The nuts and bolts of the sequester
WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats are sounding the alarm: The budget sequester is coming and we have to do everything to stop it.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says it will be devastating to the military. Manufacturers say it will mean the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. The White House fears cuts in everything from cancer research to the number of FBI agents.
Some $110 billion in cuts kick in Jan. 2, hitting defense and domestic programs equally hard unless Congress figures out over the next five months a way to avoid the reductions.
"Sequestration is a blunt, indiscriminate instrument designed to force congressional action on achieving a balanced deficit reduction plan," acting Office of Management and Budget Director Jeff Zients told Congress earlier this month. "It is not the responsible way for our nation to achieve deficit reduction."
But increasingly bitter partisanship and election-year politics make a solution unlikely before the November elections, leaving the issue to a jam-packed lame-duck session for Congress. And if Mitt Romney wins the presidency and Republicans capture the Senate, members of Congress could decide on a short-term fix and delay action until next year.
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