Tucson Congressman Raul Grijalva and many of his Congressional Progressive Caucus colleagues introduced the Balancing Act last week to “cancel the sequester and replace it with controls on Pentagon payments to contractors.”
At a news conference with Tucson mayor Jonathan Rothschild on Friday, the two democrats noted that Grijalva’s congressional district has one of the largest defense contractors in the country and many people in the community rely on the jobs created by Raytheon and its suppliers.
However, Grijalva’s efforts to cripple the economy in his district are nothing new. Two years ago he called for a boycott against his own people for passing legislation that required those stopped by law enforcement to show identification.
This week, Raytheon began issuing pink slips to its Tucson based employees in anticipation of the restrictions on the growth of government spending which will result from sequestration. Contrary to popular opinion, sequestration does not require cuts in services, but restricts the growth in spending on future services.
According to the New York Times, the Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association “members were battered by the boycott.” Tucson, the 6th poorest metropolitan area in the country has struggled to recover from the national recession and Grijalva’s boycott.
Even democrat representatives Steve Farley and Marcario Saldate, who won seats in the Arizona State Legislature, are heading for higher ground through appointments to federal jobs. So far the only jobs that seem at risk from the sequestration are in the areas of defense, public safety and education.
The cuts to those areas are being played up by the Obama administration as part of an ongoing effort to scare people into supporting tax increases.
According to Grijalva, the Balancing Act would have closed “the tax loopholes that only benefit very rich individuals and corporations,” which would not have affected his own people; the residents of the 6th poorest area of the country.
The House Republican majority has not brought it up for a vote, according to Grijalva’s office.
