The sequester drowned my kitten.

[SemiAuto]

Behold The Horror Of The Sequester

Could you imagine what real fiscal restraint would do?

[Sprightly]

Behold The Horror Of The Sequester

Could you imagine what real fiscal restraint would do?

Crazy, right? The hyperbole (flat out lies with some misinformation thrown in) from both sides is embarrassing.

[ms maggie]

Your kitten is probably safe. There will be vaccines for kids under Medicaid cancelled--whooping cough, diphtheria, but those aren't communicable to felines. Phew!

[Joy in Mudville]

Behold The Horror Of The Sequester

Could you imagine what real fiscal restraint would do?

all you have to do is look at the European economy, back in recession by the way, to get a sense of what slashing the budget in a weak economy does.

[SunsetSue]

Cutting 2.5% from an increase is not slashing. The gang in DC can take their crocodile tears someplace else.

[Brohan]

all you have to do is look at the European economy, back in recession by the way, to get a sense of what slashing the budget in a weak economy does.

Seriously, think about the impact of the GSA not being able to go to Las Vegas. The airlines will be hurt, the hotels will be hurt, waiters and poor single mother waitresses will be hurt, bar tenders and liquor stores will be really, really hurt, hot tub makers, and magicians and entertainment act will be hurt.

The gov't needs to keep spending your money on stuff like this.

[Sprightly]

Your kitten is probably safe. There will be vaccines for kids under Medicaid cancelled--whooping cough, diphtheria, but those aren't communicable to felines. Phew!

Not going to happen,

[CajunRaven]

Your kitten is probably safe. There will be vaccines for kids under Medicaid cancelled--whooping cough, diphtheria, but those aren't communicable to felines. Phew!

They're still spending more money this year than last. I'm having a hard time understanding how these things will be cancelled when there will be as much money available this year as last.

All this gloom and doom scarequester talk is so much BS.

[ms maggie]

Not going to happen,

One would hope there is an agreement.

If the sequester does go into effect, Texas stands to lose the following:
•Vaccines for Children: In Texas around 9,730 fewer children will receive vaccines for diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, whooping cough, influenza, and Hepatitis B due to reduced funding for vaccinations of about $665,000.

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/cypre...a4bcf887a.html

[CajunRaven]

Not going to happen,

Of course not and the real worry in DC is that these "cuts" will kick in and nobody will really notice. When the sky doesn't fall, these tactics will be harder to use down the road to keep the common folk in line.

[Sprightly]

One would hope there is an agreement.




http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/cypre...a4bcf887a.html

Yes, I am aware of the hyperbole. Again, it's not going to happen. I'm sure that the POTUS will find another way.

[SunsetSue]

One would hope there is an agreement.




http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/cypre...a4bcf887a.html

Cancel a "seminar" in Vegas or some "fact finding" trips to beach locales and use the money for vaccines. People know how much money the govt wastes so they aren't buying the BS.

[ms maggie]

They're still spending more money this year than last. I'm having a hard time understanding how these things will be cancelled when there will be as much money available this year as last.

All this gloom and doom scarequester talk is so much BS.

Why? Because the cuts don't touch SS and Medicare/caid. So more money is going into those areas and the remaining areas--defense and discretionary domestic--get less money.

Not sure where the spending for 13 is (budget 3.7 I think?), know 12 came in at 3.5T, which was down from 11 and 10.

[Sprightly]

Of course not and the real worry in DC is that these "cuts" will kick in and nobody will really notice. When the sky doesn't fall, these tactics will be harder to use down the road to keep the common folk in line.

I've never see such a fluster cluck as this issue and behavior by all involved. Our government leaders depend on the general public's lack of understanding and inability to piece it all together and distinguish truths from lies. It's political. I strongly dislike most of the wannabe puppet masters and anyone still believing that the government helps, well, they should open their eyes.

[ms maggie]

Cancel a "seminar" in Vegas or some "fact finding" trips to beach locales and use the money for vaccines. People know how much money the govt wastes so they aren't buying the BS.

Unfortunately that's not how this sequester thing works. Cuts are across the board, same % for all programs. Would require legislation to give any flexibility to the exec branch to re-allocate funds.

http://www.ideamoneywatch.com/main/i...d=60&Itemid=72

[SemiAuto]

all you have to do is look at the European economy, back in recession by the way, to get a sense of what slashing the budget in a weak economy does.

The faux austerity of Europe is defined mostly by higher taxes and little to nothing, if not actually more, in the way of spending.

If government agencies can't get by with the miniscule cuts involved here then there should be a serious evaluation as to whether or not government should be trusted to do such things.

[gonzoliberal]

The faux austerity of Europe is defined mostly by higher taxes and little to nothing, if not actually more, in the way of spending.

If government agencies can't get by with the miniscule cuts involved here then there should be a serious evaluation as to whether or not government should be trusted to do such things.

So whom should we trust to do such things.???

[ms maggie]

The faux austerity of Europe is defined mostly by higher taxes and little to nothing, if not actually more, in the way of spending.If government agencies can't get by with the miniscule cuts involved here then there should be a serious evaluation as to whether or not government should be trusted to do such things.

No. At least not in the UK

But in the summer of 2010, the newly-elected conservative-led coalition government of the U.K. passed and implemented an aggressive austerity budget. This budget was heavily weighted toward spending cuts—nearly 80 percent of the total fiscal consolidation—and included a 25 percent cut to non-health domestic departmental spending by 2014-15. Tax increases accounted for the remaining 20 percent, including increases in the value-added tax (essentially a sales tax). In total, this fiscal consolidation represented 2.2 percent of U.K. GDP by 2014-2015. Combined with the previous government’s planned austerity, the overall fiscal consolidation implemented totaled 6.3 percent of GDP.

http://www.epi.org/blog/uk-showing-a...ing-attention/

[SemiAuto]

Not exactly.

They're mostly cutting the rate of increase.

The same thing is being done here. By the time all the evil, draconian, kitten drowning, sequesters are done spending will be up and taxes will be up.

[SemiAuto]

In the meantime, TBTF is still at the feeding trough.

Small as it might sound, 0.8 percentage point makes a big difference. Multiplied by the total liabilities of the 10 largest U.S. banks by assets, it amounts to a taxpayer subsidy of $83 billion a year. To put the figure in perspective, it’s tantamount to the government giving the banks about 3 cents of every tax dollar collected.

The top five banks -- JPMorgan, Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. - - account for $64 billion of the total subsidy, an amount roughly equal to their typical annual profits (see tables for data on individual banks). In other words, the banks occupying the commanding heights of the U.S. financial industry -- with almost $9 trillion in assets, more than half the size of the U.S. economy -- would just about break even in the absence of corporate welfare. In large part, the profits they report are essentially transfers from taxpayers to their shareholders.

Kittens drown. Fat cats float.