It shocks us to the core to say this, but it appears as though politicians in Washington D.C. are actually going to let “the sequester” take place after all – albeit belatedly.
What is “the sequester?” For those of you who care about how your money is being spent, it represents $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts spread over nine months beginning in March of this year (or roughly $25 billion less than lawmakers originally pledged to cut in FY 2013). Half of these cuts would come from our bloated Pentagon budget, the other half from discretionary spending.
Part of the 2011 “debt dereliction deal” – which permitted our government to blow through $2.1 trillion in new deficit spending in just seventeen months – the sequester option was first proposed by U.S. President Barack Obama as a fallback in the event a “bipartisan” commission couldn’t agree to targeted cuts. The deal was simple: Congress was supposed to offset its $2.1 trillion debt ceiling hike with dollar-for-dollar cuts including $1.2 trillion in “sequestered funds” over a ten-year period from 2013-2022 and another $900 billion from 2019-2021.
Of course when we say “cuts” we really mean reductions in government’s deficit-driven excess …
Does Obama still believe the sequester is a good idea? Of course not. In fact he continues to bemoan its “massive automatic cuts” as he urges Congress to once again take a pass on exercising even a modicum of fiscal discipline.
Is Obama’s hysteria over the impact of these reductions justified?
Not even remotely.
According to The Wall Street Journal, during Obama’s first two years in office “federal domestic discretionary spending soared by 84 (percent) with some agencies doubling and tripling their budgets.”
Like we said … “reductions in excess.”
And while spending has tapered off slightly with “Republicans” controlling the U.S. House of Representatives, we’re still looking at discretionary spending growth of more than 30 percent over the last six years – of which the “sequester” will scale back only one out of every six dollars. And while this modest reduction in excess is a far cry from the draconian cuts our government really ought to be making – it is a very, very, VERY small step in the direction of fiscal sanity.
So here’s a “golf clap” for the sequester … assuming our government actually follows through with it.
***
(Banner via)
16 comments
Back in the day the was sequestration and the sky didn’t fall.
Of course that was back in the days of Gramm, Rudman, and Hollings when there were folk with mathnastic ability in the democrat party.
Given that the chicken little routine is Obama’s is hard wired into every teleprompter reading expect to see republicans retreat again.
Aside from all his recent hare-brainedness, I must give Newt Gingrich credit for demonstrating the proper response to Clinton’s attempted budgetary money-grabs: get serious Mr. President or we’ll just shut down the government until you reconsider.
At the time, the Democrats stomped their feet and accused the GOP of wanting children to starve and the elderly to eat dog food. (Remember “The Gingrich that Stole Christmas?”) But now the Democrats all proudly hold up “Clinton’s” balanced budgets and economic prosperity as the greatest legacies of his presidency.
If Democrats today were smart, they’d let that scenario play out again. They could paint the Republicans as evil for starving children and old folks, while simultaneously congratulating Obama for the economic prosperity that would come from allowing the Republicans to right the fiscal ship.
But Democrats today aren’t that smart. And sadly, with pathetically few exceptions, neither are the current crop of Republicans.
“The USA has a technology, called a printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. [fiat] dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost. By increasing the number of U.S. dollars in circulation, or even by credibly threatening to do so, [the Federal Reserve] can also reduce the value of a dollar in terms of goods and services, which is equivalent to raising the prices in dollars of those goods and services. We conclude that, under a paper-money system, a determined [Federal Reserve] can always generate higher spending and hence positive inflation.”
-Ben Bernanke
Muhahahahahahahaha!
The fiscal cliff deal should have included cuts to go WITH sequestration, but didn’t. The least they could do is still allow sequestration to happen.
BFD. This is a big waste of space Sic. More pics!! :)
They will hype this in the news, grab the ratings (There is no bad publicity, right?) and head back to there respective constituents with tag lines and sound bites on how they are right and the other guy is wrong. Ultimately the lemmings will be sated and everything continues down the same road.
When the shite hits the fan, nothing will change.
Have a Great Day!! :) There won’t be many left with the Demlicans and Republicrats in charge.
Frank Pytel
One other thing. I expect we’ll be hearing from Grahmnesty and “No-Jobs” Wilson soon. Probably the other libitard newbs as well.
Have a Great Day!! :) There won’t be many left with the Demlicans and Republicrats in charge.
Frank Pytel
I’ll give the current house Republicans one prop: that they’re going to cut off Senate pay if those jokers don’t FOLLOW THE LAW and produce a budget. GOP should have had that legislation ready for a vote the first day they took control.
Yeh thats gonna happen!
I will be absolutely SHOCKED if either of these things happen:
1. Senate Democrats pass a budget
2. House Republicans cut off their paychecks if get don’t
Pretty sad that I fully expect Democrat senators to ignore their legal requirement. Equally sad that I don’t think the House Republicans have the balls to cut off their pay.
The reason the Senate has not passed a budget is they can’t get it past Republicans. Pretty sad that Republican Senators ignore their legal requirement.
Actually the annual federal deficit as a percentage of GDP is going down significantly under Obama. See below. The 2009 deficit was a Bush budget year.
Annual Deficit as a percentage of GDP
Year Percentage
2008 14369.1 303.380 3.19
2009 13939 306.051 10.13
2010 14508.2 308.746 8.92
2011 14958.6 311.592 8.69
2012 15601.5 314.123 8.51
Projected
2013 16335 316.847 5.52
2014 17155.6 319.594 3.89
2015 18177.8 322.366 3.35
2016 19261.1 325.010 3.37
And are certainly not at near crisis levels like these.
1942 161.9 135.792 12.04
1943 198.6 137.643 28.05
1944 219.8 139.519 22.35
1945 223 141.421 24.07
And before anyone says, but that was during the war. I remind you we are currently in two wars and have been for a decade.
Democrats are cowards. Of COURSE they wouldn’t get it past Republicans — no Republican in his right mind is going to vote for a budget with a TRILLION DOLLAR+ DEFICIT!!
GDP is contracting, deficit spending is expanding at a rate faster tan any time in history and you’re seriously trying to say deficit as a percentage of GDP is SHRINKING?!
Man, I want whatever you’re smoking!
Look at the numbers. Annual deficits as a percentage of GDP has been shrinking ever year since the 2009 Fiscal Year. I’m sorry that is not what Fox and Rush told you.
2009 10.13%
2010 8.92%
2011 8.69%
2012 8.51%
2013 5.52% (Projected)
“no Republican in his right mind is going to vote for a budget with a TRILLION DOLLAR+ DEFICIT!!”
Actually Republicans did vote for a budget with a 1.4 trillion dollar deficit for the 2009 fiscal year. So there goes that theory.
“I remind you we are currently in two wars and have been for a decade.”
The Iraq war is over.
I’ll be interested to see how much is actually cut from the Free Shit Army that supports Obama. Will the Obamaphones be cut? Will being fat and lazy qualify you for disability? Will you still be able to use EBT cards at McDonalds and convenience stores?
I’ll be interested to see how much is actually cut from the Free Shit Army that supports Obama. Will the Obamaphones be cut? Will being fat and lazy qualify you for disability? Will you still be able to use EBT cards at McDonalds and convenience stores?