How the present fiscal ‘crisis’ rolls right into the next one
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had any pieces of sky falling on my head today.
The automatic spending cuts known as sequestration take effect beginning today. It’s a little early to gauge whether doom is truly upon us, but the way Americans sense the cuts have affected them — or not — will help determine how the next serial “crisis” is teed up.
We already know what that crisis will be: the debate over a new continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government. Because congressional Democrats have given up on the budgeting process, which would force them to commit in black-letter documents to the kind of tax-and-spend plans they desire for the coming years, the government ends up being funded for a few months at a time. The latest CR expires later this month, so it would seem the debate will now shift to that fight.
It would seem so, except that that fight is the one the White House has been waging for a couple of weeks now.
The intent of the scare stories about sequestration, in all likelihood, were only partly about sequestration. President Obama no doubt would have loved for congressional Republicans to back down and either kick the cuts down the road a bit further, as they did in the “fiscal cliff” deal, or even agree to some new taxes in place of, say, defense cuts. But he was also fully aware that leverage was ultimately on Republicans’ side if they were resolved to let sequestration proceed — as was the case for him in the fiscal-cliff talks, when taxes were scheduled to go up if no one did anything.
So, it’s altogether likely that Obama wanted to talk up the effects of the sequestration cuts not just to pressure them to cave now, but also to build leverage for the CR discussions. After all, if Americans do feel pain from sequestration, he can argue for higher spending in the CR. If they don’t, he can claim to have taken all possible measures to avoid pain now — but to be without any such protective options if spending falls further in the CR.
The talk about “balance” — i.e., raising taxes — will become even louder when the CR is debated. Never mind that the tax hikes in the fiscal-cliff deal are double the spending cuts under sequestration.
The question now becomes: What do most Americans think about the changes wrought by both deals? Will they feel more affected by the tax hikes or the spending cuts? And will they then balk at going further down one road or the other — or maybe find themselves willing to keep going down both?
One would think the fact that everyone’s payroll taxes went up would trump the far less universal spending cuts. But there will be a lot of argument-by-anecdote about spending cuts in the coming weeks to try to negate that.
– By Kyle Wingfield
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
499 comments Add your comment
Patty
March 1st, 2013
3:01 pm
I’m tired of caring Kyle. There is no reason to have a fiscal crisis every three months…
Not when this bunch of loons causes American families to have a fiscal crisis every time we go to the pump, buy groceries, pay bills. Washington needs be cleaned out and replaced by people with enough sense to know you can’t borrow your way out of debt.
I’m not a lib or a con, just an American who is fed up with this stupidity. Mister President and Congress, stop acting like you’re on some reality show and do your freaking jobs!
Politico
March 1st, 2013
3:03 pm
Tiberius – pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 28th, 2013
8:25 pm
Losers (and sore ones at that) like JDW, Politico and MarkV just can’t seem to hack the logical arguments presented on this blog.
Politico attacks the posters, but contributes nothing else. And repeats the same things more often than AmVet ever did. Too bad Politico won’t take the same path and self banish himself.
JDW keeps moving goal posts so frequently that he can’t even see the stadium any longer, and only tells the side of the argument he agrees with – never the whole story.
And what to say about MarkV that hasn’t already been said? If it’s not worded precisely in his personal dictionary, it can’t possibly be true. And when caught in his falsehoods, he constantly complains that “he never said that” (simply because someone didn’t quote him EXACTLY).
All-in-all, a fools gallery the liberal establishment can be proud of.
______________________________________________
Tiberius – pulling the tail of the left AND right
March 1st, 2013
2:39 pm
I see splavistic didn’t get his Prozac refilled this month.
______________________________________________
You couldn’t make this up if you tried. The pot is all is burnt up………. And the blog sheriff is on the loose.
The day he practices what he preaches is the day Kyle gives him his official deputy of the blog badge
bwhahahahahahahah
Everyone have an awesome weekend
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 1st, 2013
3:05 pm
Senator: Obama’s Golf Weekend With Tiger Cost As Much As 341 Federal Workers Furloughed -
sailfish
March 1st, 2013
3:11 pm
“Obama’s Golf Weekend With Tiger Cost As Much As 341 Federal Workers Furloughed”
Allrighty, right wing echoe chamber locked and loaded – fire!
getalife
March 1st, 2013
3:16 pm
“EUROZONE JOBLESS HITS ANOTHER RECORD…
Italy hits 21-year high…
26.2% in Spain…
Britain slides toward new recession..” drudgey.
