DOUBLE WHAMMY
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
The Economic One-Two punch.
Businesses and individuals in the US are being hit with multiple changes to the way they have expected the economy to work. Sometimes one change is amplified by another. Here are a few examples:
Tariffs are being imposed on imported foods, fruits, and vegetables. This will lead to increased grocery prices on top of the increases generated by current inflation.
But at the same time, the current administration is dramatically cutting or eliminating programs like SNAP, Meals-on-Wheels, support for Food Banks, and TANF (the cash assistance program for low-income families struggling to afford basic necessities).
The net result is that people who can least afford good, nutritional food, will see their grocery bills rise, and lose the governmental support that has been provided to them in the past.
DOUBLE WHAMMY
Tariffs are being imposed on building materials like lumber and appliances. The result will be that even the least expensive rental apartments will see an increase in the costs of making those apartments ready for renters, increased insurance costs for the builders and building owners, and increased maintenance costs. These increases must lead to increases in rents.
But at the same time, the current administration is eliminating the rental assistance programs.
The net result is that not only are rents increasing for the people least able to afford them, but previously available funds to assist them are being eliminated.
DOUBLE WHAMMY
Tariffs are driving up the cost of home building, making purchasing a home more difficult than ever.
But at the same time, the current administration is eliminating the Home Investment Partnerships Program that provides grants to states and cities for urban development projects.
The net result is not only is becoming more expensive to build homes, but it will be even more expensive than before to build them in urban locations, affecting the people least able to afford housing.
DOUBLE WHAMMY
The tariffs imposed on importing companies are reducing orders for their goods. This will result in decreased revenue for those companies and all of the support firms that provide international shipping, warehousing, domestic transportation, legal services, accounting services, etc. The result is that there will be significant layoffs in hundreds of those businesses.
As a result of these job losses, all of the support business in those towns, the diners, the hair salons, the movie theatres and the real estate offices will lose customers.
But at the same time the Administration is cutting 43% of the staff at the Small Business Administration.
The net result is a loss of business for Main Street compounded by a loss of support from the Government.
DOUBLE WHAMMY
Workers working at or near minimum wage have difficulty in meeting living expenses. The tariffs imposed will increase the costs of living for everyone in this country, but the minimum wage will not change.
At the same time, the current administration is eliminating Head Start, which in addition to being the single greatest asset in preparing children for school, also provides hours of childcare to allow parents time for work.
The net result is that not only are workers bringing home less money (when adjusted for inflation, but they will no longer have support for childcare during their working hours.
DOUBLE WHAMMY
The current draft budget would shrink some of the core services that the NIH provides such as research on chronic diseases and epidemics. It would eliminate the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
At the same time, the budget looks at reducing Medicaid by shifting some costs to the states. But many of those states have “trigger” bills that cancel “Medicaid Expansion” if the share provided by the State increases beyond 10%, which will significantly decrease those people eligible for Medicaid. It also reduces eligibility for Medicaid for any “able-bodied” individual who is unemployed, or for illegal aliens, who, by the way DO NOT receive Medicaid. The only time hospitals receive reimbursements for immigrants is when they provide emergency services to uninsured people who have heart attacks or have been in car accidents, for example, services that are required by law.
The net result is that we are no longer investigating the causes of health issues specific to minority communities, but we are eliminating the support systems for them.
DOUBLE WHAMMY
The budget for the CDC will be cut IN HALF! The budget will eliminate the Occupational Safety and Health and Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response section, as well as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
At the same time, the Administration is cutting Federal support for Noloxone (Narcan), the single greatest medical way to reverse narcotic drug overdoses.
The net result is that there will be no support for investigating the cause for and treatment of substance abuse, compounded by the loss of funding for the best treatment currently available.
DOUBLE WHAMMY
The Pregnancy Risk and Assessment Monitoring System has lost its entire staff. This is the largest data system in the world for assessing maternal mortality.
At the same time the staffs collecting data on in vitro fertilizations and abortions have been completely eliminated.
The net result is that moving forward we will have lost the ability to understand if any policies implemented, eliminated, or expanded have either benefits or detriments to Women’s Health.
DOUBLE WHAMMY
The current Administration has eliminated the CDC program that monitors lead poisoning in children, identifying poisoning clusters, lead pipes, and lead in the food chain.
At the same time the Environmental Public Health Tracking Program has been eliminated.
The net result is that we won’t know where there are lead-poisoning risks, and we won’t know if what has been done, or what we might do for remediation will have any effects on Children’s Health.
DOUBLE WHAMMY
BTW, there are multiple other data-gathering groups that have been eliminated.
The CDC will no longer track violent deaths of Transgender people, who are more likely to be victims of violence.
The CDC will no longer track hospital data on nonfatal injuries from causes such as shooting, crashes, and drowning.
The CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey will no longer track sexual violence that goes unreported to the police.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has been gutted, so it no longer will track job-related illnesses and deaths.
HHS has eliminated the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, so we have lost the ability to measure drug use.
The National Youth Tobacco Survey has been eliminated.
The Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics, which predicts disease trends has been eliminated. This eliminates the primary source for monitoring the current Measles outbreak as well as the emerging Bird Flu.
All of these eliminated programs deprive us of the critical data we need to understand what is happening in our world. It seems that the underlying rationale is that “if we don’t have data on whether diseases or health risks are spreading, we won’t be afraid of the spread of those diseases or health risks.”