In a guest editorial published in the Seattle Times, Aerospace GVP Mark Blondin pulls no punches describing the devastating impact on defense and commercial aerospace work if Congress fails to prevent sequestration cuts from taking effect in January 2013.
“Sequestration means a trillion dollars in automatic cuts to defense and other budgets that kick in on Jan. 2,” writes Blondin. “Economists have said these cuts, plus the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, will kill off fiscal recovery and toss us over a fiscal cliff back into another recession.”
Blondin notes that Republicans and Democrats continue to squabble over the crisis that was created when Congress failed to resolve last year’s debt ceiling standoff.
“Stopping sequestration should not be a partisan issue,” declared Blondin. “Economists of all stripes have long recognized the need for fiscal injections to offset damage caused by the recession. In June, The New York Times reported that 706,000 public-sector workers have lost their jobs since the peak of the recession in 2009. Sequestration could pile another 2 million lost jobs on top of that number.”
The editorial, which garnered dozens of reader comments, accurately describes the deep and lasting harm that will impact community businesses and residents whose economies are interconnected with our military operations.
“These cuts were designed to be so terrifying they would force Democrats and Republicans to do almost anything to prevent them,” said Blondin. “Before the guillotine falls in less than two months, Congress must remember that stopping sequestration is neither a choice between cutting defense or cutting social services, nor a partisan talking point. It’s a choice between crippling our economy and kneecapping our military, or saving them.”
