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Georgia congressmen on sequester

4:28 pm February 28, 2013, by tsabulis

Moderated by Tom Sabulis

Sweeping budget cuts are about to begin under the rules of the so-called sequester. Georgia congressmen from both parties write about the damage that will be done by the austerity measure and the political maneuvering that brought us to this economic line in the sand.

Commenting is open below Hank Johnson’s column.

Cuts only way out of spending problem

By Jack Kingston

President Barack Obama has mastered a new kind of politics: Do nothing about a problem, refuse to meet with Congress, and then launch campaign rallies across the country to complain about nothing getting done. The latest example is his campaign against what he describes as the devastating cuts of sequestration. What he is forgetting to tell the American people is that it was his idea in the first place. He also forgets to mention that these “massive” cuts amount to less than 3 cents on the dollar over 10 years.

A little back story: Sequestration was created in the Budget Control Act of 2011. In exchange for another increase in the debt ceiling, the Obama administration proposed using automatic cuts of $1.2 trillion to force action on a larger deficit reduction package. It was the classic Washington move in which dessert is served up first, and broccoli is left for later.

To make matters worse, the sequestration proposal exempted 107 programs and largely ignored the drivers of our debt. Half the cuts would be directed toward defense, and 35 percent, toward non-defense discretionary spending. Less than 15 percent would come from mandatory spending on entitlement programs, which account for 62 percent of our budget.

That’s why I joined other conservatives in voting “no.” Not only were we against raising the debt ceiling yet again, but the spending reductions specifically protected the main problem — entitlements and welfare.

It was another boneheaded approach from a president and Congress afraid to take a tough stand. Despite dire warnings, sequestration is only a drop in the bucket in the context of our larger budget woes. The uproar over finding 3 cents on the dollar to cut belies the fact that our government has doubled in size over the last decade.

Our country is broke. Our future is at risk. We are not Greece yet, but that’s where we are headed. It’s not even just about our children’s future. This disaster is affecting us now, and inflation is already being felt at the grocery store and gas pump. Our jobless rate is way too high, and families are hurting.

Washington has a spending problem, and the only way to solve it is through spending cuts. Sequestration’s uneven hand may not be the best approach, but with a White House and Senate that refuse to act, it is our best chance to reduce spending today.

The House has acted twice to replace the cuts with targeted reductions and spending reforms. We have passed two budgets that tackle entitlements and put us on the path to sustainability. The Senate hasn’t passed a budget since the iPad was invented and gas was $1.87 a gallon. The president’s budgets cannot garner a single vote in the House or Senate.

When Washington shows leadership and deals with problems facing our country, the economy will soar. I know. I was there when we cut taxes, reformed welfare, reduced burdensome regulations, and balanced the budget. We can do this right with some dedicated hard work and honest talk. We don’t need any more excuses or gimmicks. We need courage and action.

Jack Kingston, a Republican, represent Georgia’s 1st congressional district.

Old blame game not working for citizens

By Hank Johnson

Sequestration was never put forward as a sensible policy for reducing our deficit, but as a reality check for both parties.

As the sequester deadline passes, we can continue to point fingers — gear up the blame game — and dig our partisan trenches, or we can choose to do better.

I hate to make my tea party friends uncomfortable by using a word they consider dirty, but with a little compromise, we can solve this. Without compromise, the $85 billion sequester could lower Gross Domestic Product (GDP), raise unemployment and flatten our fragile economic recovery.

A balanced approach to deficit reduction will help support the American people through job creation, economic growth and a strong middle class, while responsibly reducing our debt.

House Democrats have proposed balanced solutions that include repealing subsidies for big oil, implementing the Buffet Rule so middle-class families don’t pay higher tax rates than the wealthy, and refocusing farm subsidies.

Although sequestration takes effect today, the House leadership did not call a vote on a single alternative.

Georgia will be one of the hardest-hit states. This year, Georgia could lose about $55 million in education funding, putting more than 1,000 teacher or aide jobs at risk and impacting tens of thousands of mostly low-income students.

