The sequester is a terrible piece of legislation. The whole point of it was to force Democrats and Republicans to get serious about spending and revenue. Instead, Republicans stood firm with their insistence on protecting millionaires, billionaires and oil companies from paying their fair share by closing tax loopholes.

As The Bulletin pointed out, it was at the expense of our women and men in uniform who serve and protect us every day. Republicans argue that they are looking out for our children as they force schools to endure even more cuts to staff, early education programs and free-lunch programs. They want to slash health care in order to protect private jet owners.

Our economy is finally recovering from the devastation it incurred during the Bush years. Private sector job growth has grown over the last three years under President Obama. Congress must now work together on a balanced approach of cuts and revenue. This is what the American people voted for during the last election.

Now that the cuts are taking shape across the country, every Republican is running around with a “not in my backyard” mentality. They argue that the government is bloated but do not close my local airport or slash jobs in my state. Before hearing a mouthful from their constituents, they argued that the president was trying to scare people about how bad things would be under sequestration. Now, as they come back to face their constituents, they must answer for their actions.

Marlene Barnett

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