As Congress returns from recess this week, House Republicans are set to advance legislation to replace automatic defense spending cuts they agreed to last year with cuts to programs for the poor and working class. The controversial measure is expected to pass the House and die in the Senate, making it largely a political exercise that allows the two parties to contrast the values at the heart of the 2012 election: Should the burden for addressing the country\u2019s long-running fiscal challenges fall to struggling people, or to the wealthiest people in the country?<\/p>\n
The proposal \u2014 which is an outgrowth of the budget the House GOP overwhelmingly voted for late March \u2014 would cut some $261 billion from health care programs, food stamps, unemployment benefits and child tax credits, among others. It constitutes a violation of the GOP\u2019s end of the debt-limit deal, which included painful sacrifices for both parties if the Congress failed to reach a bipartisan deficit-reduction agreement.<\/p>\n
The measure would override the $78 billion in defense cuts set take effect January 2013 as a backstop in last August\u2019s debt limit law. Additional cuts are in place for the following nine years. President Obama and Democrats aren\u2019t happy with the so-called \u201csequestration\u201d cuts either, but they insist they won\u2019t roll them back unless Republicans agree to a balanced deal that combines spending cuts with new revenues taken from wealthy Americans, the latter of which Republicans have blocked for years.<\/p>\n