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Sequestration creates friction between Congress and OMB (updated)

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posted on Sep, 5 2012 @ 03:36 PM
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Sequestration creates friction between Congress and OMB


defensesystems.com

When the House and Senate return from recess in September, lawmakers will only have until Jan. 2, 2013, to pass a spending bill that eliminates $1.2 trillion or more from the federal deficit ....
(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
fcw.com
fcw.com
www.whitehouse.gov
edit on 18-9-2012 by Maxmars because: (no reason given)



posted on Sep, 5 2012 @ 03:36 PM
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Well... this is the kind of thing many partisan citizens will be likely to miss while the political circus is in town. The stage-masters are not including this within the play... because frankly, it speaks to exactly what neither party has been able to do for us - the citizens... you know, the people they supposedly work for... whom they 'swear' to serve by upholding the Constitution... and all that poetic rot they throw at us.

OMB DEADLINE: passing
CONGRESS DEADLINE: January 2, 2013

Sword of Damocles: SEQUESTRATION OF $1.2 Trillion Dollars against the federal 'deficit.'

Background:

In order to properly prop up the political theater, and prove which team can best cast blame on the other, we never did get a true fiscal policy out of our presumably "competent" political leaders and their appointees.

After torturing the national economy with prevarication and vacillation for months; they just played the "do-over" card and kicked the can down the road; leaving us without a Federal spending bill to review, and more importantly, leaving us with a decimated economic outlook due to their apparent "inability" to control their pork spending and 'political/financial' promises to corporate (and other) benefactors.

Here was the "sweet" deal that made America coyly cock her head and say "OK, if you say so..."

"We promise to pass a spending bill by January 2, 2013... and if we don't we will summarily (and radically) eliminate $1.2 Trillion from the spending budget" ... of course, the media told us this was so, and they told us this was OK, and they told us that this was "the way it works."

Well... it's September.... and guess what... somehow the Office of Management and Budget finds the gargantuan task on their desk.... why?

Here's why.


Congress on Aug. 1 convened yet another hearing examining the potential implications of the sweeping budget cuts headed for Washington, but in this case unusually partisan comments from a White House official sparked fierce debate over who’s to blame for sequestration.

In a House Armed Services Committee hearing that stretched nearly three hours, lawmakers clashed with Office of Management and Budget Director Jeffrey Zients after Zients blamed Congress for the potentially disastrous fallout looming ahead once sequestration takes effect. Close to an hour and a half of the hearing involved near-unintelligible shouting matches, mainly between Zients and Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) and Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio).

In a particularly hostile exchange, Forbes pressed Zients on whether he believes “draconian defense cuts” are a sensible way to drive agreement between the two parties on Capitol Hill. Zients in turn pointed the finger at Congress.


A word about our "acting" OMB Budget director... he got his start at... wait for it.... BAIN & Co. .... (I just love throwing in stuff that makes the partisans crazy) ... before becoming embroiled in the infamous policy-crafting lobbying group the "Advisory Board Corp." as well as the equally "important" "Corporate Executive Board" ... the revolving door led him here, to the OMB... but only as a deputy director... so now it may be that he was thrown under the bus... I'm sure he didn't sign up for this.

His preeminent effort at averting blame can be found in his memorandum about the severity of the situation www.whitehouse.gov...

The saga continues....

At the August 1st hearing... between the yelling and gnashing of teeth:


Zients warned that if sequestration does go into effect, its occurrence in the middle of the fiscal year could mean that cuts estimated at 10 percent for the Defense Department and 8 percent for the rest of the government could end up being as high as 14 percent.


The political thespians, showing their perennial inability to operate without a script from the party did themselves proud...


The bickering went well beyond just sequestration, with arguments ensuing over tax rates, President Obama’s 2013 budget and other unrelated issues.

At the end, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) apologized to Zients and Carter for what he deemed to be a waste of their time.

