WASHINGTON — The automatic budget cuts set to go into effect Friday could eventually be felt by the long-term unemployed, low-income families, and defense workers, but it won’t touch those receiving Medicaid and Social Security benefits.
And the president and members of Congress who failed to reach a deal to avert the so-called sequester won’t see their salaries cut, although some other federal workers will.
Comments
A 2.4% cut over an aleady increased psending (THERE IS NO BUDGET AND HAS NOT BEEN FOR 4 YEARS) is not a cut.
Pure propaganda from the most incompetent president in US history.
But he'll keep threatening the media and those who don't agree with him.
Why should Social Security recipients take a cut? They paid into it, unlike a lot of these other programs that are flat out giveaways.
Obama: The President who cried Wolf! When is he going to stop campaigning and take a shot at being president?
SS I would agree with.
Any of the crazy checks (SSDI) or anything else besides the "I worked till I was 65" group should take a haircut like the rest of us.
Interesting that you think our Department of Defense is a "flat out giveaway." 9% cut.
The riots have started...folks are being forced out of homes to live in the streets....eating out of dumpsters......
Oh, no, wait a minute, its not happening.
I walked down to the coffee shop this morning. Same people in line, same girls behind the counter, students waiting to get on the bus to go to school...
And on March 6th...the EBT crowd will get their next jolt of taxpayer money.
This is just another Republican/Democrat con game, nothing more.
dougkinan@yahoo.com
Is there any serious adult who imagines a 2% "cut" in their budget at home or in their business will amount to any kind of material "disaster"? Why then is it utterly impossible for government, at all levels, to make ANY thoughtful choices about spending without claiming the world is going to end? Why is ONLY government the one organization which cannot be held to any spending accountibility? Strip away all the rhetoric and just think about the practical reality; "leaders" say that they cannot find ANY way to reduce their spending by 2% after a decade of massive, relative, increases in virtually all of their budgets. Someone who claims they can't find reasonable ways to reduce spending a mere 2% of $3 Trillion dollars more efficiently is either lying or so incompetent as to be beyond conception. Most every person, family and organzation in life manages to muddle through far greater reductions in spending without claiming "disaster". Why is it completely impossible for government, at any level, to do exactly the same?
You really, really, need to learn what the sequester is all about. The idea that this is just a 2% "cut", which smart managers should be able to accomplish, is appealing, but it is not what is happening. The DoD, for example, will need to cut nearly 9% of their budget, and cannot decide themselves what to cut and what not to cut. Every single line item in their budget has to be cut 9%. Items that are critical have to be cut 9%. Items that could easily be deferred for savings cannot be deferred, they just need to be cut 9% right now. It is an incredibly stupid way to control spending. If I told you to cut your family budget 2%, you'd do it sensibily, I'm sure. But how about if I insisted that you cut exactly 2% from your mortgage, 2% from your groceries, 2% from gas, 2% from Rx drugs. etc. Same deal.
The indubitably best long-term outcome of this 'sequestration' nonsense is that it will help President Barry the O structure a legacy that includes his fear-based efforts to impress others that he is overloaded with testosterone and militant superiority.
Well, you Do seem to be frightened.
The REAL fear of this administration is the very real possibility that actually some of the fat in government spending will be reduced. That coupled with the possibility that no one (working taxpayers that is) will notice much change at all. If this happens then the pork barrel feeders and the "the sky is falling" crowd (education crowd are you listening?) will never be able to use this cry wolf mentality again (or at least for a long time)
I cant't believe it. The world did not end today because of sequestration as was predicted by our incompetent President. He is too busy rounding up another 35-40 props for his next useless press conference. I predict he will next be showing pictures of granny in a wheel chair being thrown off a cliff or some homeless person eating out of a dumpster. This guy has NO shame! The real problem here is that they are not cutting enough. It should be 200 billion so that we can finally get this massive deficit under control.
