The Grownups' Answer to the Sequester

As I write,   a mandate imposing draconian budget cuts, also known as the sequester,  has just kicked in.   Air travel is expected to be affected within a few days;   air traffic controllers and TSA security personnel will be cut back to four-day-a-week work schedules.   Major delays are expected.

Unless Congress changes course,   vital programs and services are likely to be severely affected over the next few months.   Essential services such as police and fire protection, education and disaster relief will not be spared.   Nor will vital programs such as Head Start and WIC, (the latter which emphasizes health and nutrition counseling for women, infants,  and children).   Conservatives who try to trivialize the consequences of such cuts never consider the human costs.  ("Oh,  tut-tut",  they stutter dismissively,  "It's only a piddling bit of each program's overall budget that's getting cut."    Well uh,  those piddling bits translate to denied opportunities for many folks  ---  especially kids ---  who'd just like to have the chance to enrich their own lives as well as those of their communities'   ---  and break the cycle of poverty and despair).    That translates to potential "human capital"  that's lost to all of us;   we could all be the poorer because of that. 

What really boggles the mind is that the sequester could be repealed in the bat of an eyelash if only majorities in both houses of Congress had the will to do it.   But instead,  congressional Republicans have cynically passed the buck to President Obama  by giving him the opportunity to "rationally target"  the cuts, presenting him with a scalpel to replace the meat cleaver.   In other words,  they want him to "own" the  sequester.

The reality is that an assortment of revenue increases mandating that corporations and Wall Street poobahs pay their fair share of taxes (partially by closing loopholes and cutting subsidies)  could largely cover the $85 billion a year in cuts mandated by the sequester.   But  Mr.  McConnell and Mr. Boehner,  speaking in behalf of their Republican colleagues and their collective tantrum,  are insisting that revenue proposals are off the table.   It's all about spending cuts!  Spending cuts!  Spending cuts!  We gave you your nasty ol'  tax increase,  they say.   (Last time I checked,   that "tax increase"  was simply a partial restoration of the Bush-era  tax cuts for the wealthiest households).

When a child throws a tantrum,  a little quiet time generally works.   But when an entire party stages a collective tantrum, the only real solution is to show the nation who the congressional grownups are.    The members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus seem to be prominent among the adults in the room.

Although it  gets precious little exposure in the mainstream media,   the Caucus has crafted a measure called "The Balancing Act".   As the title implies,  it has proposed a combination of revenue increases and budget cuts, but with a focus on humane priorities.  Here's  the link:  The CPC's Balancing Act .  

For starters,  this measure would repeal the sequester,  replacing it with seemingly common-sense reforms that would help reduce the deficit over the long-term,  but do so without mortgaging the future of generations to come.
Here are some of the other highlights:

--- Meaningful taxes on Wall Street speculators, particularly
       hedge fund managers.
--- Closure of loopholes for private jets and yachts.
--- Elimination of incentives for "off-shoring"  of both jobs and
       corporate profits (the latter specifically for tax avoidance)
--- The end of corporate subsidies,  especially for oil and
       agriculture.

And on the military side of the ledger:

--- Reduction of compensation for private defense contractors
        to that of civilian Pentagon employees.
--- Elimination of Cold-War era weapons programs.
--- Adjustment of procurement priorities to 21st Century
        needs.

On the investment side of the ledger,  the Balancing Act specifies increased funding for education at all levels as well as improvements in our decaying infrastructure.   In other words,  more jobs!   Other vital social programs would apparently at least be spared from the meat-axe.  So would programs benefitting veterans.

If this budget proposal was to ever receive a respectable level of coverage in the dominant media --- enough to result in popular awareness ---  then maybe,  just maybe,  Congress could be pressured to act on it.

In the meantime,  the recurring congressional tantrums really ought to be addressed.   Pacifiers,  anyone?