Posted on 03/01/2013 9:17:15 PM PST by Maelstorm
President Barack Obama ordered the start of $85 billion in government spending cuts, beginning a potentially decade-long wave of belt-tightening that risks curbing U.S. economic growth this year. The White House released the order tonight, the deadline set by a law passed two years ago to avoid a debt default, and the Office of Management and Budget sent Congress a detailed list of program cuts. The reductions impact will become clear over the next several weeks, as agencies inform affected government contractors and notify employees about furloughs, most of which wouldnt begin until some time in April.
Whats important to understand is that not everyone will feel the pain of these cuts right away, Obama said at the White House earlier in the day, after meeting with the top four leaders of Congress. The pain, though, will be real.
The across-the-board cuts, known as sequestration, were intended to be so onerous that Congress and the president wouldnt let them occur and would come up with a plan to replace them. Instead, Democrats and Republicans deadlocked on an alternative. Obama insisted that any plan must include new tax revenue and Republicans, led by House Speaker John Boehner, rejected that approach.
The amount to be cut under the law totals $1.2 trillion over nine years. Of that, $85 billion comes out of the budget for the remaining seven months of this fiscal year, making for effective reductions of about 13 percent for defense programs and 9 percent for non-defense programs, according to the Office of Management and Budget.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
I worked in the federal government as a contractor to both the DoD and DHS for nearly a decade. I saw first hand the fraud, waste, and duplication of effort. I helped develope systems to automate detecting it though it really wasn't a high priority to managers more concerned with perception and making sure to maximize the number of minions they were managing. That said there's a lot of hard working folks in government but there are also lot of folks just filling spots and programs that are absolutely just tech boondoggles which offer little or no value except to boost the resume of the management preparing them for a lucrative post civil service contracting positions in the "private" sector.
If there is any REAL significate pain from these cuts every citizen should know that it is being manufactured for their benefit and manipulation. Its a mind game. The GOP just needs to continue to point out how small these cuts really are and keep the finger on administration officials if they pull crap like Janet Napolitano releasing illegal aliens while keeping stupid programs to simulate zombie outbreaks. I think the GOP realized with this that they have an opportunity in these sequester "cuts". They should get ready to call Obama admin officials before congress over and over again during this process.
I agree with that. Do you all realize the significance of this , that the Republicans stood up to obama and the media, that finally this might be a cut in government ( there has never been one).
My research showed as this article does that many government agencies even the EPA will get 9% cut even before inflation. with inflation that is even a greater cut.
The following is a quote from this Fox news article .
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/01/sequestration-when-will-feel-pain/#ixzz2MKxTcS
Obama formally notifies government agencies that sequestration is in effect.Even if the budget for some of these gov agencies stayed the same that would be a cut because of inflation. see the military will get a 13% cut but those dollars will have even less value because of inflation so then they will be able to buy less tanks etc. because those dollars have less value even if budget stayed the same. . .Sometime today the Office of Management and Budget will order all federal agencies to cut their budgets by around nine percent, except for the Pentagon which needs to cut defense programs by 13 percent.
Once Obama issues the sequestration order, Treasury Department officials will take offline the computers that process payments for school construction and clean energy bonds to reprogram them for reduced rates. Payments will be delayed while they are made manually for the next six weeks.
Employees at the Environmental Protection Agency will get e-mails notifying them that a forced furlough of up to 13 days lies ahead
At the Department of Housing and Urban Development, officials will spend the weekend mailing out letters to governors in all 50 states showing how much their grants will be reduced in the coming days and weeks.
Programs that dole out funding as an intermediary like public rent assistance, farm loans and food programs will see immediate cuts
The only thing that concerns me is that this ends justifies the means administration will purposely crash the economy with the sole purpose of blaming the GOP.
So Newsmax is now slapping its byline on AP wire editorials, too?
Well, inasmuch as their attempts to “stimulate” the economy have essentially destroyed it, they can hardly do worse if they actually try ...
Any cut to the EPA makes me smile. The thing is the military expense isn’t about just buying tanks and there are many projects that are just crap just like in other parts of the government. Not everything is essential because it is labeled military. The same goes for countless other categories. If any additional danger comes to our soldiers it will not be because of these cuts but because of the Obama Administration’s choice.
