Employees Need to Know About Sequester ‘Doomsday’ that Didn’t Happen

by KEN BRAUN

Nearly a month into the much feared/anticipated Federal budget Sequester, we have a run-up in the Dow past record highs, which have been sustained, and increasing though still timid positive word on the economy.

Remember when the President used words like “devastate” and “harsh” to describe what would happen if we let the government actually cut spending a tiny bit?

Gary Shapiro is one who isn’t surprised at the doom that didn’t happen. The CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association represents 2,000 consumer electronics employers.

“[I]f the first few weeks of sequestration are any indication,” he writes, over at RealClearPolicy this week, “it has actually helped our economy, and it could be proving what budget-conscious pundits have been saying for years: we can’t spend money we don’t have.”

The Cato Institute has been a tireless preacher of the gospel that spending cuts forced on Pennsylvania Avenue politicians are good for Main Street merchants. Tax expert Daniel Mitchell points out that government budget belt tightening corresponded to economic booms in both Canada and the United States under Presidents Reagan and Clinton.

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Two weeks into the successful sequester, Cato came armed with ideas for a next round of trimming, noting that “New Zealand ended its farm subsidies, Germany privatized its post office, and Canada privatized its air traffic control.”

Apparently such ideas can bring big bucks:

“[T]here are many large programs that are wasteful, inefficient, or would be better handled by state governments. Some good prospects for termination — with the rough annual savings — are farm subsidies ($22 billion), energy subsidies ($17 billion), public housing ($7 billion), community development ($14 billion), and K-12 education programs ($56 billion). That’s $116 billion in annual savings right there, or well over $1 trillion during the coming decade.”

Here at Job Creators Network, we like to show the real perspective on just how modest the Sequester cuts really are. It goes like this:

A $3.6 trillion budget with $85 billion in cuts is the same thing as you having a $3,600 budget for a project and then somebody tells you that you’ll have to make do with “only” $3,515 instead. THAT is how “harsh” the Sequester is on the Federal budget. It represents about 9 days worth of spending by the government this year.

In an article for a Michigan newspaper chain, I pointed out that the Federal government regularly admits to misplacing more money every year (in excess of $100 billion) than the Sequester is going to cut this year ($85 billion.)

By a comfortable 45 percent to 22 percent margin, Rasmussen polling this week said Americans think the Sequester didn’t cut enough. There are still 14 percent trying to make up their minds.

Getting spending decisions out of Washington and back into the private sector is a win for job creators and their workers. And while all workers don’t know this good news yet, the message is getting out.

It needs to get out faster.

If more Americans get the good word on this, those polling numbers will begin to push the politicians in the direction we all need them to go. Perhaps employers owe it to their employees to let them know what’s good for all of us.

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