President Obama's efforts to portray the hardship “we the people” would endure if the sequester goes into effect is extreme. The budget under discussion is actually substantially higher than it was last year. The intent of the current actions being debated is that spending cuts are necessary to avoid increasing the national debt.
Technically, the budget is not being cut, rather it is being adjusted to keep expenditures in line with revenue.
The sequester plan originated in the White House. President Obama signed it into law. He accepted the conditions of increased revenues on upper-tier filers. This will add more than $600 billion into the revenue stream. In return he made a commitment to reduce spending. President Obama further threatened to veto any actions which might be taken to amend the law.
There isn’t any cause for alarm as espoused by the president. The terms of the sequester act do not have to go into immediate effect. It is a projected forecast of reduction and expenditure to take place going forward. The Treasury has been reporting higher incoming revenues for months. These are sufficient to manage all pending financial obligations. President Obama is not satisfied with the increased taxes on the wealthy he sought. He wants to modify the sequester law to include additional tax increases. This is a violation of the agreement he authored and gained congressional approval.
Edward Struzinsky
Branford