The Sequester

[Minskaya]

Unless a compromise is reached, the Sequester portion of the Budget Control Act of 2011 will automatically kick-in on March 1. In the current fiscal year, $85 billion in federal budget slashes will occur and a total of $1 trillion in additional budgetary cuts will occur over the next ten years. The cuts will be across-the-board, with Defense and Agriculture bearing the brunt. Uniformed military personal will be exempt, as will be entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare. With the Sequester in mind, the US Navy now says it cannot afford to send a second carrier battle group to the volatile Persian Gulf region. I find this difficult to believe.

Way back in July of 2011, no one in Washington seriously thought the Sequester would actually be implemented. As part of the Fiscal Cliff congressional deal of 2012, the Sequester was postponed from January 1 to March 1 2013. It was hoped that further negotiations would transpire during this interrum.

The Sequester is mere days away now. No deal has been reached and no new negotiations are on the political horizon.

The Obama White House says Americans will be appalled by the mandatory cuts in federal services.

Congressional Republicans feel the majority of Americans will hardly notice the Sequester cuts in a $3.8 trillion dollar federal budget.

Your thoughts?

[astralis]

well, i'm one of the folks getting their pay cut by 20%, so yeah, i think i'll feel it...

[bigross86]

Personally, I think it'll hurt, but it's the right thing to do. If the lawmakers can't be counted on to come up with a solution, it's a good thing that the system has a built in solution that takes it out of the lawmakers' hands. Not only that, something like this actively encourages people to come up with a normal solution once they see what the alternative is.

[dalem]

It's a pittance. I'm fine with it.

-dale

[DOR]

Reminds me of "We had to destroy the village to save the village."

[silentsam]

well, i'm one of the folks getting their pay cut by 20%, so yeah, i think i'll feel it...

I know that I am going to feel it, and the family is already feeling it. Given the lack of information from hq, I went ahead and pulled the kids out of ballet and cut the food budget... cuts need to be made throughout the govt, but the way it is proceeding won't result in any lasting/meaningul savings.

[dalem]

Reminds me of "We had to destroy the village to save the village."

Oh please - nothing's being destroyed.

ABC: Devastating sequester cuts? Give me a break! « Hot Air

-dale

[Minskaya]

Graph from the Congressional Budget Office. At best, it seems the Sequester is only a shadow solution.

[dalem]

Same graph I linked to. It's from Veronique de Rugy - the data is from the CBO. :)

-dale

[Doktor]

Yet, Harry will stay docked in Norfolk.

[Albany Rifles]

While my project has been declared mission essential my team members who are matrix support are not.

I just had to release my 5 year temp employees.

And we will stop in its tracks the one Army system which allows us to have full auditability....another Congressional mandate.

I can not my personnel (or myself) on the road if they have to be furloughed 1 day a week. At COB each Thursday all personnel have to report present here at home station, turn in their Blackberrys and computers and pick them back up on Monday. We can not engage with our customers at all.

Oh and since half of my users are DA civilians they are in the same boat.

Just as we get a program off the ground we stop it in its tracks. And it will take 18 months to get it restarted since I have to go through the rehire process.

[Stitch]

The problem with the Sequester is it's an across-the-board cut, regardless of the program; programs that still need to be funded will get decreasing funds, while unneccessary programs will simply receive the same cuts. It may be necessary, but it's a VERY arbitrary way to go about this.

[bigross86]

Again, maybe the fact that it's such a bad plan will actually encourage lawmakers to come up with something decent.

[Minskaya]

Again, maybe the fact that it's such a bad plan will actually encourage lawmakers to come up with something decent.

That was exactly the sentiment way back in July of 2011. No one imagined that it would not be amended in the interrum to make it more sensible. But the Congressional Super-Committee could not agree on alterations. And now, the cuts will automatically kick-in on Friday.

[bigross86]

Well, then, serves them right. They were given the chance to fix it, and didn't. They have no one to blame but themselves, and the brilliant thing is, they can (and hopefully will) be voted out of office, to give someone else a chance at fixing things.