Apocalypse cancelled: The success of the sequester shows GOP should push for more budget cuts

New York Post ^ | 07/15/2013 | John Podhoretz

[SeekAndFind]

It’s been four months since the world came to an end — by which I mean, the budgetary “sequester” that cut federal spending across the board went into effect.

Remember the sequester? It was going to be a nightmare, a horror show, the worst thing that ever happened. People would die in the streets, our defenses would be mangled, the elderly would starve, the poor would be evicted.

After all, 47% of Americans receive some form of government assistance, subsidy or benefit. Wouldn’t across-the-board cuts in federal spending end up hurting a large number of them? Wouldn’t the pain lead to fear and upset and rage, cause protests and bring Washington to its knees?

Those were the questions before March, when it came into being. Now that it’s July, the only real question is: What if they gave a sequester and nobody cared?

[FlingWingFlyer]

The Obamas did not have to cancel one vacation due to the sequester. I don’t know what the ‘RATS are complaining about.

[Vaduz]

Another democrat fear failure.

[Azeem]

The apocalypse was canceled by the Jaegars blowing up the Kaiju.

[maddog55]

Considering the sequester just hit 650,000 workers last Friday.. the results won’t be felt for several weeks.

[Mr. K]

"The apocalypse was canceled by the Jaegars blowing up the Kaiju. "

Ummmm... what?

[OneWingedShark]

I think it's a reference to this.

[The_Reader_David]

I agree with the title, but have a suggestion to improve both the sequester and future budget cuts: forbid the use of employee furloughs to meet the cuts, and require that before public-facing services are cut an agency show it has already cut all GAO-identified redundancies and waste. The executive branch had two years to figure out what to cut to meet the sequester targets, and instead of going to any effort to identify redundant programs and genuine waste (not even the effort to read GAO reports that have already done that), they cynically reached for furloughs of civilian DOD employees and cutting public services to create the false impression that budget cuts are harmful.

[GraceG]

The apocalypse was canceled by the Jaegars blowing up the Kaiju.

No, it was when the rift thingie was sealed up..

I did see Pacific Rim this weekend, Awesomely great movie, intend to see it again.

It is a DVD keeper for me!

[GraceG]

This guy was funny as heck!

[Azeem]

Watch a Pacific Rim trailer, ‘canceling the apocalypse’ is a direct line from the movie.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/pacificrim/

GraceG - I know that but I didn’t want to spoil movie. I loved it on IMAX 3D.

[GraceG]

For a Giant Robot vs. Giant Monster film there was a lot of good backstory on WHY there were giant monsters and giant robots fighting each other.

Which was a very good thing in my opinion!

[Grampa Dave]

The upcoming debt limit will be even more successful inspite of the bleating from the rats in congress and their pet mediots in the MSM.

The reality of a real debt limit:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3076090/posts?page=1

The Debt Ceiling is the Law of the Land
redstate.com ^ | 10/6/13 | Daniel Horowitz
Posted on Monday, October 07, 2013 6:07:28 PM by cotton1706

Over the past few weeks, Democrats have indicated that they have no intention of negotiating over Obamacare, opting instead to shut down the government. They are justifying their obstinacy by asserting that Obamacare is the law of the land. Well, if that is the game they want to play, we should return the favor with the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling, pursuant to the Second Liberty Bond Act of 1917, is the law of the land. And it has been so for far longer than Obamacare.

Throughout this debate over funding Obamacare in the budget bill, House GOP leaders have stressed how the debt ceiling was the more appropriate means of fighting Obamacare. After all, it was “the next fight.” But as if on cue, some Republicans are already using the same Democrat talking points about the risk of default.

We are going to hear this erroneous talking point propagated by both parties over the next few weeks, so let’s put the myth to rest. The only way we default on the debt is if we fail to pay the interest on the public debt. According to the updated budget projection from the CBO, interest on the debt will be roughly $237 billion for 2014. Thanks to the short-term revenue benefits of the fiscal cliff and Obamacare tax hikes, the federal government is expected to rake in a record $3.042 trillion from the private economy this year.

Let’s engage in a simple math exercise. $3.042 trillion – $237 billion = $2.805 trillion. As long as the Treasury pays the first $237 billion in revenue to the shareholders of our debt, there will be no default, and we will have $2.805 trillion left to spend. Again, default is taken off the table. Discussion over.

What do you do with the remaining funds? You start funding core functions of government and those programs that people are already dependent on.

Social Security (retirement and disability) – $848 billion
Medicare – $505 billion
Medicaid – $298 billion
Defense – $582 billion
Veterans – $83 billion

Those expenditures account for roughly $2.3 trillion. The remaining half trillion can be prioritized as needed for other functions related to homeland security, national parks, or any other limited function.

Hence, the debt ceiling is a built-in balanced budget mechanism. If Democrats want to fund other functions of government, they need to commit to a balanced budget. If they want to fund the HHS and the IRS, they need to get rid of Obamacare. If they want to fund the EPA, they need to get rid of the war on coal.

The power of the purse manifest in the House of Representatives, in conjunction with the debt ceiling law, reflects democracy at work, especially with divided government. It’s time we stop peddling the myth of default, and start using our leverage to restore constitutional government and bring relief to those who are losing jobs and suffering from the high cost of living engendered by the harmful activities of the unconstitutional aspects of government.