Sequester for Dummies Thread... (I'm the Dummy who needs a simple explaination of This whole

[diabeticman]

thing)

Would someone mind giving me an understand how this is going to effect the average person.

From what I understand Obama will decide how the government will spend the money without the GOP acting like babies. I would think it would be a good thing.

[elleng]

1. As I recall, sometime in the last few days,

a repug, or repugs, SUGGESTED as some sort of 'compromise' that PrezO might decide, and WH declined the 'offer.'

In fact, it would be extremely difficult/impossible for Prez to do so, both practically and politically.

WH has issued a 'list' of the widespread likely effects (posted somewhere at DU) which shows the broad effect, including state-by-state.

[Proud Public Servant]

2. This appears to be the GOP plan:

The sequester hits, and mandatory cuts are a reality. The GOP then cedes all authority to make those cuts to the White House. This creates one of two situations. Either (a) the cuts are severe and hurt people, in which case the GOP will say they were the cuts Obama deliberately chose to make out, or (b) the cuts are so carefully targeted to waste, fraud, redundancy, etc. that they don't hurt much of anybody, in which case the GOP gets to say "see? Told ya we could shrink the government." It's win-win for them, lose-lose for Obama -- if it works.

This is why I still think the best solution is to tap into his inner LBJ and just start fucking with his enemies. First thing on the chopping block? Every single federal program in Boehner's district. Next? Closing Kentucky's Fort Knox. Then Shenandoah National Park, smack-dab in the center of Cantor's district. And so on.

[OceanEcosystem]

3. But wouldn't that also be a liberal's dream come true?

By that logic, wouldn't the White House be able to cut, say, all defense spending, and leave social programs, etc., untouched?


What wouldn't a liberal like about that?

[Proud Public Servant]

4. Only sort of

First, the cuts are mandated across the board. They can't all come from Defense, and stuff liberals like -- HUD, EPA -- get hit just as hard.

Second, the fact is that the Pentagon is basically a big ol' federal jobs program. It's going to be very hard to cut defense without throwing people -- federal contractors, mostly -- out of work. That lends itself pretty easily to a GOP rallying cry of "Obama's destroying jobs!" Plus (on a personal note), while I hate the whole military-industrial complex and everything it's done to our country, I've worked a lot with Defense contractors in the past few years -- not the fat cats but just the ordinary joes and janes -- and it would pain me to see them out of work, just as it would pain me to see most non-bankers out of work.