Americans don’t care about the sequester

Washington Post ^ | July 31, 2013 | Sean Sullivan

[11th_VA]

It’s been almost five months since across-the-board federal spending cuts known as sequestration began kicking in. And since that time, Americans remain largely unsure about the impact of the cuts. More than half of Americans (54 percent) don’t know enough to say whether sequestration was a good thing or a bad thing for the country, according to a new Gallup poll.

Americans are even more uncertain about the impact on their own lives. Fifty-nine percent say they don’t know whether it was a good or bad thing for them personally. Those numbers are in line with where they were in March. (more at the Post)

[John O]

jo->I agree almost entirely except you have to include all of DOD.

OWS->No, you don't: Marines are Navy, and Air Force could be rolled back int the Army Air Corp.

Good points. I had forgotten that Air Force started as part of Army. The end result is the same however, we preserve our defensive capabilities.

JO->There are also other pieces of defense buried in other agencies (Centers for disease control, national institutes of health are two that come to mind.)

OWS->*shrug* -- Sucks to be them.

These defense agenices need to be moved back into DOD where they belong. These are legitimate Army functions.

JO->But the bottom line is the same. Get the fedgov out of anything not authorized by the Constitution

OWS->Wait, here you are arguing not exactly following the constitution and ending with a “get govt out of things not authorized by the constitution”? That's pretty inconsistent. (Also, if something is really needed and proper to the federal government, then there's no reason not to use a Constitutional amendment.)

I see no inconsistency in maintaining the means to "provide for the common defense"

[ducttape45]

I work for the DoD at a local military. It's not an unconstitutional agency.

But it pisses me off when I see people making blanket statements like "we must have sequestration" when they don't realize how badly it's hurting the little guy, like me.

I barely pull in $22,000 a year. The 11 days off will cost me over $1,337. And while that may not seem like a large figure, the fact that it comes in a short amount of time does hurt me, greatly. That's 3 months of rent I now have to figure out to pay. And if involuntary reductions in force kick in starting in FY 2014, I could be out of a job entirely.

Yes, cuts need to be made, but until people wise up and stop blaming people like me for the mess the country is in I will not be silent about their ignorance, stupidity and just plain ole blindness to the real problem.

[OneWingedShark]

I see no inconsistency in maintaining the means to "provide for the common defense"

The provide for the common defense is the Army and Navy; if these are inadequate then the Constitution should be changed.
The NSA is a good example of defense and security winning out over the Constitution, specifically it is an extraconstitutional entity [that is not defined by the constitution] and it behaves like the Constitution has no authority over it, hence the whoesale disregard of the 4th Amendment that's come to light.

My point on strict-consstitutionalism is that it really is a slippery slope to allow things indirectly justified; the FISA court and it's operations are a complete violation of the 6th Amendment, for example. Sure it took 200 years to slide this much now, but if we were to repair/reseat things we wouldn't want to leave the leaks.

[OneWingedShark]

I work for the DoD at a local military. It's not an unconstitutional agency.

I'd say it's an extraconstitutional agency: one not defined by the Constitution, though one could argue that it was commissioned by the constitution there is a good argument that the Army and Navy are directly mentioned/authorized/commissioned in the Constitution.

But it pisses me off when I see people making blanket statements like "we must have sequestration" when they don't realize how badly it's hurting the little guy, like me.

Get pissed at the government that cannot be bothered to handle finances responsibly: not people that say things need reigned in.
The best way to correct our over-spending is to limit debt-incurance. Something like these two amendments would go a long way to straightening out government:

Fiscal Responsibility Amendment

Tax Reform Amendment

Section I The power of Congress to regulate the value of the dollar is hereby repealed. Section II The value of the Dollar shall be one fifteen-hundredth avoirdupois ounce of gold of which impurities do not exceed one part per thousand. Section III To guard against Congress using its authority over weights and measures to bypass Section I, the ounce in Section II is approximately 28.3495 grams (SI). Section IV The Secretary of the Treasury shall annually report the gold physically in its possession; this report shall be publicly available. Section V The power of the Congress to assume debt is hereby restricted: the congress shall assume no debt that shall cause the total obligations of the United States to exceed one hundred ten percent of the amount last reported by the Secretary of the Treasury. Section VI Any government agent, officer, judge, justice, employee, representative, or congressman causing gold to be confiscated from a private citizen shall be tried for theft and upon convection shall:      a. be removed from office (and fired, if an employee),      b. forfeit all pension and retirement benefits,      c. pay all legal costs, and      d. restore to the bereaved twice the amount in controversy. Section VII The federal government shall assume no obligation lacking funding, neither shall it lay such obligation on any of the several States, any subdivision thereof, or any place under the jurisdiction of the United States. All unfunded liabilities heretofore assumed by the United States are void. Section VIII The federal government shall make all payments to its employees or the several states in physical gold. Misappropriation, malfeasance and/or misfeasance of funds shall be considered confiscation.

Section I No tax, federal or state, shall ever be withheld from the wages of a worker of any citizen of either. Section II No property shall be seized for failure to pay taxes until after conviction in a jury trial; the right of the jury to nullify (and thereby forgive) this debt shall never be questioned or denied. Section III The second amendment is hereby recognized as restricting the power of taxation, both federal and state, therefore no tax (or fine) shall be laid upon munitions or the sale thereof. Section IV The seventh amendment is also hereby recognized, and nothing in this amendment shall restrict the right of a citizen to seek civil redress. Section V No income tax levied by the federal government, the several States, or any subdivision of either shall ever exceed 10%. Section VI No income tax levied by the federal government, the several States, or any subdivision of either shall ever apply varying rates to those in its jurisdiction. Section VII No retroactive or ex post facto tax (or fee) shall ever be valid. Section VIII The congress may not delegate the creation of any tax or fine in any way. Section IX No federal employee, representative, senator, judge, justice or agent shall ever be exempt from any tax, fine, or fee by virtue of their position. Section X Any federal employee, representative, senator, judge, justice or agent applying, attempting to apply, or otherwise causing the application of an ex post facto or retroactive law shall, upon conviction, be evicted from office and all retirement benefits forfeit.

[OneWingedShark]

See Post 24 for how to cut the IRS down to size.

[frickin_frackin]

I work on an Army base, and even if you can’t feel the effects of sequestration in your living room, trust me, they are being felt here.

That could’ve been Obummer’s plan all along. He found out a way to weaken our military and screw our soldiers and all with Republican support.

I wouldn’t be so quick to throw Obummer into the briar patch next time.

[GeronL]

Remember that the Sequester “Deal” was a total GOP cave on the debt ceiling.

[Go Gordon]

I’m just saying don’t endanger your standing in the polls doing something Americans don’t like.

God forbid if they just did what was right, regrdless of polls.