The first sequester cuts took effect in 2013. Do you believe the cuts were evenly divided between defense and non-defense spending?

2016-01-05T10:35:54-05:00

Response by COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM made Jan 5 at 2016 11:42 AM

2016-01-05T11:42:06-05:00

A few thoughts:
- Were sequestration cuts evenly divided between defense and non defense spending? Hell no.
- Only about 20-30% of the federal budget is discretionary spending which sequestration targeted. The rest of the budget is non discretionary spending which must eventually be tackled to solve the problem.
- Sequestration is an example of idiocy and bureaucracy run amock. Let's come up with a plan so bad that it will force us to do the right thing, not do the right thing, then implement the bad plan that we never intended to implement.
- The US Government is taking in more revenue than ever before (about $3T) yet is still racking up debts and deficits (there is a difference). The budget will not be balanced unless and until governmental expeditures are reduced.
- Unfortunately, I do not think either party, the President, or Congress is up to the task. I think we will require a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution if we ever want to have a hope of getting the Federal budget under control.

Response by SFC Everett Oliver made Jan 5 at 2016 12:02 PM

2016-01-05T12:02:41-05:00

The sequester cuts were designed to hurt what the American people could see the most.
They were used for political gain and not used for any intelligent decisions. Were they evenly divided? Who knows, I'm not even sure where all the cuts were made anymore. Supposedly they were cut dollar for dollar equally between the two. What I do know is that we still have a deficit, meaning we are still spending more than we are taking in. To me this means to stop spending. There has to be Billions of Dollars in wasteful spending out there, If congress was doing it's job they would find that spending and stop it.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Jan 5 at 2016 12:23 PM

2016-01-05T12:23:24-05:00

Agree the cuts weren't even and they were not designed to be in the first place. The other thing people miss is how it played out. Operational and "essential" could work, nonessential could not. However, the support mission never got reduced so had to be made up when the folk came back to work. Morale which was low in the first place got whacked by the sequester and then double downed by getting beat up to do more with nothing when you got back. Unit skippers didn't want to be the one that missed all the shopping list at the end of the fiscal year. That was another reason why I thought it was a great time to retire.

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Jan 5 at 2016 1:16 PM

2016-01-05T13:16:47-05:00

Yes, unfairly so. Defense was 18% of the budget but took 50% of the cuts.

http://www.cbpp.org/research/policy-basics-where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go

Policy Basics: Where Do Our Federal Tax Dollars Go? | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

The federal government collects taxes to finance various public services. As policymakers and citizens weigh key decisions about revenues and expenditures, it is instructive to examine what the government does with the money it collects.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 6 at 2016 12:22 AM

2016-01-06T00:22:00-05:00

What online college is asking this question?