In addition, 2,490 fewer low-income students will receive aid to help pay for college. Head Start services will be eliminated for about 1,700 children. Georgia will lose about $427,000 in grants for police officers on our streets.

Perhaps most devastating, Georgia will lose about $873,000 in funding for job search assistance, meaning 33,160 fewer people will get the help they need to find jobs.

More than 35,000 civilian Department of Defense employees will be furloughed, reducing pay by about $190 million. Army base funding will be cut by $233 million, and Air Force operations funding, by $5 million.

I voted for the Budget Control Act that created sequestration. I believed that these terrible cuts would force Congress to compromise. But compromise is not part of the vocabulary these days.

I am proud to have voted for each budget deal — none of which was perfect or even my preferred choice – because I recognized that we must move past our self-inflicted wounds and compromise for the greater good.

This is one of those times we must listen to our better angels. If we don’t, economic growth will slow, hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost, and more people will have to rely on government assistance for basic needs.

The Republicans have boxed themselves in, declaring there will be no negotiations and no new revenue on the table. This is the strategy they’ve pursued for the last four years: Obstruct President Barack Obama, inflict pain on the economy and the middle class, and then blame the president and Democrats.

This is exactly the opposite of what Americans are demanding. The people know we can do better.

Hank Johnson, a Democrat, represents Georgia’s 4th congressional district.

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23 comments Add your comment

DAWG POUND

February 28th, 2013
4:59 pm

Oh Hank, if it were only like you say it is, LOL! Delusional!

You and your kind, Demorats and Republitards, sold this country out many decades ago to the silent branch of government, the Special Interests.

De Tocqueville got it right in the early 1800s when he said, “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public (We, The People) with the public’s (We, The People’s) money.”

Until We, The People, stick term limits on your behinds and prevent you Good Ole Boys from front running your own legislative investments, YOU and your office will NEVER SERVE US!

“According to a new report in The Washington Post, the median net worth of the current Congress rose 5% during the recession while it fell 39% for the average American. The wealthiest one-third of lawmakers saw their net worth rise 14%.”

Yeah, look Hank! Your hometown news paper there in DC is beginning to tell it like it really is now aren’t they!

SAWB

February 28th, 2013
5:03 pm

Why can’t these idiots get together and come up with solutions by incorporating spending cuts and revenue increases. Mr. Obama needs to stop flying around the country and get the key players together and work this thing out. The current situation is the result of continually kicking the proverbial can down the road.

The problem is that any real solution will most likely hurt and make everyone mad. Both parties are more concerned about upcoming elections than they are about leading and offering real solutions. Term limits anyone?

USC

February 28th, 2013
5:27 pm

When my household budget gets tight, I don’t turn out the lights, shut off the water, and sleep under the freeway. I get a job and fund the operation. Guess what, when 13 Georgia C.E.O.s pocketed 500 million dollars last year, I think we can figure out how to fund this operation. Drunken Boehner says that somebody needs to get up off their ass. I think it clear who that is.

An observer

February 28th, 2013
9:52 pm

It seems that the President and Congress could not find a better alternative to the sequester so nw let us proceed with the best of the options. The world will not end. We will probably be better for it. Now let us pass a CR that implements the sequester and a budget and appropriations for next year.

Georgia , The "New Mississippi"

March 1st, 2013
8:04 am

I think GOP is right is the sense that Washington has a spending problem. But due to the GOP’s overall lack of basic human morals they go about their solution in the wrong way. J-BO needs to man up and ask that SS , Medicaid / Medicare be cut but what ever percentage he thinks will work and explain why. He will get accused of throwing Grandma under the bus and having a disdain for the poor. This is nothing new as most Americans already view the GOP in this light. Every other business, company ,state, local, city government, non-profit, for-profit , charity has been dealing with cuts,going out of business, downsizing, decreased revenue , layoffs, furloughs etc,etc,etc,etc for the last 6-8 years……. The Federal employee has still be receiving cost of living increases, pay raises, merit pay increases etc,etc ,etc during this same time period. You could cut a federal employees salary by 20 % and he would still make 20 % more than a person in the private / non profit sector does. I really believe if you furloughed every person that receives a Federal Govt paycheck for 5 days a month for a year our nation would have one Hell of a Budget Surplus.

