The most important thing I forgot to mention, and really should have emphasized, is that the sequester isn't even a real cut. As the cartoon says, it's a spending reduction, a DC cut, which means it just slows the rate of increase. Spending still goes up, even including mythical decreases out at ten years, where nothing will ever happen as planned. This plot, by economist Veronique de Rugy for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, shows the story.
Makes it hard to stomach those lies from the Evil Party, doesn't it?
Facts like these make it very difficult to listen to any politician. Believing what they say was next to impossible over 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct, but do not forget that Obama very slyly increased the budget of all the departments he favored while simultaneously decresed the national defense budget. So when these cuts kick in and they do have a heavier effect on national defense that the defense department will take a big double whammy. Look for the picture of five of our aircraft carriers tied up in port all within a thousand yards circle. Does it look familiar? A little like Pearl Harbor did before the Japanese sneak attack. There is far more to this then the very small cut to the entire federal budget.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. It's still possible to be either stupid or malicious (or both) and we can always count on fearless leaders for that. I'm sure the administration would be perfectly happy to gut the DOD and just to redistribute that money.
DeleteI'm concerned about the old "he drowned in a stream with an average depth of 3 inches" problem you get with averages.