Congress has options to avoid self-made sequestration mess
Rather, I opposed that legislation because the broader bill that created the supercommittee was merely a gimmick to delay the hard choices necessary to get our fiscal house in order. Predictably, the supercommittee failed, triggering sequestration.
Also troubling was the way sequestration was to be implemented. Instead of pursuing a fair approach like a1percent across-theboard reduction in spending, President Obama demanded that half of the sequester come from the military — a disproportionate share. That begs the question of why? Was it to play politics? Was it a fundamental reflection of the president’s view of the military?
What the public hasn’t been told is what other options there are, for finding and cutting wasteful or noncritical spending. To date, there hasn’t been a true public accounting and discussion of all the options that could have been on the table.
Instead, nowat the11th hour, the White House is spinning one doomsday scenario after another in a desperate attempt to undo the sequestration that this White House proposed, pretending that it will have draconian consequences.
It’s ludicrous. After all, domestic agencies have experienced a massive17 percent increase in their budgets since Obama took office four years ago. Are we to believe that these agencies can’t find ways to still provide key services in the future because their budgets aren’t going to grow at the same rate?
Republicans and Democrats bear shared responsibility for our spending problems and the sequester shenanigans being foisted upon the public. Both parties are failing our country by continuing to refuse to make the tough but important choices the American people want and that our long-term prosperity demands.
Instead of the hysteria surrounding how we will barely reduce the size of future budget increases, Washington should be debating other ideas for balancing the budget, like the Penny Plan that would reduce our current spending and provide more common-sense ways to create fiscal discipline.
One fact is clear: Until both parties restore discipline to our politics, we shouldn’t expect discipline in our policymaking and our finances.