After all the hubbub about falling off the fiscal cliff, Congress is now dealing with yet another deadline that has been dubbed the “sequester.” As per usual, the deadline is quickly approaching (tomorrow!), and Congress is not anywhere close to coming to a resolution.
Essentially, what will happen tomorrow is that $85 billion dollars will be cut from the national budget, as part of the economic deal made in 2011 over raising the debt ceiling. Originally, it was supposed to be earlier, but Congress decided to put it off until March 1st as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations on New Year’s Day. According to CNN, this will be the first round of “a series of automatic, across-the-board cuts to government agencies, totaling $1.2 trillion over 10 years. The cuts would be split 50-50 between defense and domestic discretionary spending.”
How will this affect me, you ask? Well, it probably won’t right now, but it sure will affect you in the future, especially if you’re looking to get a job in the government or the military.
Although it is unclear which agencies will be affected, military spending is definitely going to be reduced. That could potentially lead to job loss or pay cuts for current employees. However, the reason that most people haven’t heard much about this issue is because the magnitude of its effects is not as significant as that of the fiscal cliff or the debt ceiling. Also, the effects of the budget sequestration won’t be felt for another couple of weeks.
This is yet another example of Congress working to a deadline and being forced to work together. Will they reach a compromise? Apparently, they’re voting on a bill today.
As of now, it seems extremely unlikely that anything will be passed by tomorrow, but at this point, it seems like Congress not being able to meet a deadline is old news, eliciting a collective yawn from the already-apathetic American public. A couple of states will be affected, no big deal. However, watch out for March 27th; if Congress doesn’t pass a continuing resolution or new budget, the government might shut down. You have been warned.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/02/votes-on-sequester-bills-set-amid-gloom-in-senate/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/27/economic-armageddon-impact-sequester-may-be-over-hyped/
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/06/politics/cnn-explains-sequestration
Unfortunately Congress can never seem to get anything resolved until the deadline or right before it. Things like this just further the divide in the federal government as well as the gridlock in general.
This could mess up my trip to Disney. I’m flying out of a regional airport that will lose its air traffic controller. My level of fury will be off the charts!