Organized labor is expressing adamant opposition to a budget plan proposed Tuesday by the Republican majority in Congress.
“Instead of focusing on creating new jobs and lifting more Americans out of poverty, the House leadership has proposed a budget that does exactly the opposite by slashing the compensation and jobs of hard-working federal employees,” J. David Cox Sr., national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, declared in a statement.
“Rep. Price’s budget ignores the $159 billion in cuts that have already been made to federal employees’ pay and benefits and demands more cuts to this small segment of the American workforce,” Cox continued.
“Federal employees aren’t some faceless bureaucrats to be cut at a whim,” he said. “They are real people with real jobs who make a real difference in the lives of millions Americans every day, whether it’s ensuring senior citizens get the Social Security benefits they’re owed, caring for veterans who return from war with physical or psychological scars, or keeping knives and other weapons off airplanes.”
“They deserve our respect and admiration, not the contempt and derision being presented in this budget,” Cox concluded.
Getting into specifics, AFL-CIO Communications Director Eric Hauser warned the budget proposal will be disastrous for Medicare and working Americans.
“The deep cuts in this proposal – which start with privatizing Medicare – add to the already open wounds of our struggling economy,” Hauser noted in a statement.
“As quick as Republicans’ 180 during the campaign season to a sudden concern for the plight of working people, they’re back to showing their true colors,” he continued. “Poking working people with a hot stick isn’t conservative economic leadership, its politics as usual.”
“Thankfully there’s almost zero chance their dangerous proposals reach the American people in the next two years – and working people will make sure they never do,” Hauser concluded.
Republican leaders have defended the budget proposal as necessary to address significant problems in the economy.
“For 53 of the last 60 years, the federal government has spent more than it has taken in – 53 of the last 60 years. It’s unacceptable,” House Speaker John Boehner told reporters at a press conference.
“To this day, now in his seventh year in office, the president has never proposed a budget that balances,” he continued. “Our budget will balance, but it’s also about growing our economy, growing jobs and building economic strength for our future.”
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