As of midnight last night, the sequester went into effect. As we are not dead, no pink slips for teachers have been given out, and people are still getting the support that they need, I think we are doing a fine job. Even though I'm a libertarian I applauded the Republicans and the majority of Democrats for holding steady for the sake of protecting the country from financial ruin (or at least further contributing to it).
There is another impact of the sequester that you will soon be hearing about however. Unfortunately, as the Federal government borrows so much money, the Feds are going to run out as they hit another debt ceiling. Yes you heard it right, the government, despite raiding our wallets is not going to have enough money to survive. Thus, unless another deal is made between Republicans and Democrats, the Federal Government will shut down. The best comparison is to the days when President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich were butting heads.
So what happens in a government shut down? Well, first of all, your social security checks and other welfare payments will still be there, but it will take longer to receive the payments. National parks will shut down, but so will most government offices. The military will still function and protect us. Basically, only the essentials offices and programs will still be working. So, no need to fear another fiscal Armageddon. This is of course assuming a deal is not met.
Will a deal be met though? I don't think a deal will be done in time. The Republicans will play it off as we shut the government down to protect the country and our children from debt. Democrats will be placed under pressure if that happens, so expect President Obama and a large portion of Democrats to claim more Armageddon. Needless to say, if you are a political nerd, then grab your popcorn.
Well, once the shut down occurs we will save more money, which is good. The deal once reached (if it is ever reached) will likely contain token spending cuts which will count toward future sequester cut spending. Hopefully more tax reform in the form of getting rid of exceptions, deductions and the like starting from the top down (the rich), but this is less likely as most money the Democrats receive is from the rich (lawyers and such from NY and California), while Republicans get theirs from big business. But the Republicans are trying to rebrand and some younger Democrats are distancing themselves from the hard core of the party. In other words being a savior of the country and protecting kids from a debt burden their parents and grandparents gave them is more popular with voters. So basically the Republicans will win this round, unless something worse than a shut down occurs.
That something is bankruptcy. If that occurs, we will all be in trouble as no business would want to work in our country, let alone invest. However, the majority of the national debt will disappear, contracts will be renegotiated, but many people will lose their jobs in the Federal, State and Local governments (State and Local get government kick backs which they use to hire more personnel or to spend on pork spending to bribe voters). Essentially, we will have hell in a hand basket.
Can the course of the country be changed? Yes. But will it be changed in time, well who knows. Some one obviously cursed me and the rest of
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