Sequester: Who Cares?

Sequester: Who Cares?

P. Schultz

February 23, 2013

            Well, here it is, folks, short and sweet and all you need to know about why the Republicans and Democrats are not all that concerned about the upcoming sequestration. The following paragraph just about says everything that needs to be said:

“At heart, the present standoff is yet another indication of the political resistance to a compromise curbing the growth of Medicare, Medicaid and possibly Social Security, a step that both Obama and Republicans say is essential to restoring the nation’s fiscal health. It is the last major remaining challenge in divided government’s struggle, now in its third year, to reduce deficits by $4 trillion or more over a decade.”

            There is the crux of it: “both Obama and Republicans [think it] essential” to “curb the growth of Medicare, Medicaid, and possibly Social Security.” As George Carlin put it in his last HBO show, “they are coming after our retirement money. And they will get it.” So, they are creating “the present standoff” to prepare the ground for taking our money – while perhaps raising taxes a little bit as well.

            It should be kept in mind – although this “analysis” makes no mention of it – that not everyone thinks these programs are at the core of our current budgetary issues. But obviously, if both political parties think they are, then that must be gospel. And this is labeled “analysis.”

“Unlike in earlier rounds of budget brinkmanship, President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans both seem content to fight out their latest showdown on the current terrain, let across-the-board spending cuts take effect on March 1 and allow them to stay in place for weeks if not much longer.”

            There it is, again. “Let across-the-board spending cuts take effect” and let them last and in that way prepare the American people for the talk of necessity, of how the “system” is broken and so this what we had to do. “Sorry, folks. But you have been living high off the hog for too long and now you need ‘discipline.’”

            And everyone will nod, watch more reality shows, watch March madness, then baseball, and the political class will, as Carlin predicted, take our retirement money. What a country.

http://www.boston.com/business/news/2013/02/23/analysis-obama-gop-see-need-stop-the-cuts/EFeanEXkjvPlBPRv1FffHK/story.html