U.S. Senator Joe Manchin says there’s a smarter way to make federal budget cuts and the cuts currently being threatened are “ridiculous.”
The senator told reporters Tuesday the 2011 super committee failed to do its job to complete the big picture with tax reform, wasteful spending and reforms to social programs leaving Congress in the situation it finds itself in now.
Manchin says he’s all for cuts in spending but the $85 billion sequester scheduled to take effect Friday are in his words “draconian.” He says agencies should be given flexibility to make the cuts not the across-the-board style that’s scheduled which includes $42 billion-plus for military and $42 billion-plus for non-military.
“Allow the Department of Defense to come up with where they can think they can make the cuts. Allow the Office of Management and Budget to see what they would recommend,” Manchin said.
Manchin’s Top 20 cuts for West Virginia include:
Military Readiness: The Department of Defense would furlough approximately 2,000 civilian employees in West Virginia alone, reducing total payments by about $9.9 million. In addition, the Army’s base operation funding would be cut by about $1.4 million.
Head Start: $2.98 million in cuts would reduce educational access for 415 three and four-year-old students, and would potentially cut over 180 educational jobs.
Manchin says there’s still time for something to be worked out by Friday’s deadline.
“I’m still very hopeful they’ll find a deal, a bigger deal, between now and the end of the month. And if not, I’m hoping that we can adjust the way they are going to administer these cuts and put flexibility to them,” Manchin said.