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  1. #1

    Sequestration budget cuts? Paging budget wonks...

    It seems that the House GOP has decided to separate the Debt ceiling from the automatic spending cuts that will take place on March 1st due to sequestration.

    Is sequestration a good thing? It's supposed to be an automatic spending cut, and it's probably more of a cut than the Dems (or even the GOP establishment) would ever agree to. In other words, it sounds like our best bet.

    Any budget wonks out there have any insight? Is this sequestration a good thing? Is it cutting from baseline, or is it cutting from built in increases? Is there any possibility that a deeper cut could ever be reached?

    This is no government shutdown, it's just some budget cuts. The GOP should use the government shutdown as a starting position for negotiations (if the leadership had any balls).


    This article talks about sequestration a bit:

    The $1.2 trillion spending sequester was once hailed as a political win for Democrats and as a point of leverage for the White House in the fiscal-cliff negotiations. Republicans, however, now see the automatic spending cuts as a possible trump card as they prepare for a series of budget showdowns.

    Congressional Republicans who are committed to reining in federal spending appear willing to let the sequester cuts begin to take effect this year. “Of all the things I’m pretty sure of in life, the sequester will happen,” says Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “Our team wants to see spending cuts.”

    Cuts are scheduled to begin on March 1, following a two-month delay agreed to as part of the fiscal-cliff legislation orchestrated by Vice President Joe Biden and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.). If implemented as planned, the sequester would cut about $100 billion from the federal budget in 2013.

    Republican sentiment toward sequestration has shifted since the idea was included in the 2011 debt-ceiling agreement. Many GOP lawmakers still harbor deep concerns over the composition of the cuts, which would disproportionately fall on the defense budget. However, having acknowledged that the GOP alternatives to the sequester are unlikely to be approved by the Democratic Senate or signed into law by President Obama, Republicans seem prepared to accept enforceable spending cuts wherever they can get them.

    It’s also an eleventh-hour strategy. House Republicans have already voted twice to replace the defense cuts with cuts to other portions of the federal budget. “Clearly, we don’t think the way the sequester is set up will be helpful to national security or the defense industry,” a House leadership aide says. “But we are committed to cutting spending in the federal government. So we’re not turning back on that.”

    That view is widely shared by House conservatives. Representative Steve Scalise (R., La.), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, would rather see the defense cuts replaced with domestic discretionary cuts but strongly opposes doing away with the sequester altogether. “At the end of the day, we need to make cuts,” he says. “And they have to be real cuts.”

    Representative Paul Broun (R., Ga.), a former Marine Corps reservist and Navy officer, agrees, adding that his opposition to further defense cuts would not prevent him from supporting sequestration absent a better alternative. “I’m very unhappy, especially as a member of the military, that we’d be having any more defense cuts,” he says. “But if the sequestration does occur, then I’ll support those cuts. I think it’s necessary to make those real kinds of cuts, and then hopefully we can restore military spending and offset it with other spending cuts elsewhere.”

    More:

    http://www.nationalreview.com/articl...-andrew-stiles
    "Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country, and giving it to the rich people of a poor country." - Ron Paul
    "Beware the Military-Industrial-Financial-Pharma-Corporate-Internet-Media-Government Complex." - B4L update of General Dwight D. Eisenhower
    "Debt is the drug, Wall St. Banksters are the dealers, and politicians are the addicts." - B4L
    "Totally free immigration? I've never taken that position. I believe in national sovereignty." - Ron Paul

    Proponent of real science.
    The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own, and do not represent this forum or any other entities or persons.



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  3. #2
    It is a cut in the rate of increase, only
    "Integrity means having to say things that people don't want to hear & especially to say things that the regime doesn't want to hear.” -Ron Paul

    "Bathtub falls and police officers kill more Americans than terrorism, yet we've been asked to sacrifice our most sacred rights for fear of falling victim to it." -Edward Snowden

  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by sailingaway View Post
    It is a cut in the rate of increase, only
    Wow. How lame. And even the GOP establishment is trying to avoid it?
    "Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country, and giving it to the rich people of a poor country." - Ron Paul
    "Beware the Military-Industrial-Financial-Pharma-Corporate-Internet-Media-Government Complex." - B4L update of General Dwight D. Eisenhower
    "Debt is the drug, Wall St. Banksters are the dealers, and politicians are the addicts." - B4L
    "Totally free immigration? I've never taken that position. I believe in national sovereignty." - Ron Paul

    Proponent of real science.
    The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own, and do not represent this forum or any other entities or persons.

  5. #4
    Yup. They need drama.
    "Integrity means having to say things that people don't want to hear & especially to say things that the regime doesn't want to hear.” -Ron Paul

    "Bathtub falls and police officers kill more Americans than terrorism, yet we've been asked to sacrifice our most sacred rights for fear of falling victim to it." -Edward Snowden

  6. #5
    It cuts $100 billion this year out of a nearly $4 trillion budget. That's 2.5% - hardly a drop in the bucket for such a blated organization.