kathleen m. keane

March 1st, 2013
8:06 am

Mr. Hank Johnson lost me when he wrote about the need for compromise while in the same sentence making a negative comment about the “tea party”. You can’t expect compromise without respect for the other side. That is precisely what is wrong with both parties at this time. You are not serving the public if you cannot come together with dignity and humility.

GB101

March 1st, 2013
8:22 am

“House Democrats have proposed balanced solutions that include repealing subsidies for big oil, implementing the Buffet Rule so middle-class families don’t pay higher tax rates than the wealthy, and refocusing farm subsidies.”

Hank Johnson should get out his calculator. The Buffet tax would raise enough money per year to run the government for about 12 hours. I stopped reading at this point. He has insulted our intelligence and deserves no more of my attention.

Matt321

March 1st, 2013
8:29 am

I appreciate that the AJC gives Congressional members a forum, but I don’t appreciate that the AJC abdicates all fact checking. If something is printed in the paper, it ought to be true. Ignoring the extremely misleading parts of Mr. Kingston’s column, let’s look at the flat out lies:

“. . . the spending reductions specifically protected the main problem — entitlements and welfare.”
There is no federal program called welfare. If Mr. Kingston means TANF, that program costs less than half a percent of the federal budget.

“The uproar over finding 3 cents on the dollar to cut belies the fact that our government has doubled in size over the last decade.” Our government has not doubled in size. Number of federal employees, 2011 (civilian and military): 4.4 million. Number of federal employees, 2000 (civilian and military): 4.1 million. Peak federal employees? 1968, 6.6 million (when the population was 1/3 lower, no less).

“Our country is broke.” The United States continues to borrow at all time low interest rates, reflecting the strong fiscal shape we are in.

“Washington has a spending problem, and the only way to solve it is through spending cuts.”
Federal tax receipts are at a historical low – no duh, W passed a giant tax cut for the rich, and we’re still dealing with the Great Recession which has depressed revenues.

“We have passed two budgets that tackle entitlements and put us on the path to sustainability.”
The Paul Ryan budgets made the deficit worse – the only deficit reduction they had was with the use of magical assumptions, not concrete plans.

“The president’s budgets cannot garner a single vote in the House or Senate.” The President has not offered a budget in the House or Senate; Republican budgets dressed up to look like the President’s, introduced by Republicans, and filled with Republican policies, failed to garner votes.

Whirled Peas

March 1st, 2013
9:08 am

This nation is 16.7 trillion dollars in debt. And it is rising at a rate of more than a trillion dollars a year. And we can not find a way to cut a measly $85 trillion? Say good-bye to America the superpower. We will soon be just another country that can’t pay its bills. Our children will not have the same opportunities that we had, and it will be our fault for electing people like Hank Johnson to office. No, Hank, Guam is not about to tip over, but our mountain of debt certainly is.

Whirled Peas

March 1st, 2013
9:09 am

$85 trillion = $85 billion. The numbers are just getting too big.

Mary Elizabeth

March 1st, 2013
10:30 am

To U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson:

Thank you for a well written, cogent article. You closed your article with the line: “The people know we can do better.”

Yes, the people do know we can do better, and the people also can see through the Republican charade.

Dc

March 1st, 2013
11:10 am

Yeah it’s all the fault of the party that has been out of power for years. No wonder our politicians can get away with what they do. We are idiots that they manipulate at will

melshop

March 1st, 2013
11:27 am

Interesting how both men said there needs to be work or compromise, and to stop finger-pointing, then proceed to trash the opposition’s financial agenda and finger point for blame. This is why Washington isn’t working.

