The Sequester: Do You Care?

[TalonStrike]

I do not. Mainly because my job isn't dependent on government funding, and no one that I care about will be affected by it. All the sequester really does is demonstrate why you should limit your dependence on the government. This $85 billion in cuts really won't do much to reduce the deficit either. All of this talk about the sequester being the apocalypse is just nonsense.

 

[cubby1223]

Not sure what to vote. I want to say "Yes, I do care" because I want to see even more sequesters cut back the nonsense of over-grown government.

 

[Doppel]

Honestly just not much at all, no. It's a massive deal made of mole hill.

 

[Jaskalas]

Not sure what to vote. I want to say "Yes, I do care" because I want to see even more sequesters cut back the nonsense of over-grown government.

:thumbsup: x2. Want to see more.

 

[piasabird]

Obammacare is doing 10 times more damage than the sequestor. People that work part time are having their hours cut back because of all the regulations.

 

[88keys]

Dumbass sequester, dumbass fiscal cliff, dumbass congress, and dumbass Obama.

It's all political theater to appease the respective bases when the reality is that they already know what they're going to do in the end.

 

[boomerang]

There should be a quarterly sequester to force our elected leaders to deal with the mess they created since they can't bring themselves to do it on their own. Obama could have spun this one to his advantage if he'd been thinking. A lot to ask, I know.

 

[TalonStrike]

Yes, there should be more sequesters, and entitlements should not be exempt, as is the case with this sequester.

 

[Fenixgoon]

should there be more cuts? absolutely. but they need to be made in a smarter way, rather than just "everyone cuts X%". departments should be given the flexibility of where and what they want to cut. congress should allocate (or not) money, but beyond that should not be saying what does or doesn't need to be cut, IMO. of course that's not how it works generally :\

FYI i am a federal employee and realize in a sense i would be voting against my own job, but the fact of the matter is that ~40+ years of continual budget deficit is unsustainable.

 

[nehalem256]

There should be a quarterly sequester to force our elected leaders to deal with the mess they created since they can't bring themselves to do it on their own. Obama could have spun this one to his advantage if he'd been thinking. A lot to ask, I know.

What do you think the last month trying to do? The problem is he wanted to avoid cuts instead of structuring cuts in a more intelligent manner.

 

[cubby1223]

should there be more cuts? absolutely. but they need to be made in a smarter way, rather than just "everyone cuts X%".

If our "leaders" were capable of "using a scalpel", they would have "used a scalpel."

Across the board cuts is the only way cuts are ever going to happen, because I doubt anyone who's job is dependent on voters will ever take charge deciding where the "scalpel" cuts.

departments should be given the flexibility of where and what they want to cut.

Departments always have been and still are fighting to increase their budgets. In times when everyone needs to figure out how to cut budgets, instead everyone is figuring out how to take their bigger share of the pie before the next department secures it.

 

[Fenixgoon]

If our "leaders" were capable of "using a scalpel", they would have "used a scalpel."

Across the board cuts is the only way cuts are ever going to happen, because I doubt anyone who's job is dependent on voters will ever take charge deciding where the "scalpel" cuts.



Departments always have been and still are fighting to increase their budgets. In times when everyone needs to figure out how to cut budgets, instead everyone is figuring out how to take their bigger share of the pie before the next department secures it.

oh trust me i know. because it's all based on use-it-or-lose-it funding, no one wants to give up funding because it's very difficult to get money (obviously easier to lose it or say you dont need it). the best way to get more money is to slightly overspend your account. it's absolutely dumb.

 

[child of wonder]

Cuts HAVE to happen to get this country out of the shitter.

They'll be painful and people will suffer because of them. But they HAVE to happen.

 

[Cattlegod]

Only part I care about is the cuts to tsa

 

[Darwin333]

Dumbass sequester, dumbass fiscal cliff, dumbass congress, and dumbass Obama.

It's all political theater to appease the respective bases when the reality is that they already know what they're going to do in the end.

This * infinity........

 

[guachi]

These idiotic cut's don't have to happen. Stupidly screwing people over and damaging the economy isn't the answer.

We don't need this austerity madness that has plunged the UK into a triple dip recession.

I'm in the military and work at the NSA and the sequester is going to be a mess that will directly affect our ability to do our jobs (i.e., spy on bad guys).

But it's more important to keep taxes low for rich people!

 

[cubby1223]

These idiotic cut's don't have to happen. Stupidly screwing people over and damaging the economy isn't the answer.

We don't need this austerity madness that has plunged the UK into a triple dip recession.

I'm in the military and work at the NSA and the sequester is going to be a mess that will directly affect our ability to do our jobs (i.e., spy on bad guys).

But it's more important to keep taxes low for rich people!

Whatever you need to repeat to yourself so you can sleep well at night, I will not judge

Our "leaders" had 5 years now to fix the mess, and they have proven they cannot. Don't blame civilians, blame the Democrats in office who care more for humiliating Republicans, blame the Republicans in office who care more for humiliating Democrats, and blame our election rules that give incumbents an unfair advantage. They are the ones screwing over the country.

 

[theevilsharpie]

oh trust me i know. because it's all based on use-it-or-lose-it funding, no one wants to give up funding because it's very difficult to get money (obviously easier to lose it or say you dont need it). the best way to get more money is to slightly overspend your account. it's absolutely dumb.

This. I've worked with numerous government organizations at the local and county level, and I've never seen a department that didn't attempt to consume their budget by any means necessary. If lawmakers could provide some type of incentive against this type of behavior, government spending would plummet with little impact on services.

 

[cubby1223]

We don't need this austerity madness that has plunged the UK into a triple dip recession.

Naw, since you did bring this topic into this discussion, let's just take a look at some of the facts.

United Kingdom 2011 budget: £711 billion
United Kingdom 2012 budget: £682 billion
* 4% decrease in spending

United States 2012 budget: $3.729 trillion
United States 2013 budget: $3.803 trillion
Sequestration: $89 billion
New budget: $3.714 trillion
* 0.4% decrease in spending

 

[nageov3t]

on a scale of 1-10... my care level is around a 5-6.

I care enough to follow the news about it, but my job isn't directly dependent on government funding or defense companies and I don't think NJ will get hit particularly hard outside of maybe education (where I don't have kids, and I don't own property, so fuck property values)

 

[SaurusX]

I'm in the military and work at the NSA and the sequester is going to be a mess that will directly affect our ability to do our jobs (i.e., spy on bad guys).

If this causes the NSA to not be able to read Americans' emails one day out of the week then I score this as a goal for the "good guys". I bet I just got red-flagged for that.

 

[Stone Rain]

I couldn't care less. It's grandstanding to try and convince people that the government is actually trying to fix the mess we're in, when in reality they're too busy discussing kickbacks to care.

Smoke and mirrors. 0.4%.

 

[Stone Rain]

If this causes the NSA to not be able to read Americans' emails one day out of the week then I score this as a goal for the "good guys". I bet I just got red-flagged for that.

+1.

 

[CPA]

Not sure what to vote. I want to say "Yes, I do care" because I want to see even more sequesters cut back the nonsense of over-grown government.

this.

But, I assume your question is more in line with "do I care about the effects of the sequester". The answer is hell no.

 

[Genx87]

Obammacare is doing 10 times more damage than the sequestor. People that work part time are having their hours cut back because of all the regulations.

This is the ironic thing about all the whining. Obamacare will kill far more full time and part time jobs than this cut in increases in spending.