and military personnel are among the programs that will go largely untouched, federal officials say. Reductions are expected to affect hit long-term unemployment benefits, meals for seniors, defense contracts, teachers and civilian employees of the military. Medicare benefits for individuals won’t change, but doctors and hospitals will see reimbursements trimmed, and that could prompt some to stop accepting Medicare patients.
Sixty percent of Americans believe the automatic cuts will have a major effect on the U.S. economy, and 55 percent believe it will hurt the military, a recent poll found. Just 30 percent said their own personal finances would be damaged, according to the national survey by the Pew Research Center and The Washington Post.
Unlike December’s “fiscal cliff” brouhaha, which included the combined threat of automatic budget cuts and widespread tax increases, relatively few Americans are paying close attention this time around — a possible sign of issue fatigue — the poll found. (In December, Congress struck a deal on the tax increases and delayed the budget cuts until now.)
Garian Clark, 36, of Atlanta, isn’t indifferent, though. Clark, who works for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has already started getting emails about government furloughs. He’s bracing for up to seven days without work and pay.
“It’s quite distressing in many ways,” Clark said. “Like everybody, my budget is stretched a little now.”
For people seeking help at the Norcross Cooperative Ministry on Friday, the reductions added more anxiety to already stressed lives. Lisa Campos was among those waiting in a lobby with few empty chairs. Campos, who has Lupus, has seen her unemployment benefits run dry, and her husband’s job doesn’t always pay him on time.
Even though she worries about the cuts, she’s looking for answers beyond Washington. “I rely on God,” she said.
Don Beard, a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, believes more than the economy is in danger. Civilian workers on military bases, who could see furloughs or worse, form “the backbone of many headquarters,” said the McDonough resident.
And should cuts affect key elements of national defense, such as aircraft carriers, “we’re wide open for anything,” he said.
At the other end of the spectrum, Chaz Black is eager to see even more cuts. As for Friday’s round, the cell phone sales manager from Lawrenceville takes a cynical view. He believes both the Democrats and Republicans benefit from these mandated cuts.
Each side gets to say they made cuts “but not look like the bad guy,” he pointed out. “They can say they had to do it, that their hands were tied,” he said.
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