This is what Kyle and the cons want.
They are self defeatists.
Aquagirl
March 1st, 2013
3:21 pm
Allrighty, right wing echoe chamber locked and loaded – fire!
“Senator: one of my 22 D.C. office staff members wrote about Obama’s golf trip, and I signed my name so I get the credit when numpties forward it all over the internet.”
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 1st, 2013
3:21 pm
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano had no part in a decision by underlings to release low-risk illegal immigrant detainees as a way to save money before the sequestration and was surprised to learn about it, Napolitano told ABC News in an exclusive interview.
The buck stops……………there!
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 1st, 2013
3:25 pm
“According to the CBO 750,000 but do blather on.”
According to the group that hardly gets any of their estimates right, JDW?
In the computer world we had a saying – “Garbage in – Garbage out”. When the people requesting the “estimates” cook the books with their input, you get the CBO’s record of miserable failure in estimating what might happen with government action.
But since everything revolving around government is automatically great with you, Curly, I’m sure you’re fine with failure on that scale.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 1st, 2013
3:26 pm
Dog Face Napolitano has concluded her investigation of herself and has found herself absolutely innocent of any wrongdoing, including anything that might happen in the future. All hail Dog Face. – A Pee
HDB
March 1st, 2013
3:27 pm
Hillbilly D
March 1st, 2013
2:24 pm
HD — when constituents were clamoring for a greater police presence inthe cities…and local governments could react quickly enough and did not have the funding, those same localities turned to the federals for help…and remember Nixon’s “law and order” pledge?? That was the beginning. Now, many municipalities are still crying for an increased police presence and the only funding source is the federal government! They sold their soul because of a lot of “fear-mongering” during the Nixon years…and that has been perpetuated since………….
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 1st, 2013
3:27 pm
Leg-humper alert at 3:03!!!!!!
Retired Soldier
March 1st, 2013
3:29 pm
You know it’s easy to make fun of “facts”, assuming Sen Sessions is right, and ignore the reality of the comment.
For the 100th time, consider for a moment if a Rep was Pres, flew to Fla to play golf just before the sequester hit. The libs and the media would be screaming. But with Obama, silence. Stunning.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 1st, 2013
3:29 pm
Actually publicly held debt as a % of GDP was more when you were born than it is today.
Yep, that was before we got all that WWII spending paid down. When I was faced with contributing “my share” (graduated HS) debt/gdp was 38%; today about 101%. That means it has increased 63%, alarming, since we haven’t had any major wars, just overseas contingencies and a police action in Vietnam.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 1st, 2013
3:31 pm
HDB, if (name the entity) can’t handle the job of law enforcement, fire fighting and teaching, then maybe they should scale back their operations and scope of responsibility.
Responsibility; that’s not a word you hear from your side of the aisle at all, is it?
Or they can always raise taxes, but then people would vote them out of office (heaven forbid!), or failing that, vote with their feet as they are doing in Detroit.
And it’s more than just a coincidence that the entities that can’t handle their own responsibilities and look to others for help are usually run by Democrats.
JDW
March 1st, 2013
3:34 pm
@Tiberius…”JDW, if you are going to continue to insert yourself into conversations that ate above your intelligence level, please do so with someone else.”
If you are in the conversation that is not a problem.
getalife
March 1st, 2013
3:36 pm
Finally, he suggested that austerity in a depressed economy may well be self-defeating even in purely fiscal terms: “Besides having adverse effects on jobs and incomes, a slower recovery would lead to less actual deficit reduction in the short run for any given set of fiscal actions.”
“So the deficit is not a clear and present danger, spending cuts in a depressed economy are a terrible idea and premature austerity doesn’t make sense even in budgetary terms. Regular readers may find these propositions familiar, since they’re pretty much what I and other progressive economists have been saying all along. But we’re irresponsible hippies. Is Ben Bernanke? (Well, he has a beard.) ” Krugman on Bernanke.
