Sequester Hysteria: House Rep Claims Half US Population to Lose Jobs Tomorrow
February 28th, 2013
The prevailing logic in Washington DC has been that, if the government cuts one penny of spending, the economy will unwind, and 2012-esque cataclysms will rock the very foundation of the Earth. This absurdity serves to hold up record deficit spending at a time when foreign central banks are considering dumping the dollar as the international reserve standard. The debate over sequestration cuts as such has deteriorated into comedy (were it not so serious a matter).
Since a small pittance of federal spending (somewhere between $42-84 billion) will be cut tomorrow if Congress doesn’t vote to reverse the sequester by the end of the day, politicians are wailing like the world will end in the morning. Despite the fact that many federal agencies waste huge amounts of cash on conferences or studies on how to save money, officials in Washington are threatening to fire federal workers en masse over these tiny budget trimmings. Today, the insanity kicked into high gear when Rep Maxine Waters claimed over 170 million people could lose their jobs if the sequestration cuts go through tomorrow. The most recent figures put the US population at a little over 313 million. Check out the video of her statement below, and let’s talk math and budget hysteria after the jump.
Math in Washington DC
In Washington DC, spending invented, near-imaginary amounts of money on contracts for campaign contributors is considered mainstream. After all, this helps politicians get re-elected. As such, it makes sense that they would vigorously defend this system that ensures their consolidation of power. However, the arguments are getting too outrageous for the average American to stomach.
Rep Maxine Waters’ claim that 170 million people could lose their jobs tomorrow is beyond silly. No current estimate puts the number of working Americans higher than 150 or so million. If what she’s saying is to be believed, every single working American will wake up unemployed tomorrow if a tiny percentage of federal spending gets cut. Not only that, some additional Americans will lose jobs they don’t even have.
Cuts This Small Shouldn’t Require Much Firing at All
A cursory glance at various pork reports by think tanks shows that billions upon billions are wasted by the government each year. The Pentagon has been accused of mishandling trillions in the past. Several times in recent history, federal agencies have misplaced amounts of money larger than the sequestration cuts. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent each year on luxurious conferences. If politicians in DC choose to furlough huge numbers of workers over these tiny cuts, it’s because they want to exact punishment over spending decreases, not because it’s necessary.
That said, the federal workforce does need to be reduced. However, this particular set of cuts does not require some type of massive, all-at-once layoff. In fact, Americans will likely wake up tomorrow with a whole new attitude about spending cuts when nothing serious happens at all. Let’s hope these sequestration cuts go through and serve as a baby step to more serious cuts in the future.
Find out where you can see Silver Circle by checking our theater and special screening schedule on -->our event page -->.
