Sequester+2013

=The Sequester- What it Means to You.=

Friday, March 1st was the deadline for reaching a budget agreement in Congress to prevent the imposition of mandatory cuts previously agreed to when early negotiations failed to produce a budget agreement. Much has been in the news about the politics, and the practical consquences. Taken against the immensity of the federal budget, the cuts seem like small change. On the otherhand, the may have a great negative effect on many programs and many jobs that people count on.

Here is a link to the Speak Out National discussion on this issue. The background info to it is copied below. If you post to the national discussion, copy it to the Harmon discussion and vice-versa to earn double extra credit up to 10 points. Be sure to note in your Harmon post if you also posted to the national discussion.


 * National Discussion Link-** What Does Sequestration Mean to You?

What do you think about all this?

=What does sequestration mean for you?=

//By Jeremy Quattlebaum, Student Voices staff writer- Annenberg Speak Outs.//

As of March 1, the federal government will be required by law to enact deep, across-the-board cuts in services and functions because Congress and President Obama have yet to agree on how to address the country’s growing deficit.

The automatic budget cuts will force a reduction in federal spending. The process is called sequestration. When Congress passed the Budget Control Act law in 2011, it intended to make the cuts so unpopular that it would force an agreement on deficit reduction. Neither party thought that they would actually take effect.

Sequestration means spending cuts to the tune of $85 billion this fiscal year, which will be applied to all federal agencies. It will affect everything from air traffic controllers (who are federal employees) to immigration enforcement, according to Danny Werfel, federal controller of the Office of Management and Budget. The cuts are evenly split between domestic and defense programs.

Every account in nearly every federal agency, Werfel said, will have to cut its budget by a certain percentage, about 9 percent. That means that if an agency has a budget of $1 million it will have to cut $90,000; an agency with a budget of $100 million will see a $9 million cut.

The spending cuts do not mean an immediate crisis, but the effect will build up over time. People who receive federal jobless benefits will see their payments reduced by up to nine percent, and college students who apply for federal aid will see a dip in the amount to government is willing to cover in the next fiscal year.

It also means longer lines at the airport, as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will have to cut hours and have fewer people on duty, and reduced hours for national parks and forests.

If your parents work for the government, they may see their hours cut, or in some cases, put on furlough, which means they will not be allowed to work until Congress ends the sequester or the fiscal year ends in September.

On the other hand, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and benefits for veterans are exempt from the budget cuts.

So how does the sequestration end?

Congress and the president have to agree on a budget deal to government spending and debt. The Republicans want the massive budget gap closed with spending cuts only and Democrats prefer a combination of spending cuts and tax increases.

What do you think?

How will the sequestration affect you? How will the sequestration affect the economy? Join the discussion and let us know what you think!