And thanks to baseline budgeting, it's probably a 2% decrease in the scheduled increase rather than an actual cut. Could be wrong.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

If the "perfect capitalist economy" worked in a vacuum at the speed of light, yes. Is it your assertion that is now or ever will be the case?

Your next line following your "perfect EC" line is not plausible since "Because the conditions for perfect competition are strict, there are few if any perfectly competitive markets" .... It's not ridiculous or silly or brilliant or anything since your economic model is completely unrealistic.

Kind of a different story when the side with the intelligence agencies lies about the parameters of the situation.

In essence though, I agree.

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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

Unfortunately for the right, these small cuts will be hitting them in their pet spending areas....

The comments from the right if these cuts were hitting social programs would be of an entirely different timbre...
'Not enough' would be the hue and cry....

Just another example of the way politicians of all stripes will say and support only those things which they see a political benefit from.

__________________
On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

They'll be hitting the right's pet areas because the right is not in power... imagine that.

Totally agree.

To those that do not understand the implications.

Civilians will be furloughed.

Contractors will be laid off in droves...

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1982 240D, sold 9/17/2008
1987 300D TurboW124.133 - 603.960, 722.317 - Smoke Silver Metallic / Medium Red (702/177), acquired 8/15/2009
262,715 and counting

All this is just fiddling while Rome burns. We're so totally screwed it's not funny.

CBO | The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2013 to 2023


Revenues
Federal revenues will increase by roughly 25 percent between 2013 and 2015 under current law, CBO projects. That increase is expected to result from a rise in income because of the growing economy, from policy changes that are scheduled to take effect during that period, and from policy changes that have already taken effect but whose full impact on revenues will not be felt until after this year (such as the recent increase in tax rates on income above certain thresholds).

As a result of those factors, revenues are projected to grow from 15.8 percent of GDP in 2012 to 19.1 percent of GDP in 2015—compared with an average of 17.9 percent of GDP over the past 40 years. Under current law, revenues will remain at roughly 19 percent of GDP from 2015 through 2023, CBO estimates.



Outlays

In CBO’s baseline projections, federal spending rises over the next few years in dollar terms but falls relative to the size of the economy. During those years, the growth of spending will be restrained both by the strengthening economy (as spending for programs such as unemployment compensation drops) and by provisions of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-25). Although outlays are projected to decline from 22.8 percent of GDP in 2012 to 21.5 percent by 2017, they will still exceed their 40-year average of 21.0 percent. (Outlays peaked at 25.2 percent of GDP in 2009 but have fallen relative to GDP in the past few years.)

After 2017, if current laws remain in place, outlays will start growing again as a percentage of GDP. The aging of the population, increasing health care costs, and a significant expansion of eligibility for federal subsidies for health insurance will substantially boost spending for Social Security and for major health care programs relative to the size of the economy. At the same time, rising interest rates will significantly increase the government’s debt-service costs. In CBO’s baseline, outlays reach about 23 percent of GDP in 2023 and are on an upward trajectory.

Changes from CBO’s Previous Projections
The deficits projected in CBO’s current baseline are significantly larger than the ones in CBO’s baseline of August 2012. At that time, CBO projected deficits totaling $2.3 trillion for the 2013–2022 period; in the current baseline, the total deficit for that period has risen by $4.6 trillion. That increase stems chiefly from the enactment of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-240), which made changes to tax and spending laws that will boost deficits by a total of $4.0 trillion (excluding debt-service costs) between 2013 and 2022, according to estimates by CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation. CBO’s updated baseline also takes into account other legislative actions since August, as well as a new economic forecast and some technical revisions to its projections.

......Budgetary outcomes will also be affected by decisions about whether to continue certain policies that have been in effect in recent years. Such policies could be continued, for example, by extending some tax provisions that are scheduled to expire (and that have routinely been extended in the past) or by preventing the 25 percent cut in Medicare’s payment rates for physicians that is due to occur in 2014. If, for instance, lawmakers eliminated the automatic spending cuts scheduled to in March take effect (but left in place the original caps on discretionary funding set by the Budget Control Act), prevented the sharp reduction in Medicare’s payment rates for physicians, and extended the tax provisions that are scheduled to expire at the end of calendar year 2013 (or, in some cases, in later years), budget deficits would be substantially larger over the coming decade than in CBO’s baseline projections. With those changes, and no offsetting reductions in deficits, debt held by the public would rise to 87 percent of GDP by the end of 2023 rather than to 77 percent.


