Ed. note: To see state-by-state effects of the sequester on jobs and
middle-class families, click
here.
Still have questions about what the sequester is, and why American famillies and our national economy face this threat? We've put together the explainer below using some helpful background information President Obama laid out in a statement on Tuesday. Check it out:
"Now, Congress, back in 2011, also passed a law saying that if both parties couldn’t agree on a plan to reach that $4 trillion goal, about a trillion dollars of additional, arbitrary budget cuts would start to take effect this year. And by the way, the whole design of these arbitrary cuts was to make them so unattractive and unappealing that Democrats and Republicans would actually get together and find a good compromise of sensible cuts as well as closing taxloopholes and so forth. And so this was all designed to say we can't do these bad cuts; let’s do something smarter. That was the whole point of this so-called sequestration."
"Unfortunately, Congress didn’t compromise. They haven't come together and done their jobs, and so as a consequence, we've got these automatic, brutal spending cuts that are poised to happen next Friday."
"There is a smarter way to do this –- to reduce our deficits without harming
our economy. But Congress has to act in order for that to happen."
"Now, for two years, I’ve offered a balanced approach to deficit reduction that would prevent these harmful cuts..."
"I’m willing to save hundreds of billions of dollars by
enacting comprehensive tax reform that gets rid of tax loopholes and deductions
for the well off and well connected, without raising tax rates."
Learn more about President Obama's plan to avoid harmful cuts and reduce the deficit.
"I believe such a balanced approach that combines tax
reform with some additional spending reforms, done in a smart, thoughtful way is
the best way to finish the job of deficit reduction and avoid these cuts once
and for all that could hurt our economy, slow our recovery, put people out of
work. And most Americans agree with me."
Watch President Obama's full statement on YouTube.
In
less than a week, harmful automatic cuts — known as the sequester — take effect,
threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs, and cutting vital services for
children, seniors, people with mental illness and our men and women in
uniform.
To prevent a costly, self-inflicted wound to our economy and middle class
families, President Obama put forward a plan to avoid these cuts and reduce the
deficit by cutting spending and closing tax loopholes. Now it's up to Congress
to act. Learn
more about President Obama's plan here.Still have questions about what the sequester is, and why American famillies and our national economy face this threat? We've put together the explainer below using some helpful background information President Obama laid out in a statement on Tuesday. Check it out:
$2.5 Trillion in Deficit Reduction
"Over the last few years, both parties have worked together to reduce our deficits by more than $2.5 trillion. More than two-thirds of that was through some pretty tough spending cuts. The rest of it was through raising taxes — tax rates on the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. And together, when you take the spending cuts and the increased tax rates on the top 1 percent, it puts us more than halfway towards the goal of $4 trillion in deficit reduction that economists say we need to stabilize our finances."So What's the Sequester? Why Now?
"Now, Congress, back in 2011, also passed a law saying that if both parties couldn’t agree on a plan to reach that $4 trillion goal, about a trillion dollars of additional, arbitrary budget cuts would start to take effect this year. And by the way, the whole design of these arbitrary cuts was to make them so unattractive and unappealing that Democrats and Republicans would actually get together and find a good compromise of sensible cuts as well as closing taxloopholes and so forth. And so this was all designed to say we can't do these bad cuts; let’s do something smarter. That was the whole point of this so-called sequestration."
"Unfortunately, Congress didn’t compromise. They haven't come together and done their jobs, and so as a consequence, we've got these automatic, brutal spending cuts that are poised to happen next Friday."
"Now, if Congress allows this meat-cleaver approach to take place,
it will jeopardize our military readiness; it will eviscerate job-creating
investments in education and energy and medical research. It won’t consider
whether we’re cutting some bloated program that has outlived its usefulness, or
a vital service that Americans depend on every single day. It doesn’t make those
distinctions."
A Way Forward, A Balanced Approach
"Now, for two years, I’ve offered a balanced approach to deficit reduction that would prevent these harmful cuts..."
"I am willing to cut more spending that we don’t need, get rid of
programs that aren’t working. I’ve laid out specific reforms to our entitlement
programs that can achieve the same amount of health care savings by the
beginning of the next decade as the reforms that were proposed by the bipartisan
Simpson-Bowles commission."
Learn more about President Obama's plan to avoid harmful cuts and reduce the deficit.
Watch President Obama's full statement on YouTube.
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