Yeah Newsmax does parrot too much AP crap. Its a Ruddy thing.
There is a problem with that line of “reasoning” which is it assumes government spending is the primary driver of the economy. It isn’t. The way government hurts the economy is primarily is by growing. It may not hurt the Washington DC environment but it sucks money away from other non governmental sectors and drives money unnaturally towards DC in an almost closed loop. This sequester will result in a stronger economy. Sure there will be some pain for those who are benefiting the most off the endless growth of government but it will be no more or less than anyone in the private sector goes through when a business isn’t profitable and thus isn’t viable or needed. The GOP needs to stop worrying about getting blamed and start standing up and leading like they did today. They did the right thing and it should be easy to point that out to the American people. The question I’d ask reporters who try to play the blame game is “Do you really believe the federal Government cant absorb this miniscule cut?”.
Exactly. The Obama admin has put in place a big economic suppresser in Obamacare. Federal spending isn’t what drives economic growth.Its the private sector. Even if it appears in some cases that federal spending is driving economic growth it is an illusion because those $ feeding it are being consumed and are not self sustaining as is the case in the private sector driven by free market supply and demand.
Here are a few clips where Milton Friedman destorys the notion that government spending drives economic growth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hrg1CArkuNc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p31-xQ2Rrz4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRpEV2tmYz4
The thing that really stands out is the authority with which Friedman addresses the debate. He doesn’t come at it from a position of lack of confidence or apology as so many of our politicians do.
“that finally this might be a cut in government ( there has never been one). “
This isn’t even a start!
This is only a cut in the increase from last year, IT’S STILL A BUDGET INCREASE!!!!!
I do believe that this fiscal year’s worth of ‘budget cuts’ were fairy much off-set by the Administration’s issuance of $80 billion worth of Treasurys today...http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-01/there-goes-sequester. NOTHING is settled. Taking from one hand, giving it to the other. The deception continues.....
Do my eyes deceive me or did Boner get a transplant of a (very small) pair of balls? It's not much but after going 0 for 25-30, it feels good for right now to savor this smidgeon of courage by Boner & McConnell. Now if they would only keep it up! I'm still very much concerned that they will pull the rug out from underneath us, and cave instantly in order to stay on the Washington DC dipshit cocktail circuit.
http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/1919/slide_1919_25408_large.jpg
What do I think Obama will cut?
Firing pins for the military M16 rifles.
Triggers for the entire US nuclear arsenal.
Toilet paper in handicap bathroom stalls.
Medicine for babies.
Level 5 maximum security prison guards.
Air traffic controller training.
Tax refund check printers.
Workers doing background checks when someone buys a new firearm.
What I think is going to fail in this effort is the very message the GOP STILL has muddled and fails to articulate.
This was not a cut in current spending, it was a cut in new/projected spending. The government didn't take a paycut, but finally, they didn't get a raise either!
What will happen, and 0bama’s regime has already shown its’ hand on this, is they will order severe cuts that in no way correlate to the amount of the sequester.
The best example so far? DHS release of illegals. The number of illegals ‘ordered’ released equates to 3 times more than the budget cut requires.
Make no mistake my FRiend, while we need budget cuts, 0bama has no intention of doing so to benefit the country or meet his constitutional responsibility. He is going to order the exact opposite and with excessive ‘political terrorism’ in order to destroy all opposition.
So, wait a minute.
If Obama is deciding what to cut that would make him a......
wait for it....
Dictator!
If Congress is responsible for budgets then they would be responsible for cuts as well.
Like most libtards "forced" to cut spending, they will go for maximum inconvience to the general public.
All true. Still have to understand that it's really bureaucrats that make the Pentagon go round and round (in a 5-sided fashion) and when they claim they can't "gas up" a carrier to send out to a hot spot, they are part of the overall problem and will not hesitate to screw the military they "support". Look for cuts in critical areas while the crapola maintains funding.
I'm afraid my brother just sees his own star rising, as if he's there because he's done a good job. Feh!
HF
They’ve completely failed to manage cost, and yet expect those who do have to manage their cost to pay for their spending.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.