Here’s what you guys should do:
Close tax loopholes for higher earners, but don’t raise their income tax. We all know that the reason the wealthy don’t pay their “fair share” is because they can afford lawyers and CPA’s to find the loopholes. If you cut their income, that’s going to affect other industries where the middle income earners work. We all know that their take-home incomes really won’t be reduced, they will simply cut from their respective businesses and investment budgets, or cut spending on items like boats, cars, clothes, vacations, to keep the same amount of cash. Those cuts will eventually be passed on to the middle income and lower workers and we need to avoid that.

Along with closing the loopholes, Congress needs to work on revamping the tax system. Since this is a long-term project, start with something small like incentivizing the wealthy with targeted investments. For instance, say they can get a small corporate deduction if their business expands in capital outlay or results in the hiring of additional folks. I think the President has suggested this and may even put it in a bill, but I don’t know if it passed. Give a corporate deduction if the business uses small to mid-size companies for some of its products or services. This would help smaller struggling businesses and spur growth and hiring there. Give an income tax deduction and corporate deductions for donating to targeted charities, like those helping those who need medical care, disadvantaged preschools etc. We need to move those things out of the halls of government and turn them into charity-driven enterprises each community supports on a local level. This would reduce the federal debt/budget, give local control over these entities, and allow people to meet the needs of folks in their own communities.

Do an audit of the federal government. This could take years but you need to start with one department at a time. We, the people, are aware of the waste. Start with your own staffs. The military does have waste because the private subs have stuck it up the government’s hind end for years. Cut out the $500 toilet seats, the $20 aspirin in the medical bay. Get real numbers on necessary items. Relax the rules on non-combat items so small to mid-size companies can bid and compete with the larger contractors. You’ve got people looking at porn in the SEC, the GSA throwing parties in Vegas – all of that nonsense has to stop.

Mr. Johnson, I know you think all of those things you mentioned are important – and they are. But what you fail to realize is that the money going to those things really does very little except feed the bureaucratic beast. Millions to help with job finding skills? All I’ve ever seen is Internet postings of jobs from the Department of Labor. Surely that doesn’t cost millions. I am not against these programs, but we honestly have to find a better – and truthfully a more localized way – to run them. We in the middle class suffer every time you guys want to help those in need. Most of us also help those in need from donating time to money to clothes. We would do more, could do more, if you didn’t tax us to death. The worst part is we don’t feel our tax money is going to really help people, but going to fund the federal jobs in these various help agencies of those who watch the clock and do nothing.

Mr. Kingston, the one problem I have with the Republicans is that none of you realize what it means to live day to day on an hourly wage. None of you have had to suffer like the rest of us during this recession. While all of you play a political game to set the stage for 2014 re-elections, we are struggling to put gas in the car to get to work. We can tell when any of you are BSing us so just stop. Realize that “trickle down” doesn’t work, never has really worked so any tax cuts must be tied to positive action and include accountability by the corporation or tax payer. If you work on reducing overseas bank accounts, that will surely help our budget, our economy and our country.

A Ghast

March 1st, 2013
11:28 am

OMG, the federal government may have to get by on 98% of what they planned to spend, instead of the full amount! And the small amount overall of the reduction will come ONLY from discretionary spending, not the necessities. Yet you’d think they were going to have to do a fire sale.

Hundreds of millions of American families are having to live with huge decreases in their budgets, some with no budget at all due to loss of jobs. So that sound you hear in the background is my violin playing a sad song for the people in DC who have to figure out how to get by on 98% of their anticipated spending. Congress and the Administration, now shut up and drive!

EJ

March 1st, 2013
12:10 pm

@Hank (and Mary Elizabeth),

Tell me again why the federal government needs to fund local police and teacher’s aides? Get the federal government out of the business of funding local projects. If Cobb County wants more police, let them raise local taxes. Then local taxpayers can engage LOCAL politicians and get involved with government. Our country is unique in that citizens can pick and engage our leaders.

