You changed the channel, you clicked away from the headlines, and you tried to ignore it. But the sequester can no longer be avoided. On March 1, the latest dysfunctional deadlock in Washington will trigger $85 billion in automatic cuts to federal spending over the next seven months, a reduction of about 2.4%. Pretty much anyone in any position of authority— Democrat or Republican— agreed this was a terrible idea when the law was written in 2011. Forecasters say the cut, if fully enacted, would slow U.S. economic growth by half a percentage point this year. But elected leaders are not yet ready to strike a compromise to replace the cuts. So it’s time to pay attention. Here’s seven frequently asked questions TIME answers.
Danny Werfel, federal controller, Office of Management and Budget, testifies before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing.
Congress could grant the White House authority to make smarter cuts and perhaps put the blame on Obama in the process. Budgeters could delay some reductions until later in the year to buy Congress time to rewrite the law, but that would be risky. “If these cuts are concentrated into an even shorter period, there will be an even deeper cliff,” Werfel says.
The Repubs are at it again. Their main agenda is to throw a monkey wrench into the Obama woodworks so that when it fails, they can come up smelling like roses for the next election. So it's all politics first, never mind the consequences to the country and to the world. And I thought the US of A was the model of a working democracy!
I think sequestration is one of Obama few good ideas. In fact I would like to see:
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The massive federal debt will be a problem in coming years, most economists say, but is not right now.
And there in a nutshell is all you have to know about the ENTIRE last three years. The Republicans whole plan is to make matters worse no matter what.
