Sequester
official dictionary definition
verb: isolate or hide away
noun: general cut in government spending
The sequester is a cut to the budget of the American civil service, military, transportation (less air traffic controllers but the same amount of planes) and border patrol and funding for programs for children and people less fortunate. No elected politicians will experience any cut in pay or benefits. There may be a longer line up at the Congressional feed trough because some of the nice lunch ladies will have their hours cut.
Dear United States Of America,
Please get your political act together. When you are out of control it hurts Canada and Canadians. I know you don’t care about Canadians but you don’t seem to care about Americans either.
The United States Of America is heading for another financial crisis and what do the politicians do? They take some time off. They jump in planes, trains and automobiles and head for home. I hope when they get there their constituents are lined up outside of their congressional and senatorial offices with big signs telling them to get back to work.
I know that many of you reading this letter are Americans and I am wondering if there is an answer or solution to any of this bull-headed non-compromising attitude that is rampant in your government. Can anything be done or are you all doomed?
When your economy is in turmoil ours is unsteady. You are proud Americans and would prefer to be more like the Germans in the European Union and you would not like to be compared to the Italians or, even worse, the Greeks. No one wants to be compared to the squabbling Greeks.
I am sure there is no one person to blame but that John Boehner looks very suspicious all the time and smug and he is pouting because his team lost and he will do anything to get his own way. Boehner seems to want to win at all cost.
And your president got Star Wars and Star Trek mixed up. That does not inspire confidence and must have broken some nerdy democratic hearts. I believe that most nerds are democratic aren’t they?
Our government sent a message to your government stating that things would be more secure economically for both countries if the Americans could get off the economic crisis rollercoaster. I am sure your government didn’t listen. No one listens to Canadians unless we are talking hockey.
Thank you for listening,
Your neighbour to the north,
Jane Savers.
ps
Here is a great article about the sequester from a British newspaper The Guardian. The American papers and tv news people all seem a little slanted and opinion colours the news so that it is more editorial comment and finger pointing than facts. There is another photo of that Boehner guy in the article. He scares me. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/02/sequestration-cuts-barack-obama-republicans
Bleh, I feel your pain and apologize on behalf of our ridiculous politicians.
I have no idea who is to blame, but its probably a bit of both sides. Obama put together a debt reduction committee (Simpson-Bowles) and then completely ignored all of their findings. However, I don’t think the other side is free of blame either.
Maybe the sequesteration is actually a good thing? In the long term, it will truly reduce US debt obligations.
However, I’d expect the US politicians to find another way to kick the can down the road early next week. Keep in mind that can keeps getting bigger and bigger. At some point, they’ll have to confront the issues.
If they expect all the little people to take hits to their incomes it would be a great idea for all the federal politicians to take pay cuts, add large deductibles to their great health care plans and reduce the amount of pension income they will recieve. It would show that they are really interested in cutting costs and willing to start with themselves. A 25% reduction would be a fair amount.
And I did mean it when I said your country is acting like Greece.
“And I did mean it when I said your country is acting like Greece.”
It is scary. The main thing keeping America going is people aren’t afraid to buy our debt. Once that changes, very bad things will happen.
Most of your debt is owned by China. China is in it’s own mess but we don’t know how bad it is because they are such a secretive country. When they need cash, and it could be soon, they will come to collect on the debt. How do you plan to pay them? Gold or the Hoover Dam? China really needs oil. They would probably be happy to take Alaska.
Yeah it’s complete crap. I think the sequester was a great idea, because it was one of those things that they didn’t really want to happen, it was a “worst case scenario” put in place so they could figure out a working alternative. It wasn’t supposed to become reality! The one thing they left out of it, which would have forced compromise was CUTTING CONGRESSIONAL SALARIES! That would have lit a fire under their asses and got them to pass something that could save our nation. PS. We love Canada!
I am glad you love us Canadians but we don’t always love or like you. We do like to follow your crazy political antics and I personally marvel at the length of time between elections. Scratch that last sentence – there is no space between elections. Your politicians are always campaigning and no one is actually getting down to the business of running the country.
I second the love for Canada. BC is one of the most beautiful places on earth.
I am shocked that the sequester actually is happening. Hopefully, it will piss off people enough to spur politicians into action.
When will your people get fired up and demonstrate? Your country sure gets a big crowd out to stop the government from taking away their assault rifles. Why no demonstrations for aid for the poor such as your head start program for children from lower income families?
I am sure most Americans are decent people but I only see the politicians on television and the news people who jumble the facts and the hot heads that make up opinion panels. I prefer to get my news about the USA from Canadian and British sources.
One thing I wanted to clarify is China holds only (ha!) about 1 trillion of the debt. It is a common misconception that China holds most of it. The biggest holder of US debt is American citizens: http://useconomy.about.com/od/monetarypolicy/f/Who-Owns-US-National-Debt.htm
“I prefer to get my news about the USA from Canadian and British sources.”
Me too. Our news is actually part of the problems. We have crap like Fox News which isn’t really news at all, but a series of biased opinion pieces. There are liberal equivalents as well. Many people don’t want to be educated; they are just looking for “news” that reinforces their beliefs.