I spent decades working in a federal agency. We dumped BUCKETS of money into the garbage. You could have cut our budget 10% and it wouldn’t have made one difference. 3% is a joke.

Shamehia

March 1st, 2013
12:39 pm

We focus on Congress and the President in the budget and sequester fight but we’re letting the main player, the Federal Reserve, fly largely under the radar.

By keeping interest rates artificially low (quantitative easing) the Fed is enabling the government to sell paper to China etal at nearly no carrying charge to fund deficit spending. The Prez probably wishes he could recommend Bernanke for sainthood.

fed up

March 1st, 2013
2:10 pm

Does the sequester mean that there will be cuts to ALL refugees/immigrants that get all government services including Medicaid?
Or, does it mean cuts only for the US citizens that have paid into these programs?

CFBFan

March 1st, 2013
2:11 pm

Remove all deductions. Remove all forms of taxes, fees, etc., except for one income tax or a consumption tax. Collect the tax only one time each year, doing away with withholding. Set the income tax rate at a level to fund only the following functions of government:

Defense of the US (not world police)
Courts

Everything other function of government can be handled by private entities.

Sinking Fast

March 1st, 2013
3:31 pm

Someone please tell me why Washington cant cut their spending and keep their hands out of my pocket. The AG, FBI director fly around in a luxury jet to the tune of 11.7 million dollars a year. I am a state employee for Georgia. My wife and I just got blessed with a beautiful baby and I”m about to lose 10 percent of my pay. That money keeps my head above water especially at this point in our life.

Scrivener

March 1st, 2013
6:49 pm

Obama and the democrats got the tax increase (oh, excuse me! “revenue” increase) they wanted in January. Now they’re back at the trough again, just like the spending pigs they are. The democrat leaders, including Obama, have stated we don’t have a spending problem. Does that not raise a huge red flag that they’re completely out of touch and can’t be reasoned with? We need to make real cuts in many government programs. There’s a ton of pork out there, folks.

Scrivener

March 1st, 2013
6:52 pm

EJ: “@Hank (and Mary Elizabeth),

Tell me again why the federal government needs to fund local police and teacher’s aides? Get the federal government out of the business of funding local projects. If Cobb County wants more police, let them raise local taxes. Then local taxpayers can engage LOCAL politicians and get involved with government. Our country is unique in that citizens can pick and engage our leaders.”
EJ, you’re so on target, but you are arguing with two confirmed statists. It’s futile.

Rick

March 1st, 2013
9:46 pm

Republicans and Democrats key in on different points. Republicans key in on waste, and their pocketbooks, and Democrats on protecting people:social security and services. Democrats view Republicans generally as being greedy and self-centered, and Republicans generally see Democrats as “losers” dependent on the government. Democrats see Republicans in office seeking an “easy”, heartless “solution” by going after low hanging fruit like programs to help the less fortunate, like Medicaid, while the Republicans continue to fight for tax breaks for the rich.

Wasn’t it just a year or so ago, that Governor Deal fought for sales tax exemptions for parts for Gulfstream, private jet repairs, while he fought to make sure those unable to obtain health insurance, and affordable health care, would continue being blocked from getting it (all the way to the Supreme Court)? Now he wants to make sure the very needy in Georgia who would finally get help under the Affordable Care Act, never do. Die they must? Really? Cancer treatments, organ replacements,… are not available to you just because you roll up to an emergency room. If everyone could be certain they could live until they are Medicaid eligible, we all would have less to pray about.

Mary Elizabeth

March 2nd, 2013
9:08 am

We must choose not to quibble.

The following words, from Rep. Hank Johnson’s article above, were the essence of what he was trying to communicate to all:

“As the sequester deadline passes, we can continue to point fingers — gear up the blame game — and dig our partisan trenches, or we can choose to do better. . . . with a little compromise, we can solve this. . . .The people know we can do better.”