It's Too Late To Stop Sequester: HASC Rep. Randy Forbes EXCLUSIVE

[unhappycamper]

http://defense.aol.com/2012/11/28/its-too-late-to-stop-sequester-hasc-rep-randy-forbes-exclusi/




It's Too Late To Stop Sequester: HASC Rep. Randy Forbes EXCLUSIVE
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Published: November 28, 2012

WASHINGTON: "I am fully expecting to see sequestration in some form beginning in January," Rep. Randy Forbes told AOL Defense in an exclusive interview. And those automatic cuts -- or even the more targeted cuts likely in any deal to avoid a sequester -- would undermine the nation's new Pacific-focused strategy and the military's AirSea Battle concept to win future ocean wars, said Forbes, who chairs the readiness panel of the House Armed Services Committee.

Congress could strike a deal in 2013 to stop the sequestration cuts before they take full effect -- presumably as part of a larger deal on the "fiscal cliff" to raise the debt ceiling and extend Bush-era tax cuts -- but "I think it will be sometime early spring before we see that," Forbes sighed. "It's going to be very, very difficult to reach that deal before January."

~snip~

Many Democrats believe they can get a better deal in 2013 -- something Sen. Patty Murray said publicly way back in July -- and they argue that the world won't end if sequestration takes effect on January 2nd. They may have a point, up to a point.

"Every day that goes by we're getting closer, [but] this is not like a government shutdown, it's not really like a cliff," said Todd Harrison the leading sequestration expert at the influential Center for Strategic and Policy Assessments speaking at CSBA's rollout of a new study on smarter ways to cut the budget. Sequestration is too complex to execute immediately on Jan. 2nd, especially since the administration has resolutely refused to plan ahead for how to execute required cuts.


Disconnect spoiler: http://www.dodbuzz.com/2012/11/28/defense-fades-from-fiscal-cliff-debate/ (Be sure to read comments at end of this article.)

[xchrom]

1. du rec. nt