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by CT4Liberty View Post
    It cuts $100 billion this year out of a nearly $4 trillion budget. That's 2.5% - hardly a drop in the bucket for such a blated organization.
    That's pathetic. And I suppose that if the GOP leadership cuts a deal, it will eliminate some of the cuts that will occur automatically if they do nothing.

    Seems like government "shutdown" (via debt ceiling?) is the only way to stop spending.
    "Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country, and giving it to the rich people of a poor country." - Ron Paul
    "Beware the Military-Industrial-Financial-Pharma-Corporate-Internet-Media-Government Complex." - B4L update of General Dwight D. Eisenhower
    "Debt is the drug, Wall St. Banksters are the dealers, and politicians are the addicts." - B4L
    "Totally free immigration? I've never taken that position. I believe in national sovereignty." - Ron Paul

    Proponent of real science.
    The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own, and do not represent this forum or any other entities or persons.

  8. #7
    Forum hiccup.
    Last edited by Brian4Liberty; 01-19-2013 at 01:42 PM.
    "Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country, and giving it to the rich people of a poor country." - Ron Paul
    "Beware the Military-Industrial-Financial-Pharma-Corporate-Internet-Media-Government Complex." - B4L update of General Dwight D. Eisenhower
    "Debt is the drug, Wall St. Banksters are the dealers, and politicians are the addicts." - B4L
    "Totally free immigration? I've never taken that position. I believe in national sovereignty." - Ron Paul

    Proponent of real science.
    The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own, and do not represent this forum or any other entities or persons.

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by CT4Liberty View Post
    It cuts $100 billion this year out of a nearly $4 trillion budget. That's 2.5% - hardly a drop in the bucket for such a blated organization.
    No, it just cuts $100 billion out of proposed increases. For example, they propose to increase spending by $200 billion, and then they come back and say that they're only going to increase spending by $100 billion, and they call that a cut.



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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Traditional Conservative View Post
    No, it just cuts $100 billion out of proposed increases. For example, they propose to increase spending by $200 billion, and then they come back and say that they're only going to increase spending by $100 billion, and they call that a cut.
    And one of the things that confuses the issue is that they call it a $1.2 trillion cut. If that was all in 2013, fiscal conservatives might be optimistic. $100 billion deducted from a larger proposed increase is just a damn joke.
    "Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country, and giving it to the rich people of a poor country." - Ron Paul
    "Beware the Military-Industrial-Financial-Pharma-Corporate-Internet-Media-Government Complex." - B4L update of General Dwight D. Eisenhower
    "Debt is the drug, Wall St. Banksters are the dealers, and politicians are the addicts." - B4L
    "Totally free immigration? I've never taken that position. I believe in national sovereignty." - Ron Paul

    Proponent of real science.
    The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own, and do not represent this forum or any other entities or persons.

  12. #10
    I'd like to suggest that no politician or federal employee receive another nickle, for any reason, until the books are not only balanced but in the black.

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by tod evans View Post
    I'd like to suggest that no politician or federal employee receive another nickle, for any reason, until the books are not only balanced but in the black.
    Amen to that, hold these $#@!ers hostage until we're back to basics.

  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by FSP-Rebel View Post
    Amen to that, hold these $#@!ers hostage until we're back to basics.
    It would only be forcing them to do their job before they're paid..

    It's how I work..

  15. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by tod evans View Post
    I'd like to suggest that no politician or federal employee receive another nickle, for any reason, until the books are not only balanced but in the black.
    They don't need to be encouraged to run a surplus, either.

  16. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by angelatc View Post
    They don't need to be encouraged to run a surplus, either.
    I'd much rather see a slight surplus than permitting these idiots to borrow or debase the currency any further...

  17. #15
    If we assume that Boehner (and some Democrats) could force a bigger spending plan through the House (less cuts than the automatic sequestration), the only thing stopping it after that would be a Senate filibuster. Hmmm. Did they buy time with the latest debt ceiling limit extension to give them enough time to eliminate the Senate filibuster before a big sellout "compromise" gets pushed through?
    "Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country, and giving it to the rich people of a poor country." - Ron Paul
    "Beware the Military-Industrial-Financial-Pharma-Corporate-Internet-Media-Government Complex." - B4L update of General Dwight D. Eisenhower
    "Debt is the drug, Wall St. Banksters are the dealers, and politicians are the addicts." - B4L
    "Totally free immigration? I've never taken that position. I believe in national sovereignty." - Ron Paul

    Proponent of real science.
    The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own, and do not represent this forum or any other entities or persons.



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