Budgets

All You Need to Know About Sequestration But Were Afraid to Ask

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.

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When Will the Two Sides Come to the Table and Strike a Deal?

By Feb. 28, 20130
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Speaker of the House John Boehner answers reporters' questions Feb. 13 at Republican Party Headquarters in Washington.

That’s the $85 billion question. No one knows. It could happen before the end of March, when Congress faces yet another deadline—to continue funding for the entire government. “That would be the optimistic scenario,” says budget expert Scott Lilly, “that somehow these knuckleheads come to their senses within that period of time.” If no deal is struck by then, all nonessential government operations will cease. Neither side wants government services to slow to a crawl, but it could happen.

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    SamuelYap
    SamuelYap

    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!


    Ohio50
    Ohio50

    I think sequestration is one of Obama few good ideas.  In fact I would like to see:

    • A forced 20% rightsizing of all government agencies over the next two years.
    • A constitutional amendment to balance the budget
    • A move over the next two years to Fair Tax with no exemptions of any kind
    • A move over the next two years to have all government expenses at all levels posted on the Internet by element of expense in real time with each transaction
    • Eliminate ALL taxes except Fair Tax at all levels of government.
    • Full documentation posted on the Internet in real time of how each level of government intends to allocate the Fair Tax. Allocation to include a distribution to school districts for that portion of the school district within that government's boundary.
    • A running balance sheet posted in real time on the Internet by each level of government.
    • Receipts for all transactions available in real time and posted on the Internet

    PaulDirks
    PaulDirks like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

     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.