Cost-cutting measures proposed in the budget reconciliation efforts under way in Washington are shortsighted.

Many of the cuts will affect low-income Americans. Specifically, they will impact Medicaid, child support enforcement, food stamps, child-care subsidies and student loans.

Cutting aid to those least able to help themselves or who are trying to improve their economic situation could result in a greater cost to the taxpayer down the road.

Reductions in Medicaid benefits likely will send more people to the emergency room for routine medical problems.

Emergency room medical care is expensive and should be reserved for true emergencies, but what is a person to do when he or she can't afford any other alternative?

That cut would help the bottom line in the federal budget, but it means the costs will be borne by local taxpayers who fund indigent hospitals.

Reductions in federal funding for child support enforcement could severely hamper State Attorney General Greg Abbott's efforts in that area.

Abbott said last week that proposed federal cuts could result in a major reduction of his child support enforcement staff and a $3 billion drop in child support collections during the next four years.

In San Antonio alone, Abbott collected more than $188 million in child support for about 100,000 families last year. That's a significant amount of money going directly to children.

Without child support, many families will have to apply for public assistance to make ends meet.

Trimming food stamp and child-care programs will hurt the working poor who are trying to survive on menial wages. It will leave thousands hungry and make it more difficult for many workers to support their families if they have no one to care for their children.

Breaking the cycle of poverty is difficult, but higher education has been a way out for many. Making it more costly for students to pay for their college education is counterproductive.

Congress should be working to encourage more students to attend college, not creating roadblocks.

As conferees meet to work out the differences between the House and Senate budget reconciliation proposals, they should weigh the long-term effects of their actions on society and the economy.