The Economist Intelligence Unit, which has across the world, just released a no-nonsense assessment of the . The brief duly notes the impact on life inside the beltway and beyond: the furlough of 800,000 federal employees, the closing of the national parks and museums; diminished activity in the justice department; thwarted applications for visas; and the exiling of Treasury department staff to their homes. Here’s the prognosis:
We think the most likely outcome is that some Republicans eventually relent and pass a continuing resolution. Democrats will claim victory, but this obscures the earlier and bigger victory that Republicans won. The continuing resolution would lock in the lower level of spending from the sequester–a series of across-the-board spending cuts that took effect on March 1st– which Democrats had wanted to reverse. So, while the Democrats currently look favourites to win the shutdown battle, the Republicans have already won the war on the overall level of government spending.
So, where are the kids? Our British friends were clearly not privy to the automatic reply I received yesterday from a senior advisor in the Administration for Children and Families (ACS): “Due to the absence of either an FY 2014 appropriation or Continuing Resolution for the Department of Health and Human Services, I am out of the office on furlough and I am not able to read or respond to your message.”
Nor did they zero in on the detrimental effects on children.
Stepping into the void, here in the heart of homeland security, was Parents magazine. “While the adults fight it out,” wrote Julia Haskins, “kids are being left out. The impacts of the government shutdown are far-reaching and could potentially impair the health and happiness of children across the country.” Her summary is succinct and packs a punch, divided into three sections: Kids Health and Wellness, Kids and their Families, and—I love this one—Kids’ Exploration. Among the many casualties she lists food safety and , and , “Pack up your picnic basket and your hiking boots,” she warned, “because all national parks are off-limits.”
The word spread quickly through media—social and otherwise—as the grownups on the Hill continued their epic tantrum. “Calling the GOP’s antics is an insult to children, wrote Terrance Heath, at the Campaign for America’s Future. “Their budget shenanigans surpass the worst childish behavior, and are far more damaging.” Indeed. “Sequestration has devastated federally funded programs for from low-income households, observed the Atlantic’s Emma Green. “Head Start, the government’s program for funding nutrition education, social services, and cognitive development support for young kids, has been particularly crippled by the cuts.”
Time weighed in as well, providing a you need to know to understand the current situation in Washington, and reporting that —all of this, ironically in the month dedicated to fostering awareness of Head Start, one of the signature programs of the War on Poverty. Funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is also at risk, warned Alan Pyke at . “Support for mothers and children in dire economic circumstances does not qualify as a ‘mandatory’ expenditure,” he explained, “and will therefore not be protected from the fallout…”
Here’s how I would use two of the Time glossary words in a sentence:
The latest crisis in Washington has condemned parents and children to their very own furlough, imposing a shutdown in family functioning ,well-being, and progress.
Is this any way to treat the citizenry?
