Democratic Congressman Steny Hoyer blames Republicans.
"Thousands of Americans will lose their jobs or be furloughed, including teachers, researchers, law enforcement agents and military contractors. Everyone should be clear that sequestration is a Republican policy," he said. "And it is a bad policy."
But some Republicans, like Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, think the sequester does not really go far enough.
"Few people understand that the sequester does not even cut government spending. It just slows the rate of growth," he noted.
The Defense Department says troop training and maintenance of aircraft and ships would be delayed or suspended if the cuts take effect.
And some 800,000 civilian defense workers would each be forced to take one day a week off -- without pay.
Some economists say the cuts could have a ripple effect on the entire economy -- and on services Americans depend on.
"A lot of workers will have to be furloughed from their jobs and those workers perform jobs like inspecting the safety of our food and water," said Joan Entmacher, an expert on family economic security.
Since U.S. federal law mandates inspection of meat, poultry and egg products, production of those commodities will shut down on days inspectors are furloughed. Mark Dopp of the American Meat Institute says the furloughs would not threaten the safety of American meat but would have a big impact on the economy.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25