"I'm sorry that we dragged you from your governing responsibilities into this spectacle," Johnson said.



After the August 1st debacle, someone must have convinced the President to kick some bureaucratic butt, so he issued.. get this ... "The Sequestration Transparency Act." A law which requires the OMB to explain by early September what will be cut if Congress fails to pass their spending bill by January 2nd, 2013.

It is thus that the elected officials are making it "not their problem" and setting up the "cause of failure" that they can blame on ABM.... ("Anyone But Me") to be followed by the proclamation of innocence for ABU... ("Anyone But Us.")

The OMB must create a list of what will be exempted from sequestration as well as an explanation of the whys and wherefores of the sequestration.

Me thinks the fingers of blame will be jabbing out in all directions... with each group of losers trying their best to evoke feelings of pity for themselves and angst for their polar opposites.

defensesystems.com
(visit the link for the full news article)
edit on 5-9-2012 by Maxmars because: (no reason given)

edit on 5-9-2012 by Maxmars because: (no reason given)



posted on Sep, 5 2012 @ 04:42 PM
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I hate to say it, but I almost wish they would let the house of cards fall. Just get it over with and move on, rather take my medicine now and be done with it, Maybe by the time the smoke clears my kid will be able to live her adult years without the same stuff year in and year out.



posted on Sep, 5 2012 @ 10:23 PM
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A good start would be removing the patriot act and disbanning DHS. Then apologise for allowing and helping 9-11 to happen while compensating the victims of that horrible genocide.

Step 2 bring the troops back from the middle east, europe and shut down many of the foreign military bases.

Step 3 go after the welfare receipients who do not deserve money. The lazy ones pretending illness, both physcial and mental.

Step 4 leave iran and north korea alone. Tell israel to kiss my *bleep*.


REALITY CHECK: It is all fake distractions. The government could not do anything even if it wanted to.

edit on 5/9/12 by EarthCitizen07 because: (no reason given)



posted on Sep, 6 2012 @ 12:41 AM
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reply to post by Maxmars
 


Woodward seems to be publishing a book that gives interesting details to further color the story.

Bob Woodward Book: Debt Deal Collapse Led to 'Pure Fury' From President Obama

And...

Woodward book chronicles Obama’s fiscal policy battle with congressional Republicans

Excellent thread!
edit on 6-9-2012 by loam because: (no reason given)



posted on Sep, 18 2012 @ 06:05 PM
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The Sequestration saga continues.. The die is cast, yet the DoD seems content to play chicken with the administration... as if they knew for certain the sequestration would never happen...


The mindset of DOD officials is that, despite faltered efforts by lawmakers to find a remedy for the harsh automatic cuts scheduled to begin Jan. 2, they still believe Congress will find an alternative solution, the story said.

The DOD is working closely with the Office of Management and Budget, but “we have not begun any planning efforts," Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col Melinda Morgan said in the story.


((source))

On August 20, the Obama administration issued the OMB Sequestration Report (only a week late,) but the DOD has only made 'account level' plans and really isn't prepared to implement any changes in their budget.

The part of the duopoly that calls itself "Republican" said:


“They only applied sequestration figures at the account level,” a HASC staffer complained about the report on Friday, noting that “the language in the law said that we need to receive information at the program, project and activity level.” Behind the bickering, though, members of Congress are laying the groundwork for post-election negotiations to avert the across-the-board budget cuts. Kelly Ayotte, who’s emerged as a key GOP voice on the issue, is “involved in sequestration discussions,” according to her spokeswoman, Liz Johnson. And Carl Levin told reporters last week he’s “involved in discussions.”


Source

The entire document trail on the sequestration report scene is here.

Meanwhile we are escalating the 'We're almost at war!" rhetoric like there's no tomorrow.... and already many members are visualizing the worst case developments.... as one who feels "What we focus on, we make real."... this worries me.


edit on 18-9-2012 by Maxmars because: (no reason given)



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