Posted on 01/15/2013 6:54:35 AM PST by blam
GOLDMAN: Hide Your Kids, The Sequester Is Coming
Joe Weisenthal
Jan. 15, 2013, 5:15 AM
Goldman's Alec Phillips writes in a note that the automatic spending cuts required by the so-called "Sequester" (the spending caps imposed by the 2011 debt ceiling deal) are now a matter of "when" and not "if."
He examines the sequester as part of the broader fiscal triple threat that we're seeing right now: Debt ceiling + ongoing budget resolution + sequester.
While the debt ceiling has the potential to do the most damage, from a probabilistic standpoint (because the debt ceiling is unlikely to be breached) the sequester has the most potential to do real harm.
He writes:
Allowing the sequester to hit would, in our view, have greater implications for growth than a short-lived government shutdown, but would not be as severe as a failure to raise the debt limit. Although Republicans in Congress generally support replacing the defense portion of the sequester with cuts in other areas, there is much less Republican support for delaying them without offsetting the increased spending that would result.
Phillips goes on:
If the sequester were fully implemented, it would have very disruptive effects in some areas of the budget, particularly defense. In order to fulfill the requirements of the sequester, the Department of Defense (DoD) would need to reduce spending authority by around 9% for FY2013. The administration would have little flexibility in how to implement this cut, so every program, project, and account would need to be cut by the same amount. This would mean, for example, furloughing most civilian DoD employees for a full month before the end of the fiscal year, and cutting basic activities like healthcare for active-duty military and aircraft maintenance.On the non-defense side
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
It’s a sad commentary on the United States that anyone has been able to write or says anything about the “fiscal cliff” beyond “STFU, sit down and do your @#$ing jobs. NOW. Or we’ll be showing up in DC with tons of tar and feathers.”
Hide yo husbands, cuz they raypin everybody out hereya.
And the dog.
And the cat.
And the parakeet.
And Junior’s ant farm. No, wait. Maybe you can get a farm subsidy on that.
In the South, the Fire Ant has replaced the earth worm as the largest 'natural' turner of the soil. A protected species now?
The evil sequester is a CUT IN GROWTH, not a SPENDING CUT. Bring it on—cut everything!
Disclaimer: I work in DoD.
Handcuff me now because fire ants get poisoned in this yard.
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