State and Local Go'vt Job Loss | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Off the Charts Blog | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

"As Americans return from vacation to find shrunken state and local services — from fewer teachers in their children’s classrooms to less help for elderly and disabled residents to tuition hikes at public universities — we hope they’ll connect the dots as well as yesterday’s New York Times editorial did:

Washington should have been trying to find a way to help states avoid the layoffs and cutbacks that have contributed heavily to the high unemployment rate. Instead, it seems to be doing everything possible to make the situation worse in state capitals around the country.
That’s because the large federal spending cuts in the recent debt-limit deal will inevitably force large cuts in funding for services that states and localities provide, like transportation, education, and environmental protection"