The gop are country last.
@@
March 1st, 2013
3:37 pm
testing 1-2-3
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 1st, 2013
3:38 pm
JDW
Before you get all aroused or what not, the debt to gdp in now in the mid 80’s. I misread; the end of the graph was projections for 2015, which is so far way off, all of two plus years or so, and we hit 101% if the government is accurate, which we all know they never are.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 1st, 2013
3:39 pm
“Krugman on Bernanke”
I don’t know which to laugh at more, the reference to two people who really don’t have a clue, or the clueless poster who made the reference.
@@
March 1st, 2013
3:40 pm
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had any pieces of sky falling on my head today.
Me neither. Only a lib would mistake Obama’s BS (birdspit?) as a piece of fallen sky….a huge chunk from the O-zone.
schnirt
Michael H. Smith
March 1st, 2013
3:42 pm
The Obamalypse is upon us. Now is the time of our tribulation poured out.
Woe unto janitors, for they will have pay cuts.
Woe unto teachers, firefighters and police for they shall be furloughed.
Woe unto those that shall travel by air in these days, for they shall be unmercifully delayed at airports across the land.
And this was but three woes from the breaking of the first seal wherein there are seven vases!
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 1st, 2013
3:45 pm
premature austerity doesn’t make sense even in budgetary terms.
If you want the ability to continue to borrow money, you don’t wait until the creditor says I’m calling the note. That is similar to what happened in Europe, they didn’t want to give up their benefits, “prematurely”. Now, they have little choice, but to take to the streets and cry, but there is no one left with money to appease their cries them, and make the boogeyman (austerity) go away.
@@
March 1st, 2013
3:45 pm
From Obama’s lips to Obamalypse?
getalife
March 1st, 2013
3:45 pm
The facts are in, both parties agree it is horrible policy but lets do it anyway.
It is ignorant , self defeating and people will get hurt.
Insane.
getalife
March 1st, 2013
3:46 pm
Yeah, greenspan was a disaster.
Half Century Dawg
March 1st, 2013
3:46 pm
“Duh…who held the house from 94 – 2006? Hint – not democrats”
I think things we pretty good during that time frame. I guess Nancy and Harry really messed things up.
getalife
March 1st, 2013
3:47 pm
I see your ods has not improved with your vacation from the blog @@.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 1st, 2013
3:51 pm
“I am not a dictator. I’m the president,” Barack Obama declared as he rejected the idea of using burly Secret Service agents to keep lawmakers from leaving until everyone agreed on a budget.”
So NOW he’s figured out he’s not a dictator!
Maybe he’ll reverse some of the Executive Orders he’s signed throughout his first term, then?
Nah!
He’s only a dictator when he can make political hay out of being one.
Aquagirl
March 1st, 2013
3:52 pm
For the 100th time, consider for a moment if a Rep was Pres, flew to Fla to play golf just before the sequester hit. The libs and the media would be screaming.
Screaming at the straw libs in your head is not a group activity.
Michael H. Smith
March 1st, 2013
3:52 pm
The obama’s doom and gloom prophesies portrayed as the Obamalypse, fashioned after the Biblical Apocalypse.
getalife
March 1st, 2013
3:53 pm
At least the fed will keep easing 85 billion a month so the fed will be the only one acting on jobs.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 1st, 2013
3:53 pm
Meanwhile, back on Earth, 100 Billion Dollars in wasteful federal spending remains untouched because, I guess, obozo likes it.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 1st, 2013
3:54 pm
“Even if he did bar his office — the oval one — Obama said he wouldn’t do a “Jedi mind meld” with Congress’ top two Republicans to persuade them “to do what’s right.”
Yoda-quoting nerds, Beltway insiders and even Hollywood heroes were instantly abuzz. The presidential mishmash of sci-fi references went viral, turning off geeks who had considered Obama to be one of them with a slip of the tongue that was almost as bad as confusing Klingons and Ewoks, or even Democrats and Republicans.
Jedis are from “Star Wars,” while mind-melds happened on “Star Trek.”
