Vance Warns of 'Painful Cuts,' Forgetting Those Already Enduring Them
Vice President JD Vance, channeling his inner Scrooge, warns of 'deeper cuts' and 'painful' consequences as the federal shutdown grinds into its twelfth day with 4,000 workers already facing termination. The administration assures us the military will be paid and some food assistance will continue (how generous), while hundreds of thousands of other federal employees are furloughed without pay.
Vance, ever the empathetic voice, blames 'Democrats' for dealing a 'difficult set of cards.' One might wonder if the cards dealt to food-insecure children and now jobless federal workers feel equally 'difficult.' This 'painful' austerity apparently doesn't extend to the military-industrial complex or the billions annually earmarked for foreign aid. For example, while federal cafeteria workers are
out of a job, Congress recently fast-tracked another $14 billion in aid for Israel (HR 815, 2023). That bill passed with broad bipartisan support, including from many of the same legislators currently squabbling over funding domestic services. Perhaps the 'deeper cuts' are always reserved for constituents, not lobbyists with open checkbooks.