The impact of the across-the-board spending cuts known as “the sequester” hurts both our economy and our communities. Congress came together for an uncommonly quick and bipartisan budget fix for air traffic controllers, yet nothing has been done to replace damaging cuts to education, emergency responders or Head Start. For those who may not have as big a megaphone, these across-the-board cuts are still taking their toll.
The sequester is getting a lot of attention–and none of it is good. This is budgeting at its worst.
There is a better way to make budget decisions, and a bipartisan road map we can follow.
By investing in “what works”–programs that are successful and have the evidence and data to prove it–we can move from blind cuts to smart choices, and begin to change lives for the better. We can substantially improve the lives of young people and their families by investing in programs that demonstrate they are successful and begin to shift funds away from those programs that are falling short.