As the deadline looms for Congress to agree on a budget plan that
would avoid an automatic series of spending cuts, a coalition of
worker rights', veteran and anti-poverty advocates convened at Federal
Plaza Thursday to voice their concerns over the potential negative
impact such a move would have for the most vulnerable Americans.
More than $1 trillion in cuts over the next decade, known as sequestration, are set to go into effect March 1. According to a report
released last September by the White House Office of Management and
Budget, reductions would be made across the board, impacting more than
1,200 agencies and programs.
Singing such tunes as “Stop in the
Name of Love”, some 40 to 50 protesters stood in the cold to give what
organizers described as a “Valentine’s Day message” to both Illinois
Democrat U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk to preserve
funding for the country’s social safety net.
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With no resolution in sight when it comes to finding a balance between bringing down the federal deficit and ensuring that the social safety net stays intact, many of the nation’s
most vulnerable citizens are concerned about the future of Social
Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Unemployment rates are not expected to improve for white, Latino and
African American workers through 2013, according to a new 
Illinois labor representatives and U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky
(D-Evanston) and Bill Foster (D-Naperville) gathered in Chicago this morning on a national day of mobilization to call on House
Republicans to stop holding families and seniors hostage in the ongoing fiscal cliff negotiations.