The Morning Plum: The sequester is not a Beltway joke

[ProSense]

The Morning Plum: The sequester is not a Beltway joke

Posted by Greg Sargent

It is now an established truth in Washington that the Obama administration committed a horrible strategic error in hyping the impact of the sequester: Its impact was overblown, and partly as a result, Republicans have “won” the political battle over it. The sequester is little more than fodder for jokes about White House tours.

It’s true that in a number of specific instances the White House did falsely inflate the consequences of sequestration. But what if, on the broad strokes, it is actually true that the sequester cuts are doing real damage all over the country — damage that is only just beginning?

The Huffington Post set out to document 100 news articles showing the sequester taking a toll on local economies and communities nationwide. It wasn’t hard to do. HuffPo summarizes the situation this way:

The grips of sequestration are just now beginning to be felt and the effects are already quite dramatic.

Organizations and companies have begun laying off workers, while many more have decided not to staff vacant positions. Schools on military bases are contemplating four-day weekly schedules. Food pantries have closed, as have centers that provide health services. Farmers have been forced to go without milk production information, causing alarm in the dairy industry and the potential of higher milk prices. Workers at missile-testing fields are facing job losses. Federal courts have closed on Fridays. Public Broadcasting transmitters have been shut down. Even luxury cruises are feeling the pinch, with passengers forced to wait hours before debarking because of delays at Customs and Immigration. Yes, sequestration is creating the possibility of another poop cruise.

Meanwhile, Buzzfeed documents the tale of a 39-year-old army reservist and combat veteran who saw his Ft. Meade desk job pay deeply slashed — and is now contemplating going back to war to improve his situation.

The Republican position on the sequester has been that these cuts are a victory for the party because Republicans wanted cuts all along. But at what point does this position become unsustainable? Even some Republican officials are beginning to complain about sequester cuts they don’t like — cuts to obscure programs most Americans have never heard of. At the same time, they have embraced the general goal of the Paul Ryan budget — which, if it were ever actually implemented, would wipe out huge swaths of just the sort of government programs Republican officials have now discovered they like, thanks to the sequester.

- more -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/04/02/the-morning-plum-the-sequester-is-not-a-beltway-joke/

Boehner takes sequester victory lap
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022583419

[ProSense]

1. Kick! n/t

[liberal_at_heart]

2. my children's school district is losing $350,000 next school year. It's no joke.

[ProSense]

3. Republicans are celebrating. n/t

[zipplewrath]

4. It will build

I'm probably in a closer position to see it than many, but there are small indications that allude to the "death of a thousand cuts". A scientific/industrial conference was canceled recently because the government wasn't going to send ANY representatives. Airports are only now starting to lose their ATC. Government labs don't want to schedule tests on Fridays because of potential furlough situations. The whole government budgeting thing is way up in the air because no one knows even where the "starting point" is. If the sequester stays in place, longer term budgets will be adjusted to reflect that. Right now, it's all furloughs and White House tours. But ultimately labs, parks, and bridges will be closed or not built.