Only 1 trillion huh? Well that won’t be a problem if China ever wants to collect. Your treasury can just print one of those 1 trillion dollar coins I have heard about and roll it over to the Chinese Embassy and the debt will be paid.
What are you going to do about the debt? Even if they stripped all the American billionaires of every asset and put that toward the debt it still wouldn’t make a dint.
China and the US have a symbiotic relationship. They don’t lend us money out of the goodness of their hearts. China is just as dependent on America as we are on them. We buy much of the junk they produce. Until that changes, they’re not going to collect.
You sound pretty angry, but know that I’m not trying to downplay any of these issues. I personally talk to people all the time about the debt issues facing the US. Personally, I live in a very financially responsible manner and I wish the government would do the same.
However, I also realize that folks like me are the exception. When I talk to others about these issues, their eyes usually glaze over and I get the feeling that they don’t understand or care.
I get the impression that most Americans don’t care or they don’t understand. I am not sure which it is. It is shocking to me that they caqn get whipped in to a frenzy about gun control but don’t care about their own economy.
So what is it? Don’t understand or don’t care?
I’m not angry I just type that way.
I think you are missing a great deal of the picture. This country is suffering from a great deal of corruption, from the bottom to the top. Most of the rich are ruthless and do not want to pay more taxes and a great deal of the poor are addicted to welfare and don’t want to rise up. Medicare and military spending are rife with fraud also. I’m just scratching the surface. It is a complete mess and you are lucky to be Canadian right now. Look at the exchange rate! Dollar for dollar! I remember when it was 1 of ours to 1.5 of yours. That should tell you quite a bit about our situation versus yours. You better believe we are like Greece, our debt is insane. I’m concerned about a bloody revolution here or a war with China. Interesting times here in America…it’s very complex…
We have lots of corruption in Canada and the strength of our dollar has only hurt our exports and sends lots of uncaring Canadians across the border to shop. We also have a much higher per centage of people living on social assistance than you do.
Your government is huge and there must be waste but I can’t believe that your government, especially your top politicians, are corrupt. There must be harsh changes but not at the expense of the poor.
Based on Transparency International’s Index, Canada actually has very little corruption.
I don’t see how it’s uncaring to go across the border to shop. It’s supporting a different economy rather than Canada’s uncaring retailers who just refuse to compete. Go onto a car lot; try to negotiate. Their margin is much fatter than America’s and they’ll still laugh at you.
Finally, I don’t think it’s my place to tell Americans what to do but I don’t see the sequester as 100% bad. It’s incredibly telling that Canadians spend all day dumping on America (a bit less under the current President but even still Canadians are so holier-than-thou) and then when America sneezes we turn around and go “OMG GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER YOU’LL DESTROY US ALL”. Same for the Europeans. But down there, where they haven’t accepted as much government into their lives (and thus retain more freedom), they have a deficit problem. If the combination of increased revenue and decreased spending helps them solve that problem, good. They did what the Democrats wanted in January by raising taxes. They just did what the Republicans wanted (with a sequester) by lowering spending. Negotiation in action.
The Americans need to get it together but I would have rather every governmental department have found ways to cut instead of having cuts forced upon them. It would be better if politicians would have to cut their own salaries than to cut a program called Head Start for young children.
If we are looking at Canadian corruption I guess we would look to the Montreal area.
I am an equal opportunity dumper. I complain about Canadians and their lack of interest and lack of knowledge about their own government just as much as I complain about Americans.
“So what is it? Don’t understand or don’t care?”
I think its mainly the former. Guns are easy to understand. Gay marriage is also easy to understand. I’ve had more than one person tell me that ‘gay marriage is the biggest problem facing America today.’ Really? We have debt, school shootings, corruption, a widening income gap as the middle class is whittled away and what you really care about is who can get married to who? Yikes.
I do not find the gun thing easy to understand and I don’t care who marries who.
I asked a friend who is a gun nut about this and here is what he said:
“The US government intends to eventually totally confiscate all weapons and that will make the populous far easier to control in the future. I’m sure that our “leaders” have observed the turmoil that occured durring the “Arab Spring” and what the rebels were able to do with small arms. The government intends to create a police state where the citizens will be subject to intense government control similar to the book 1984. Keeping guns will allow the populace to ensure this never happens.”
I swear, this is his actual response, verbatim. While you and I can clearly see these views are a bit off kilter, if my little circle of family and friends is any representation of greater America, many, many folks in the US share these beliefs.
I have seen people like your friend interviewed on CNN. Such extreme views are very hard for me to understand. It seems like many Americans see the government as an enemy instead of an ally.
Extremism in any form is very dangerous.
I’m right there with you. I generally vote for the more liberal candidate, but I don’t give a shit anymore. I’ll vote for anyone that will pass a budget. Any budget will do…
The politicians only care about the next election because that means more pay cheques for them. The politicians need their wages cut. And Jimmy Steart, as Mr. Smith, needs to go back to Washington.
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