Don’t be surprised if the barometric pressure in Washington’s atmosphere and the blood pressures of many Beltway denizens shoot up this week. As emotional, important, and timely as the debates over immigration and gun control are, the increasing likelihood that budget sequestration will, in fact, kick in March 1 is just now starting to sink in. …
The thinking behind sequestration was that the penalty for not sufficiently reducing the deficit would be so draconian that members of Congress would do whatever it took to avoid it. No one realized that quite a few members from both parties would prefer sequestration to making the painful concessions necessary for compromise—but that’s where we are. [cont.]
Charlie Cook