Detailed List of the Effects of the Federal Budget Cuts on Latinos

Wendy Carrillo and the good folks at Voto Latino have put together a comprehensive list of the impact that the biggest budget cuts in history will have on the Latino community.

Political leaders in Washington did the eleventh hour “rescue” of a government shutdown, and later on, at respective press conferences, they had their rescue moment staged before the press. Here’s a partial list of the budget line items that will directly affect Latinos:

• $500 million from the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) low-income food program (35% of beneficiaries are Latinos).
• $3.5 billion from the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which would award states who enroll the most uninsured children (1 in 5 Latino children are uninsured).
• $600 million cut from community health centers (39% of Latinos are uninsured).
• $2.2 billion from the new COOPS program, which allows community health organizations to come together to create health care cooperatives, leading to lower costs.
• $17 million in Title X family planning and reproductive health services (23% of beneficiaries are Latino).

The agreement and the subsequent announcement had room enough for a reckoning. The president and the GOP were each itchin’ to go in front of a camera to state their case. The result allowed Speaker Boehner to claim a victory in making historic cuts to the federal budget, which has pleased some members of the Tea Party who complain about the size of government. President Obama can claim that he helped bring two sides together, while Democrats averted some of the worst aspects of the proposed GOP cuts.

The result allowed Speaker Boehner to claim a victory in making historic cuts to the federal budget, which has pleased some members of the Tea Party who complain about the size of government. President Obama can claim that he helped bring two sides together, while Democrats averted some of the worst aspects of the proposed GOP cuts.