Sequester: Death Nail or Savior

Over the past few weeks we have seen the rhetoric of the Sequester ramp up and the blame game go into high gear. Sadly, the Sequester conversation could have been non-existent if Congress and President Obama enacted the results of Simpson-Bowles committee over two years ago. Trouble with Simpson-Bowles outcome is it was a true compromise; a compromise though that President Obama wasn't willing to extend. Unfortunately far to many Americans will believe the hype, the spin and the outright lies when it comes to Sequester.

Earlier in the year Congress put forth a tax bill that raised taxes on those making over $450,000 and did away with the payroll tax holiday. Granted President Obama wanted the top nominal rate to hit those making over $250,000 and the Republicans in Congress wanted it to be on those making over $1M, but a compromise was reached. Part of the compromise was that Congress and the White House work to bring spending under control.

To give enough time for Congress and the White House to cobble a plan, the Sequester was kicked down the road a bit and reset to go into effect March 1st. As Bob Woodward, probably one of the last true investigative journalists, points out in his Op-Ed from yesterday (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bob-woodward-obamas-sequester-deal-changer/2013/02/22/c0b65b5e-7ce1-11e2-9a75-dab0201670da_print.html) the brain child of Sequester falls squarely on the shoulders of the White House.

Woodward even points to an exact time and place that President Obama approved Sequester that White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew cobbled. Also pointed out is that Sequester was not to contain any revenue increases either. The agreement on Sequester was to kick the debate into 2013 as to not be an issue during the 2012 Presidential Election. The looming cuts that President Obama warned the American public about just a few days ago while flanked with men and women in uniform existed prior to the 2012 election as Sequester already hung in the balance.

Why do we give President Obama a pass? Why do people allow President Obama to blatantly lie to the American public?

So what really takes place on March 1st if nothing else is done? First off the $1.2 trillion in cuts takes place immediately and will be spread over the years til 2021. The spread will be evenly over those nine years which means that the cuts made in 2013 will be only $109 billion. The cuts will not touch existing war spending nor SSN or Medicaid. Think about that for a second $109 billion! We are running a deficit in this country of $1 Trillion a year for the past four years. How can President Obama be honest with himself as he stands before the American public claiming job loss when we will still roughly $800 billion more dollars this year than we take in?

Again take a look at the numbers. We spend over $1 trillion more today than we take in and Sequester will cut that by $109 billion dollars. Is the budget of the United States to the point that it cannot take a 10% haircut? If we cannot see a 10% reduction in the increases of debt then how are we ever going to be able to balance the budget and cut the deficit any let alone in half as President Obama promised he would have done by now?

Wake up America. Learn the truth of the spin that our Political Elite attempt to spin on us and realize that the media is not doing their jobs anymore.The Sequester will not put America back into a depression; rather $1 Trillion yearly deficit spending will!