What Is a Sequester?

As I’m sure many of you have heard by now we are facing the BIG, BAD SEQUESTER come March 1st. I, myself, have never heard of the word sequester and definitely had no idea what it meant until now.  For those of you on the same page as me, the term sequester according to Wikipedia means a general cut in government spending. When I realized the true meaning of this word I couldn’t have been happier as I truly believe this government run amok needs to needs to put a stop to the printing press.

Now with the pending government spending cuts therein lies the question of what type of spending will be cut and what affects will these cuts have on us, the American people.  When I say American people I am referring to those of you who are like me, who work every day busting your but to make ends meet.

As I’m sure you all have heard from our glorious king Obama, the proposed sequester will mean we will face “doom and gloom.”  (I couldn’t be more sick and tired of the damn “doom and gloom” bullshit at this point.)  Some of the doom and gloom we are supposed to be facing includes the layoff of first responders, 70,000 children booted from the head start program, 10,000 teaching jobs jeopardized, and disability payments delayed. 

Before you head to the bridge freaking out thinking the world as we know it is going to end, there are a few things we need to consider. 

First and foremost, if these spending cuts take place it will be the first step in the right direction for this government that hasn’t passed a budget since Obama has taken in office. These sequester enforced spending cuts will force this administration become accountable even though they will attempt to pass it off on the Republicans regardless of the fact that the sequester was Obama’s idea in the first place.

The proposed effects of the sequester such as teacher and first responder layoffs shouldn’t occur regardless of the sequester spending cuts as these individuals aren’t employed by the federal government in the first place. We have also been made aware the sequester will result in defense spending cuts.  This is where we must be concerned as a reduction in defense spending could have drastic effects for our safety here and abroad.  I propose we cut the pork from many of the bills that pass through congress such as…

• The U.S. government is spending $750,000 on a new soccer field for detainees held at Guantanamo Bay.

• The Obama administration plans to spend between 16 and 20 million dollars helping students from Indonesia get master’s degrees.

• If you can believe it, the U.S. government has spent $175,587 “to determine if cocaine makes Japanese quail engage in sexually risky behavior”.

• The U.S. government spent $200,000 on “a tattoo removal program” in Mission Hills, California.

• The federal government has shelled out $3 million to researchers at the University of California at Irvine to fund their research on video games such as World of Warcraft.  Wouldn’t we all love to have a “research job” like that?

These are a few of the absolutely RIDICULOUS things this government is wasting our tax payer money on that could easily be cut if the sequester goes into effect.  Regardless of whether or not the threats this president makes are credible it has come to a point where if we don’t begin to realize what is going on we may hit the point of no return.