Quick Fact(s) - The Sequester Explained

From an article by Jonathan Weisman:
The sequester "emerged from the refusal of House Republicans to raise the debt ceiling in 2011 without significant deficit reduction.  In response, the two parties agreed to the Budget Control Act, which cut domestic spending over the next 10 years by $1 trillion.  Democrats refused to agree to more cuts without additional revenue from taxes, and Republicans refused to agree to tax increases.

Instead, Congress set up a committee to find further deficit reduction.  To push the committee to reach a deal, negotiators established a fallback mechanism meant to be so onerous it would never happen:  $1.2 trillion in across-the-board, automatic cuts to both military and domestic programs, (now) set to begin (March 1)."

Apparently the committee didn't get the "onerous" memo.

Facts on where we stand today, in no particular order:

1.   The President and just about every economist in the country knows that we cannot "cut" ourselves out of debt; that we also need additional revenue.  Rather than seek higher tax rates, the President has asked Republicans to consider closing a number of tax loopholes to increase our income.  

This is exactly the type of close-the-loopholes-to-increase-revenue plan that Mitt Romney campaigned on in 2012.  Back then, the Republicans cheered.  Now, they're refusing to even consider these "tax increases".

2.   Last week, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) called the mandated cuts a "yawn" and a "pittance", further stating that President Obama's warnings are "histrionics".

Tell that to the people who will lose their jobs. 

3.   Should the sequester happen, Congress has put together a plan to cover their reduced budgets.  They will cut their staffs, while allowing their own salaries to stay the same.

Maybe Mr. Paul can explain the "yawn" part of this plan to those staffers who will be joining the unemployment line.

4.   Karl Rove has recommended that Republicans agree to fund the government for the rest of the year at the rate dictated by the sequester; but that they remove the specificity of the cuts and allow the President to decide exactly where the cuts will be made.  Mr. Rove contends that voters will then blame the President for the cuts, not Republicans, and that will result in a huge ground swelling of support for Republican candidates in 2014.

How cynically self-serving can you get?  Don't do anything to help our slowly emerging economic recovery; just make sure there is a plan in place to take advantage of the situation and to cover your own butt should the country fall back into recession.  Thank you, Karl.

5.   The latest Pew study shows that 19% of Americans think deficit reduction should accomplished through spending cuts alone;  76% favor spending cuts along with tax increases such as the President's plan to cut loopholes.

Republicans are too busy taking care of themselves to remember that they were elected to represent the people--all the people, not just the rich ones--you know,  people like those counted in the Pew study.  And, really, how much money do those 76% give to Republican campaigns anyway? 

6.   The President's approval rating is at the highest point since he took office in 2009.  The Republican Party's rating is at the lowest.

This is undoubtedly another plot perpetrated by the liberal media.