If the Congress and President Obama cannot agree on a plan to raise the debt limit then the Federal Government will go into default. There have been all kinds of dire predictions about what will happen to the US economy should this happen. The financial industry claims that Congress not only needs to raise the debt ceiling but they also must cut the deficit by something like $4 trillion if the US government’s credit rating is to remain in good order. In response, the Democrats have advocated raising taxes on the wealthy which, naturally, the Republicans refuse to do. So, What does all this mean for those of us whose incomes are low?

However this gets resolved, you can be sure that Congress will do it’s best to close the deficit by cutting programs that help the poor. It won’t work of course as those programs don’t make up enough of the budget to make a substantial difference in the deficit even if they were entirely eliminated. The axe will fall next on entitlements like Medicaid and Social Security which also have a disproportionate impact on low- and moderate-income folks. So, as usual, the wealthy will do fine and the rest of us will continue to struggle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6hD5A4tquk

Jasmine Archer of Different Avenues, a DC Nonprofit working for reproductive justice by and for girls and women of color, examines how the budget cuts will affect youth in the above digital story. Here’s her introduction: I did a digital story on the budget cuts and talked a little about how it’s going to affect us as a people. Image if they cut WIC (Women Infant Children) how many mothers and children will be hungry, or image if they cut health care, how many people wouldn’t be able to afford their medication. I wonder do they imagine how it will affect us as a people mentally, physically, and emotionally, or how the budget cuts can create violence and depression.