A Sequester Deal Is Impossible
Posted at 12:15 p.m. on Feb. 21
With analysts and pundits throwing out ideas to avoid the sequester spending cuts set to go into effect on March 1, Kevin Drum thinks the entire exercise is a waste of ink: ”As far as I can tell, neither side is genuinely trying to negotiate. They’re just trying to make sure the other side gets the blame when sequestration kicks in, as it inevitably will.
“I can just barely imagine a small-ball deal, maybe one that’s 100 percent spending cuts, maybe one that includes some kind of semi-hidden revenue increase. But that’s about it. Every other possibility is substantially worse than the status quo to either Democrats or Republicans. But for some reason we keep talking as if a deal is possible.”
