Will sequestration hurt the economy?

However, the President does have the choice of which programs will be cut. Given his past actions, he will make cuts that hurt and endanger the American people.

Sequestration will not have an immediate impact but if it continues until September, the economy will be in a recession. Since not all states have the same reliance on federal spending the economic impact will vary by state. Some states which have been heavily dependent on Federal spending, e.g., Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, Mississippi, Maine, will suffer more than other states which have been relatively self sustaining, e.g., Texas, Minnesota, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey.

My analysis suggests red states will suffer more than blue states which is likely to make it difficult for some Republican Representatives in 2014. I suspect the president has much more sophisticated analyses but if I am right, the Republicans should not expect the president to compromise much on sequestration.

It will help at least a little. Much more cuts are needed

Oh no! 2% across the board cuts. Whatever are we going to do with only 98% of the budget?!?

no,its only 2% of the budgit of 3.8 trillion dollars.

a lot of people will lose their jobs and thats just wrong

A lot of government workers will lose their jobs, who shouldn't have had them in the first place.

It's theater, but in the community where I live, the major employer is Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. There are numerous military base in just this county and if all the civilian workers get 1 day/week off, without pay, it will mean umpteen millions of dollars won't see the local economy. This will mean that numerous business' will close up and exacerbate that problem. If this goes on throughout the entire government workforce, it will be devastating. It came from the Obama crew and it will act as yet another nail in the coffin that Obama is building!

It's up to the Potus, where he cuts the budget.. Military, Teachers, and Meat Inspectors, or cuts the waste and fat in government? BHO, idea and he then turned down his own bi-partisan committee.. As Commander in Chief, the buck stops at his desk.. But he is still playing the " Blame Game." Pinning the tail on the wrong animal... But there is smoke and mirrors on both sides of the fence.. Rino's hiding in the herd of Jackass's...

Exploding the RW fantasy that government spending has no benefit to the economy.

YEP, LIKE THE $25. MILLION ON THE STUDY OF SCHOOLING GOLD FISH.. AND THE $167. MILLION FOR NPR.. WHEN IT'S PROFITS ARE OVER $850. MILLION... BIGGER GOVERNMENT FOR BHO AND DEMOCRATS, IS MORE LAWYERS FOR OBAMACARE, AND THE IRS.. ALL THAT SPENDING ON PORK HAS "NO" BENEFIT TO THE ECONOMY.

I will easily concede that the government wastes huge amounts of money. We may disagree on the priorities for spending, but the idea that government cutbacks as a matter of definition don't have a negative effect on the economy is absurd. Even spending on NPR or the study you mentioned (I have no idea of the specifics) has an effect if additional people are hired or equipment is purchased, etc.

The cost of Government programs is always more than the return to the economy by those same programs.. I may that who is paying for the additional government funded employees, and equipments? And most of us see how well it's managed by Government.. Post Office, EPA, DHS, DOD, DOE, Most of the time these "people" that work for us, have better benefits and wages than those being taxed to pay for it..

We are going to see just how this will come out in the short and long run. Less government is better in my book..

I agree that there is a "friction" component to government spending that in a perfect world would not exist. But you also have to account for the fact that we aren't in a perfect world and sometimes there is no other way to accomplish a goal. If we want regulation of pollution, there is no other good mechanism besides government regulation. Yes, individuals could sue the companies that pollute, but the legal system is fraught with much more inefficiency than even the government. In essence this is a form of the "tragedy of the commons." Without a central control mechanism individuals will not be motivated to act in the interests of society.

Much as I think the sequester is an idiotic way to go about it, it may be that an across the board cut is the only mechanism for forcing government to actually work out some of the inefficiencies. As you say, we shall see.

YEP... We will see....

You know, you could really show those guys if you just slashed the budget down to nothing. Then, they'd have no choice but to concede defeat and return to higher spending.

A limit to the rise in speanding of 85 billion, out of a federal budget of trillions !!!! Like a spit in th eocean. But maybe, hopefully it will show people that cutting a little and being responsible will not lead to the destruction of America liek Obama's spending will.

This will not hurt the economy unless the current administration makes sure it does
There is no reason why a cut in the rate of increase should hurt us, unless they deliberately slow down the private sector to prove a point
And if they do need more money its due to inflation from money printing, if we quit printing money they wouldn't need more money for the same programs as they had last year

It's a 2% cut in the increase of 8%. It's not enough.

The economy has been hurt by the continued foolish spending, more than ALL other presidents combined. Sequestration is just what we need, stop the free ride and maybe Boomer will start to listen to reason....I doubt it. Boomer and his anti-American game book should be sequestered. One thing for certain, Boomer has now earned FULL and total blame for the countries miserable economic condition.

Obama hurts the economy...god I wish we had a real leader...

Not only do we not have a leader, but all his cabinet leaders keep leaving, so we have less than any leadership

Obama's fault, he owns this. It's a stupid power play. He just got billions in December less than two months ago, spent it and now wants more, no DEMANDS more.
Guys like him should have been tossed in the berry bushes back in HS along with his "choom gang."

If government spending hurts our economy then we are doing something wrong.

Depending on duration,but sadly,atleast a little

How does decreased taxation on an economy hurt it?

good question
Initially It would only effect government workers,some would be given a 20% decrease in work,less work,less pay,less spending probably a 1% decrease in growth,as I said depends on duration :)

Government workers don't produce anything, they only take. They don't generate revenue for the country. If there are less of them, that's less spending on the government, which in turn means less taxes on us, which in turn means people have more money to spend on things.

Mostly we need a drastic decrease in welfare, along with a measured increase in Federal service employees, significant over time, maintaining Federal parks and lands, highways, rest stops, ports, firefighting etc.


Better to spend the money employing large numbers of people to do things we wish we could do if we had the money.... if welfare money spent this way everybody gains.

This was tried in the Great Depression.. and it did not work very well back then.. Those that had connection to the democrats in power got jobs and work.. Those that did not, didn't get the jobs or the work.. They got the lines at the soup kitchens.. Work projects they don't last forever.. And the contracts are handed out as favors to the Senators & Congressmen, of the party in power. It was not FDR that got us out of that depression.. It was WW-11 that got us out of it.. 12 years in that one.. How many are we willing to give Obama, and at what cost to the country and our childrens future.. $25.Trillion by 2016 and the end of his two terms?

Perhaps it`s my public school education. But I fail to comprehend how cutting spending will hurt our economy. The country is bankrupt, now, and has been for some many years. Any housewife who manages her household finances, could run this government better than our overly well paid politicians.

Any time you take money out of the hands of the population and cut jobs, you are killing the economy and any recovery we have made. Republicans are once again hard at work making sure the economy doesn't recover under a Democrat in the White House. And in 2014 they will say that it is the Republicans who can fix things when in reality they have been working overtime trying to make things worse.

It`s all Bush`s fault.

You got that right!!!

Gunner was kidding knuckle-head...Get a life!!!

... but it really did get it right.

THE ONLY "RIGHT" HE'S GOT IS THE HAND HE BEATS THE MEAT WITH...

Small wonder that all the libs got their minds in the gutter. I don`t do as you do. My wife and I, after 46 years, get along just great. Without my being some kind of pervert.

So sorry gunner, My mistake! "The Right" was wrong of me... Just a stupid thing trying to giving back to the Lib's, what they have given me a time or two.. Poor judgement on my part.. :^(

The Buck stop on Bush's deck over four years ago... The Trillions of dollars are still on Obama's desk... And the "Blame Game," can't and won't go on much longer..

THE SKY IS NOT FALLING.... BUT LOT'S OF SMOKE & MIRRORS IN THE ROOM...