Sequestration Protesters Rally at South Gwinnett High School
Organizers from Georgia Fair Share and the Gwinnett County Association of Educators stood on the corner of Skyland Drive and Highway 78 to protest government cuts.
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Six protesters showed up at South Gwinnett High on March 11 to send a message to Congress, and to Rep. Rob Woodall in particular.
"The consequences of Congress' refusal to compromise are now coming home to roost," Jason Pfeifle, organizer with Georgia Fair Share, said in statement. "By failing to agree on a budget deal to avoid the sequester, Rep. Woodall and his colleagues in Washington have ushered in cuts to vital programs that will have significant impacts on the daily lives of Gwinnettians."
The sequester involves automatic budget cuts that went into effect on March 1. They are the result of a 2011 piece of legislation by the Obama administration called the Budget Control Act, which raised the debt ceiling and "sought to apply pressure on Congress to come up with a longer term plan for deficit reduction," according to the Huffington Post.
According to Pfeifle, the $83 billion in cuts this year alone will impact everything from education to the safety of our streets. An estimated $28.6 million could be cut from K-12 education funding, putting 390 teachers and aide jobs at risk, while the military will see $550 billion in cuts.
Around 70,000 children will lose access to Head Start programs.
Donna Aker, president of the Gwinnett County Association of Educators and a few members of MoveOn.org teamed up with Georgia Fair Share to protest on the corner of Skyland Drive and Highway 78. As they stood on the corner, many cars honked in agreement as they drove by.
South Gwinnett, along with all other Gwinnett County schools, was closed for a furlough day. Donna Aker said the current furlough days are just a sign of things to come if no action is taken to reverse the cuts.
The group, all three with ties to the Democratic party, advocated for what they termed a simple solution -- generate revenue by closing corporate tax loopholes.
"Large tax loopholes for corporations are costing both federal and state governments billions of dollars," said Pfeifle. "It's simply wrong to allow companies like GE and Facebook to cash in their tax rebates on billions of untaxed dollars in profits while simultaneously cutting funding for vital education programs for low-income children."
Most recently, the Department of Defense has cut tuition assistance for enlisted men and women due to budget cuts, and White House tours have been canceled.
For further reading:
- Protest Planned at South Gwinnett to Demand that Congress Stop Sequestration
- Is Canceling White House Tours a Good Example of How to Implement Sequestration?
- Op-Ed: The Sequestration Matters for Georgia -- It's Time to Pay Attention
- Group Asks Rep. Woodall, Congress to Avoid 'Sequester'
- Sequestration Could Cost Gwinnett County Schools to Lose $3.4 Million
- Rep. Woodall: 'I Will Not be Complicit in Kicking the Can Down the Road'
JH Wilson
8:28 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
I could care less about anyone associated with moveon.org. Instead of blaming it on Congress, try Obama first. He has not cut aid to Egypt\, Africa and several other foreign countries, but cutting U.S. interest. He is trying to get a work approvals for 30 million illegal aliens. You think you have problems now, just wait. Obama had control of congress his first two years and did nothing as far as a balanced budget. So please, put the blame where it goes.
Snellville Tod
10:35 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
There are a number of simple facts that Ga Fair Share seems to neglect. Sequestration was a proposal put forth by the White House and agreed to by Congress in order to reach an compromise with the President last year. The Federal Government uses "government math" when talking about budget cuts. Every program has a automatic budgetary increase that, according to Wikipedia, averages out to 7% each year. This means even with sequestration our federal budget increased this year. Strange that we could afford the teachers, air traffic controllers and park rangers last year but even with an increase in expenditures we will have to "furlough" them this year.
mark williams
8:58 am on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Why did this make the news story...SIX PEOPLE showed up. I will have lunch with a bigger crowd than that and discuss way more impacting things than this collection of un-impactful crew has ever even thought of. The difference is, that my group will be doing things to make a difference, and not standing around on a corner complaining because we were not handed our fair share. They expect MY GROUP, to hand them their share, instead of working for it....AND THIS IS NEWS BECAUSE ____________?????????
j miller
9:16 am on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
This "protest" at South Gwinnett High School is emblematic of the problem with the Democrat party, and sequestration. Georgia Fair Share couldn't find an "event" caused by the sequestration, so they used a completely unrelated furlough day to appeal to parents about "the children" and the "possible" effect of sequestration. The Snellville Patch is( I hope) un-intentionally complicit is this misrepresentation by photographing the event showing individuals only giving the impression more people were present, instead of a wide frame photograph showing the five or six people lying to the public. In defense of the Patch, it was mentioned in the article "a small group" of people participated.
Crystal Huskey
9:30 am on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
The first sentence also says that "six people showed up."
Crystal Huskey
9:47 am on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Guys you have to remember that Patch is different than traditional media. If it happens in Snellville, I do my best to be there. News isn't always earthquakes and political drama. I showed up to this event not knowing if three or thirty people would show up. The facts are there, as they happened. I write plenty of stories and interview people I don't agree with, but hopefully you'll never recognize that here. Feel free to email me at Crystal.Huskey@patch.com if you have further questions.
mark williams
11:30 am on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Crystal...With all due respect, and I really do appreciate the work that you do. But it is a trained mentality of sensationalism that drives this type of journalism. And this type of journalism is the cause of a lot of our problems in this country. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to bash you. But here is a good example.......Your tag headline is... .....Organizers from Georgia Fair Share and the Gwinnett County Association of Educators stood on the corner of Skyland Drive and Highway 78 to protest government cuts....it appears that a large group which includes our teachers are all "RALLYING" together, when it is actually 2 people that have given themselves big titles, and their best 2 friends ....YES, the facts are in the body, but the sensationalistic tactics create the squeeky wheel that get the grease, and cause all of us more regulation, more government, and more taxes....If my opening tagline and entry sentence was, " A journalist from the Patch is under fire for embellishing stories to make a name for herself"......it takes on a whole different meaning than if I say,...."why is this news"??????...LOL.....