The rhetoric over pending budget cuts that will automatically kick in if Congress can’t agree on a new way to tackle the country’s deficit turns out to possibly be all bark and no bite. While politicians are giving lip service to how important it is to avert the "disaster" that is the budget cuts, some details show that it may not be so bad after all. The $85 billion in cuts would kick in automatically on March 1 if no agreement is reached – here’s betting that nothing will get completed except for to further postpone that already oft-postponed deadline.
The Obama administration is issuing especially dire warnings, though that is to be expected, since the rhetoric is coming from a political party reliant on massive public spending to secure its constituency. The White House has repeatedly warned of smaller defense contracts, less security at U.S. embassies and furloughs for air traffic controllers. Other than defense contractors and air traffic controllers, does anyone really care? Heck, this is America – most in the country probably don’t even know this is all unfolding, though there probably is an iPhone app to keep abreast of the latest news, so maybe the masses are aware (vaguely) of this issue.
The result of failing to reach a deal would be a "sequester." It would mean a 13% defense budget cut between March 1 and September 30. Social Security, Medicare and veterans’ benefits won’t be touched immediately, so there is no imminent worry on that front. America’s military budget would decrease, but is already so bloated with waste and fraud that, in theory, it shouldn’t be missed by anyone but overpaid defense contractors. The NIH would lose about $1.6 billion and cancer research would dry up, but how much progress is really being made there anyway (we have the equivalent of super computers in our pockets nowadays, but cancer remains trickier).
Air traffic controllers would be furloughed for an average of 11 days…yawn. The IRS would also furlough workers…a net benefit to Americans, if not the government. There are other cuts planned for NASA, HUD, the Department of Labor, and more. When one considers how bloated all government agencies are in the first place, these automated cuts just don’t mean too much. Time to tighten the belts, folks. Don’t worry though, it’s unlikely that March 1 date will serve as anything more than a footnote as yet another deadline come and gone to get a deal done.
The Obama administration is issuing especially dire warnings, though that is to be expected, since the rhetoric is coming from a political party reliant on massive public spending to secure its constituency. The White House has repeatedly warned of smaller defense contracts, less security at U.S. embassies and furloughs for air traffic controllers. Other than defense contractors and air traffic controllers, does anyone really care? Heck, this is America – most in the country probably don’t even know this is all unfolding, though there probably is an iPhone app to keep abreast of the latest news, so maybe the masses are aware (vaguely) of this issue.
The result of failing to reach a deal would be a "sequester." It would mean a 13% defense budget cut between March 1 and September 30. Social Security, Medicare and veterans’ benefits won’t be touched immediately, so there is no imminent worry on that front. America’s military budget would decrease, but is already so bloated with waste and fraud that, in theory, it shouldn’t be missed by anyone but overpaid defense contractors. The NIH would lose about $1.6 billion and cancer research would dry up, but how much progress is really being made there anyway (we have the equivalent of super computers in our pockets nowadays, but cancer remains trickier).
Air traffic controllers would be furloughed for an average of 11 days…yawn. The IRS would also furlough workers…a net benefit to Americans, if not the government. There are other cuts planned for NASA, HUD, the Department of Labor, and more. When one considers how bloated all government agencies are in the first place, these automated cuts just don’t mean too much. Time to tighten the belts, folks. Don’t worry though, it’s unlikely that March 1 date will serve as anything more than a footnote as yet another deadline come and gone to get a deal done.