Shutdown? Default? Just review the impact of the sequester

Sequester Disaster (To read more, click on this headline)

While Republicans have decided to own sequestration’s cuts, the devastation continues to take a toll around the country. More than 57,000 low-income preschoolers lost their slots in Head Start. The home-bound elderly are getting fewer visits from Meals on Wheels. More than 650,000 employees at the Department of Defense have been furloughed. Cancer patients have been denied chemotherapy. Low-income families are being denied housing vouchers and the homeless are getting less support. Domestic violence victims are being turned away from support programs. Unemployment checks for the long-term unemployed have been reduced. Schools on or near military bases and Native American reservations have had to lay off staff and close schools. Other public schools have increased class sizes and fired staff. Scientists have had to fire people and shutter projects.

And it’s taken a big toll on the economy. The Congressional Budget Office found that undoing sequestration could add as much as 1.2 percent to GDP and create 1.6 million jobs. The cuts have been a drag on growth, consumer spending, and wages.