The sequestration has officially arrived.
President Obama announced last Friday that the federal government will be making across-the-board agency budget cuts amounting to $1.2 trillion over a 10-year period, with approximately $85 billion in cuts per year.
The plan was enacted to reverse the national debt, which currently stands at more than $16 trillion.
Obama admitted that the cuts will cause a “ripple effect” throughout the economy, and though effects will not be felt right away, there will be “pain,” and many individuals will experience pay cuts and furloughs.
Molly Schroer, spokesperson in the Public Affairs Office of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, said that in light of the sequester, park staff will make reductions.
“Every unit in the National Park Service will lose five percent of its annual budget and have only seven months to absorb the loss,” Schroer said. “We are now in the process of formalizing actual plans and reviewing park programs and park needs …The park knows there will be impacts felt by park visitors due to the sequestration, but we are attempting to look at all park programs and operations to see where we would have the least impact on the millions of visitors who come to the park each year.”
Many UT students and their families are also being affected by sequestration.
Brandon Carpenter, undecided freshman, said sequestration has already begun affecting his military family, as his father is a retired military officer and current Medical Examination Board counselor at Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Georgia.
“We knew (the sequester) was coming,” Carpenter said. “We knew something big was going to happen. We just didn’t know it was going to be quite as extensive as sequestration is, which, if you’ve read any of the details, it’s kind of scary … So we’ll make it, but it’s stressful.”
Carpenter said that because of the sequestration, Eisenhower Army Medical Center is already making cuts to hospital staff and reducing hours at the hospital. Carpenter’s father and those working directly under him were supposed to be moved to a new office at the hospital. Now because of sequestration, that move has been canceled.
“For us, it’s concerning,” Carpenter said. “He works, as I said, as an MEB counselor, so he meets tons of people that, you know, if you’re enlisted, that’s all you’ve got. If you’re a private, you make enough to qualify for food stamps. And it’s scary. Until you start thinking about how broad the complications are from it, it doesn’t hit you. But when it does, it’s a weight.”
Carpenter continued, expressing concern for those who rely on veterans’ benefits for income and to support their families. A different concern was voiced by Chase Griffin, a sophomore in history and cadet in UT’s Army ROTC division.
Griffin pointed out that the sequestration will have a negative impact on ROTC at UT.
“You’ll see our funding go lower for acquisitions and different training operations … those budgets will go down,” he said. “Also, the number of scholarships we’re allowed to give out is going to be going down.”
Because ROTC members sign legally binding contracts with the federal government, enlistees will not see their paychecks affected by sequestration, and their educational costs will still be covered. However, Griffin said their commanders try to keep him and his fellow cadets informed of any new developments.
“They’re really trying to preserve ROTC, so I’ve heard from our command,” Griffin said. “Like sometimes they’ll come out in front of formation. They’ll talk to us and say like, ‘Hey, we’ve got this money coming in. They’re cutting these other programs, but we’re still good.”
Both Carpenter and Griffin stress the importance of students staying informed about sequestration, as both men have made sure to keep themselves up to date on the plan’s effects.
“Regardless of your political position, regardless of whatever stance you have, you need to know this,” Carpenter said. “You need to learn more about this. And it affects you no matter what walk of life you’re in … It’s coming, and it’s here. It’s about to hit. We haven’t felt it, we’re not gonna really notice anything for the first week or two, but you’ll start looking around and going ‘what’s the deal?’… It’s coming, and you need to know why, you need to know how it’s going to affect you.”
The United States’ road to economic recovery will be long and hard, but the president said his administration is working diligently to ensure the best decisions are being made.
“You know, the good news is the American people are strong and they’re resilient,” Obama said. “They fought hard to recover from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and we will get through this as well.”
