Sequestration 2013: Congress to Ames: 'Drop Dead'?

(Editor's note: With reporting from Todd Richissin)

President Obama railed against Congress on Tuesday for yet another "manufactured crisis" -- this time sequestration 2013 -- and asked for help pressuring lawmakers to solve the budget impasse.

"If you agree with me, I need you to make sure your voices are heard," Obama told employees and television cameras at a shipbuilding plant in Virginia. "Let your leaders know what you expect of them. Let them know what you believe."

See Sequestration Impact on ISU Student Aid

The president said Republicans in Congress have put more stock in playing games than in saving the jobs around the country. In Story County, there's 1,710 federal jobs, which could be at risk.

"This work, along with hundreds of thousands of jobs, are currently in jeopardy because of politics in Washington," Obama said. 

Translated, it brings to mind the infamous New York Daily News headline that followed Gerald Ford's refusal to bail out New York City from bankruptcy. The headline: "Ford to New York: Drop Dead."

If a deal isn’t struck by Friday between President Obama and Congress, a series of mandated federal budget cuts will begin that would quickly be felt across the Midwest.

Here’s a sample of what’s at risk:

• $376,000 in funding for job search assistance, referral, and placement, meaning around 12,680 fewer people will get the help and skills they need to find employment.
• 2,000 civilian Department of Defense employees would be furloughed
• 2,370 fewer low income students in Iowa would receive aid to help them finance the costs of college and around 1,020 fewer students will get work-study jobs that help them pay for college.
• $6.4 million in funding for primary and secondary education, putting around 90 teacher and aide jobs at risk. In addition about 7,000 fewer students would be served and approximately 50 fewer schools would receive funding.

Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, a Democrat who now serves as agriculture secretary, said he may have to furlough safety inspectors at food processing plant, according to a report in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. 

Sen. Chuck Grassley questioned Vilsack's warning about meat inspectors, suggesting other areas of the federal workforce could be cut instead.

"Furloughing meat inspectors may shut down meat and poultry facilities and harm workers, farmers, and consumers," Grassley said. "I find it hard to believe that reductions can't be made elsewhere in the department that don't impact health and safety. If the department believes it needs to go to these drastic measures, the public ought to know if other areas within the department are seeing the same kinds of cost-saving measures as something as important as meat inspectors.”

Whoever is right or wrong, whoever is playing games or not, there's no doubt that even the prospect of sequestration is bad for Iowa. So, if you'd like to contact your government representatives, click on their names below:

Senator Chuck Grassley (R)

Des Moines
721 Federal Building
210 Walnut Street
Des Moines, IA 50309
(515) 288-1145
Fax: (515) 288-5097

Washington, D.C.
135 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3744
Fax: (202) 224-6020

Senator Tom Harkin (D)

Des Moines

210 Walnut Street
Room 733, Federal Building
Des Moines, IA 50309
(515) 284-4574 Phone
(515) 284-4937 Fax

Washington, D.C.

731 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3254 Phone
(202) 224-9369 Fax

Rep. Steve King (R)

Ames

1421 S Bell Avenue
Suite 102
Ames, Iowa 50010
Phone: 515.232.2885
Fax: 515.232.2844

Washington DC Office

2210 Rayburn Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202.225.4426
Fax: 202.225.3193