This comment has been removed.
the cuts are in future budgets not last years budgets.....just cut out the cost of Pres. Obama campaigning and that could solve half of the cuts.....there is enough pork in the bills for the Sandy disaster that had nothing to do with Sandy etc. and when you have $58 million dollars spent on the Ted Kennedy library from the defense bill....how clueless can this congress be????do they think the people are that stupid...yes the ones that voted for him are...$2 billion on free cell phones...so important...how did people live before without them...and billions to Egypt in planes and tanks...give me a break.....you can go on and on....of the waste....I cannot stand watching him lie about people staving and teachers & police being laid off...boo hoo....nothing but lies...how much did his golf vacation and Hawaii vacation cost the taxpayers??? in fact...how many of us cannot take a vacation...have you notice the gas prices going up and no Keystone Pipe line or additional drilling in the future.
This has been coming on for the last 18 months and today he is going to sit down with the leaders in congress...but then his golf comes first and so this last day he can grand stand at a meeting.
You ask "do they think the people are that stupid," and then proceeded to answer the question. Well done, sir.
"Today I'm pledging to cut the deficit we inherited by half by the end of my first term in office. Now, this will not be easy. It will require us to make difficult decisions and face challenges we've long neglected. But I refuse to leave our children with a debt that they cannot repay, and that means taking responsibility right now, in this administration, for getting our spending under control." -Barack Hussein Obama 2/23/09
Thanks for reminding everyone. You do know, don't you, that according to the Congressional Budget Office, with the laws and policies we have in effect today, that the Federal Budget will be half as large when President Obama leaves office in January 2017 as it was when he took office in January 2009? OK, he didn't get it done in his first term, but will by the end of his second. Good job, right?
Of course no Globe article states that House and Senate Republicans voted to give President Obama complete authority to designate what cuts will be made. Obama said "I will VETO such a bill". Why? Obama wants to inflicgt pain on Americans while blaming Republicans. This amazing Houdini trick is only made possible by using his loyal subjects in the news media, such as this newspaper.
And Congressional Black Caucus member Maxine Waters ststed on the House floor "170 MILLION Jobs will be lost. ..SORRY Folks but you know what that means: The Boston Globe will cease publication as of midnight tonignt....... ..On the other hand, if the Globe prints tomorrow and there are still people working then we will know that Ms. Waters (and the Obama Administration which told her to say that) told all Americans One BIG 10 Piccochios LIE.
The American People have spoken, Miker, they want a balanced approach to deficit reduction, as evidenced by Democratic majority votes for President and Congress just 4 months ago. Accepting the Republican bills that you cite, where all deficit reduction comes from spending cuts is not what the American People want. Closing tax loopholes and raising additional money from the wealthiest and corporations (ExxonMobile paid 13% in 2011, GE 0%) is the way forward. If you don't like American Democracy, maybe move to Britian -- they keep trying to slash spending, and are about to enter their third Recession.
tp Pl, You may not know it yet, but the American people are about to get a lot MORE than a "Balanced Approach"
Memo from the IRS
IRS to Impose Excise Tax on Health Insurance Companies
By Wesley J. Smith March 1, 2013 8:44 P.M. Comments 2 Print TextOn Monday, the IRS will propose imposing an excise tax under Obamacare, taxing health insurance companies billions each year. This extra cost of doing business will either be passed on to consumers, or if that is prohibited, it will undermine the financial stability of the companies. And this helps keep health care costs down how? "
Of course, the insurance companies will not be able to afford this extra cost and stay in business (but that's the ultimate AIM of ObamaCare, to put private insurance out of business). But in the meantime, the insurance will have to pass their new TAX onto YOU...So there are the new taxes that the Americasn people have called for. With plenty to spare.
The "Entitlements" Congress receives will see no cuts. John Boehner can still cook his skin in the tanning booth and all of his medical bills will be covered for life. Me? Not so much.
The Department of Defense can't even tell you how many contractors they have.
Luckily, we re-elected the first African American president in history and he can be blamed for everything including decades of congressional limping around a solid budget.