And the US is the global economic leader?

You'll have to 'plain it to me. How come cutting what amounts to this year's increase in the budget MUST result in massive layoffs. They still have authority to spend a little more than last year. Hold spending constant will cause the end of civilization as we know it? Really?

Don't misunderstand, there may be layoffs and furloughs--but if so, that is only to carry the argument to the public, and hurt the public so that public opinion will then force the end of sequestration. It is all politics.

Anybody read Bob Woodward's column?
Bob Woodward: Obama’s sequester deal-changer - The Washington Post

I understand that since he cites the President for "fibs" he must now be a right wing extremist, and Fox collaborator..

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Seriously, all the intelligence agencies lied? Point out which agency, national or foreign national which did not agree with what was presented. If no threat, then why did Clinton enforce the no fly zones during his presidency. Why did Hillary,
Edwards and others vote positively for the Iraq Resolution? They voted for it before they voted against...was that it.

"The IRAQ war was actually started in 1991 and was fully authorized by the UN. In 1991 the UN approved cease-fire and began the process of UN sanctions and resolutions to deal with Iraq and Saddam. During the Clinton administration you may recall the no-fly zones and UN policing Iraq while trying to resolve the situation. In 2003 after 12 yrs of no success, Saddam continued defiance of UN authorized inspections and 17 failed UN resolutions the cease fire was lifted and the war resumed. Despite what many think Bush did NOT start the Iraq war. He continued the war which started in 1991 as a result of Saddam invading Kuwait. Many forget the 12 yrs of Saddams threats of WMDs which resulted in Clinton bombing Iraq. Bush did NOT start the WMD claims but followed thru on WMD claims from the 90s."

When Syria falls you will find the stock piles of Saddams arsenal as well as in Lebanon near the Syrian border. The information is widely available but if people continue to believe what they believe then so be it. I imagine people will read this with fingers in their years say lalalalalalalalalalalala very loudly and not wanting to hear it. So be it.

It depends on how the money is spent / allocated and what has been already planned for the rest of the fiscal year. I mean, it's the government, nothing is simple.

There are a lot of smaller agencies that are out of the public eye. Which is bad for them. If sequestration happens and there is public unrest, things may be "rolled back", obviously starting with those in the public eye...

I am a contractor that provides service to one of those agencies - I think we're going to get completely screwed, while others will get off free.

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1982 240D, sold 9/17/2008
1987 300D TurboW124.133 - 603.960, 722.317 - Smoke Silver Metallic / Medium Red (702/177), acquired 8/15/2009
262,715 and counting

IOW, if politicians want to make sequestration painful to the public, they can and will. Unless the media show outrage, then this stupid method works.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Of course they will because that's what BHO wants to do and he then can blame it on the right. That's who we elected.

BTW how can you "lay off" a contractor? I guess you mean they will not have work, which may be true. This is the left playing politics- as well as the right. However since the left has the WH, the POTUS will do what he wants- which is to damage the right- and that is best done by hurting citizens with jobs. Those people will then depend more on the govt. and want the govt to help them- which is the MO of a left leaning voter.

I believe Obama will look the fool from all his crying "wolf," when the world doesn't end, March 1st.

Need more cutting of Gov't spending, not less. The public wants spending cuts. Cutting 1/4 of 1% of GDP isn't jack squat.

Shrinking the Gov't. + cutting taxes==grows the economy.

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

In an ideal way, no. In a practical way, where unemployment and profits are minimized and there is a lot of competition, sure. I think it's fair to say it's not realistic, and that's to a large degree because companies distort the market in an attempt to form monopolies, cartels, and other things to form situations where arbitrage is nearly guaranteed.

Ideally we could minimize this, but something else called regulatory capture makes this very difficult. Even if we can't have perfect competition, saying we need higher/better profits to reduce employment is still incorrect according to just about any economic theory I've heard of. Money needs to flow through an economy, not get bottled up so some big shot CEO can buy another jet or some baby boomers can feel good about their 401k (*even if it tanks in a decade or so).

*There's a very good talk on cspan here about how liberal economists in the 70s perpetuated they myth that the stock price is all that matters, which is a very easy idea to co-opt in a negative fashion. I'll see if I can dig it up.

econ 101
You get less of something if you tax it.
You get more of something if you subsidize it.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags