Goodbye fiscal cliff, hello debt ceiling. And now introducing the sequester: $85 billion automatic federal spending cuts that took effect March 1 and will take effect through Sept. 30, the end of the 2013 fiscal year. The sequester will cut spending and shrink the deficit by $1 trillion over the next decade.
Here’s all you need to know to understand the #sequester twitter.com/TheDailyEdge/s…
— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) March 9, 2013
The sequester, it’s worse than I ever imagined. twitter.com/BuzzFeedAndrew…
— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) March 1, 2013
Root of the Sequester
A spin-off from the debt ceiling, the sequester emerged from the refusal of House Republicans to raise the debt ceiling in 2011. The two parties agreed to the Budget Control Act which cut domestic spending over the next 10 years by about $1 trillion. Democrats refused to agree to more cuts without additional revenue from taxes, and Republicans refused to agree to any tax. Instead, Congress set up a committee to find further deficit reduction and, to reach a deal, established a fallback mechanism (the sequester) meant to be so outrageous it would never happen. Well, now it has happened and many federal programs are already seeing the affects, including the National Parks service, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and more importantly, defense spending.
What is at stake?
-$1.2 trillion in across-the-board, automatic cuts to both military and domestic programs over ten-year period beginning March 1.
-$85 billion trimmed from the federal deficit in the 2013 fiscal year alone
-Over the full fiscal year — Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 — the cuts would equal roughly 5 percent of nonmilitary programs and 8 percent of defense programs
-The full effects of the cut would be felt the last seven months, and the White House Office of Management and Budget estimates to be closer to 9 percent for non defense programs and 13 percent for defense programs
Sequester: Congress Cries Wolf?
Many experts believe the hype on the sequester cuts is blown out of proportion, and mostly will provide nominal effects to the economy. Some economists estimate that the first series of cuts for fiscal year 2013 would only result in a 0.1 percent drop off in the US gross domestic product (GDP)
Warning this photo is graphic slasher stuff. Depicts “massive” cuts from #sequester. Scary. twitter.com/GroverNorquist…
— Grover Norquist (@GroverNorquist) February 22, 2013
If they closed the WH because of the sequester – they should close the golf course at AFB.
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) March 30, 2013
Sequester and Every Day American
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood warned of possible affects on air travel, as over $600 million of the cuts were allocated to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The result? Furloughs, closed air traffic control towers, and ultimately, more delays.
-Most of agency’s nearly 47,000 employees would be furloughed for at least one day every two weeks
-Close as many as 230 air traffic control towers at smaller airports (Boca Raton, Fl. and Joplin, Mo. are examples) -Fewer controllers equals further delays, up to 90 minutes in major cities like San Francisco, Chicago and New York during peak hours
The sequester automatic spending cuts that kicked in Friday leading to longer screening lines at some airports. foxrad.io/newscast — FOX News Radio (@foxnewsradio) March 4, 2013
Welcome to America. Or not. #Sequester kicks in @ Miami airport with #TSA cuts. Over two hrs to clear immigration twitter.com/BBCiPannell/st… — Ian Pannell (@BBCiPannell) March 9, 2013
POTUS continues to play games with #sequester cuts – My interview with @alexwitt earlier today. ow.ly/iDsbg
— Rep. Todd Rokita (@ToddRokita) March 9, 2013
Sequester in a nutshell
“The impacts of sequester are real,” Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said again and again to reporters. “These are about real issues. These are about the concrete effects of policies on people’s lives.”