Mister Spock of “Star Trek” weighed in.
“Only a Vulcan mind meld would be effective on this Congress. LLAP,” Leonard Nimoy emailed after The Associated Press sought his reaction. Nimoy signed off with the abbreviation for his “Live long and prosper.”"
Good thing he can’t run for office again. Barry just lost the geek vote!
getalife
March 1st, 2013
3:54 pm
The obama’s doom and gloom prophesies portrayed as the Obamalypse, fashioned after the Biblical Apocalypse,
Stupid comment from the stupid party.
Job killers.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 1st, 2013
3:54 pm
So obozo didn’t go golfing for three days with Tiger Woodies?
getalife
March 1st, 2013
3:57 pm
Mam, this blog is dumbed down.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 1st, 2013
3:57 pm
Alright, the government furloughed cheesy from the Wingnut blog!
See, I told you these cuts were a good thing.
They’ll be coming after you next, mcfool.
Michael H. Smith
March 1st, 2013
4:01 pm
Yeah, greenspan was a disaster.
Dang son, I believe you are beginning to learn something. Just add the other two members of Bill Clinton’s economic team, Robert Rubin and Larry Summers, for the rest of that financial disaster.
Michael H. Smith
March 1st, 2013
4:03 pm
Mam, this blog is dumbed down.
We try to keep it on your level when we have to.
Hillbilly D
March 1st, 2013
4:03 pm
@@
Thought you’d achieved your dream of moving to the flatlands of LA. (IWH)
@@
March 1st, 2013
4:06 pm
Getalife:
You went full-tilt left, I went full-tilt right.
As I recall, you suffered from bds back when…
indigo
March 1st, 2013
4:07 pm
Tiberius – 2:13 “why is the Federal Govt. paying for something that is a local responsibility”?
Because we live in the UNITED States of America, not a loose confederation of states.
HDB
March 1st, 2013
4:07 pm
Tiberius – pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 1st, 2013
3:31 pm
Tibbi….the problem with your idea is scope and reaction! Do you honestly thinkthat you could patrol a city like Atlanta (as an example) with 10 people on the police force? The level of taxation would be so onerous that no one could afford to live here!! Major cities like New York, LAX, Chicago, et. al., would be in similar straits!! Not only is the scope of responsibility predicated upon by local demands…but also federal…via the interaction of federal and state governments (look at the airport, as an example). That scope of responsibility was shifted to the federal level by a Republican (Nixon)…and precludes whatever political party is in office on the local/state level!!
BTW…the majority of cities that had the greatest EXPANSIONS in the populace were run by Democrats….and those expansions fueled the expansions in those local economies…….note Atlanta, for example…..
@@
March 1st, 2013
4:08 pm
flatlands of LA?
Los Angeles? Louisiana?
indigo
March 1st, 2013
4:11 pm
Aesop – 3:54
So, you want the President to constantly be in Washington and not get any time off?
I’m guessing that if Romney had been elected, he could be taking all the time off in the world and all we would get from you cons would be THUNDERING SILENCE.
getalife
March 1st, 2013
4:13 pm
“As I recall, you suffered from bds back when…”
Yes, when he cut and ran from obl to occupy Iraq to explode our deficit then he collapse the economy.
The majority agree he was a disaster but he gave us President Obama.
A winner not a loser.
getalife
March 1st, 2013
4:16 pm
“Just add the other two members of Bill Clinton’s economic team, Robert Rubin and Larry Summers, for the rest of that financial disaster. ”
It collapsed under w’s watch but would like to see the list of “there is plenty of blame to go around” to get people like gramm out of government permanently.
Hillbilly D
March 1st, 2013
4:16 pm
flatlands of LA?
Los Angeles? Louisiana?
Lower Alabama
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 1st, 2013
4:18 pm
indie – obozo is the time off queen of the world. The teleprompter instructs him to tell us to tighten our belts and then he jets off to some exotic locale.
Try to remain focused, man.
Hillbilly D
March 1st, 2013
4:18 pm
get people like gramm out of government permanently.
Doubt he’ll ever get back in. He’s made way too much money to get back in now. Besides, he did what he went to do.