Sequestration
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) yesterday released its advice to the President on sequestration. This document is as boring as its name suggests.
This particular sequestration was passed into law as part of the debt ceiling compromise both parties agreed to in the summer of 2011. That deal called for a $1.1 trillion cut from federal spending during the next ten years and then called for a "super committee" made up of leaders from both parties to shave another $1.2 trillion off the budget. They failed, so the law mandates that $1.2 trillion be cut equally from domestic programs and the defense budget. Remember, this law was agreed to by both parties in both houses of Congress - Republicans agreed to defense cuts that they never thought they'd have to make, and Democrats agreed to huge cuts in domestic programs that they never thought they'd have to make. Both parties thought that the Supercommittee "could not fail." But it did, and both parties share the blame.
"As the administration has made clear, no amount of planning can mitigate the effect of these cuts," the report reads. "Sequestration is a blunt and indiscriminate instrument. It is not the responsible way for our nation to achieve deficit reduction." The President makes it clear he thinks sequestration is a terrible idea, but he has no choice in the matter. Congress passed the law, and the law requires the President to implement sequestration.
In case you've been in a cave, let's review the root cause here: Democrats don't want to tackle the deficit using cuts alone and Republicans have refused any tax increases to offset some of those cuts. Let me word that another way - Democrats have offered both spending cuts & tax increases, and approach that over 60% of the country supports; Republicans want to accomplish this ONLY with spending cuts. They refuse to look at any plan that involves tax increases, even a plan that offered $10 in spending cuts for every $1 of tax increase. Republicans found that unreasonable. What does the public think?
Who does the public blame for the SuperCommittee failure? From Wikipedia "An ORC International poll conducted November 11–13 [2011] reports that 19% of respondents would hold both parties responsible for failure to reach an agreement; 32% of respondents thought Democrats would have a greater responsibility, and 42% Republicans (±3%).[33] A Quinnipiac University Pollconducted November 14–20 indicates that voters blamed the looming impasse on Congressional Republicans 44% to 38% (±1.9%) over President Obama and Congressional Democrats.[34][35] AGallup poll conducted on November 21 after the announcement finds that 55% apportioned blame equally to the Republicans and the Democrats on the committee, with 24% blaming the Republican members more and 15% blaming the Democratic members more (±4%).[36]"
Here's what will happen next. The Republicans will blame Obama for sequestration. They'll say he needs to "do something" to avoid the mess that Congress tee'd up. In case you didn't read that first link which defines sequestration, know this. It was invented in 1985 as part of the budget control act. It was sponsored an approved by Republicans in Congress, and signed into law by the Gipper himself. It was designed to force Congress to reduce spending through a "mandatory," overall budget cap. Why hasn't it worked? Congress simply votes every year to raise the cap. These guys won't even take their own medicine.
This particular sequestration was passed into law as part of the debt ceiling compromise both parties agreed to in the summer of 2011. That deal called for a $1.1 trillion cut from federal spending during the next ten years and then called for a "super committee" made up of leaders from both parties to shave another $1.2 trillion off the budget. They failed, so the law mandates that $1.2 trillion be cut equally from domestic programs and the defense budget. Remember, this law was agreed to by both parties in both houses of Congress - Republicans agreed to defense cuts that they never thought they'd have to make, and Democrats agreed to huge cuts in domestic programs that they never thought they'd have to make. Both parties thought that the Supercommittee "could not fail." But it did, and both parties share the blame.
"As the administration has made clear, no amount of planning can mitigate the effect of these cuts," the report reads. "Sequestration is a blunt and indiscriminate instrument. It is not the responsible way for our nation to achieve deficit reduction." The President makes it clear he thinks sequestration is a terrible idea, but he has no choice in the matter. Congress passed the law, and the law requires the President to implement sequestration.
In case you've been in a cave, let's review the root cause here: Democrats don't want to tackle the deficit using cuts alone and Republicans have refused any tax increases to offset some of those cuts. Let me word that another way - Democrats have offered both spending cuts & tax increases, and approach that over 60% of the country supports; Republicans want to accomplish this ONLY with spending cuts. They refuse to look at any plan that involves tax increases, even a plan that offered $10 in spending cuts for every $1 of tax increase. Republicans found that unreasonable. What does the public think?
Who does the public blame for the SuperCommittee failure? From Wikipedia "An ORC International poll conducted November 11–13 [2011] reports that 19% of respondents would hold both parties responsible for failure to reach an agreement; 32% of respondents thought Democrats would have a greater responsibility, and 42% Republicans (±3%).[33] A Quinnipiac University Pollconducted November 14–20 indicates that voters blamed the looming impasse on Congressional Republicans 44% to 38% (±1.9%) over President Obama and Congressional Democrats.[34][35] AGallup poll conducted on November 21 after the announcement finds that 55% apportioned blame equally to the Republicans and the Democrats on the committee, with 24% blaming the Republican members more and 15% blaming the Democratic members more (±4%).[36]"
Here's what will happen next. The Republicans will blame Obama for sequestration. They'll say he needs to "do something" to avoid the mess that Congress tee'd up. In case you didn't read that first link which defines sequestration, know this. It was invented in 1985 as part of the budget control act. It was sponsored an approved by Republicans in Congress, and signed into law by the Gipper himself. It was designed to force Congress to reduce spending through a "mandatory," overall budget cap. Why hasn't it worked? Congress simply votes every year to raise the cap. These guys won't even take their own medicine.
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