Well, you can enjoy it if you're not an American. If you are one, it may not be quite so amusing. Still, those of a philosophic nature may enjoy the irony, as the Federal money supply dries up, that they didn't have much of it in the first place and anyway, it was Obama's wheeze, so, a case of a kidder kidded!
Sorry to be even more obscure than usual but it is all to do with that great mystery known as the American government's financial arrangments - or non-arrangements, if you prefer. As so often in these arcane American affairs I rely on 'The Kraut' for guidance:
For the first time since Election Day, President Obama is on the defensive. That’s because on March 1, automatic spending cuts (“sequestration”) go into effect — $1.2 trillion over ten years, half from domestic (discretionary) programs, half from defense.
The idea had been proposed and promoted by the White House during the July 2011 debt-ceiling negotiations. The political calculation was that such draconian defense cuts would drive the GOP to offer concessions. [My emphasis]
I stress the final paragraph because it is an example of that great universal Truth that when Democrats get clever you may expect a pratfall or their trousers falling down almost immediately!
It backfired. The Republicans have offered no concessions. Obama’s bluff is being called and he’s the desperate party. He abhors the domestic cuts. And as commander-in-chief he must worry about indiscriminate Pentagon cuts that his own defense secretary calls catastrophic.
And it was all his idea - my dears, simply too, too, delicious! And now, 'Mr. Wonderful' is in full panic mode because the sequester gets under way in just three weeks. 'The Kraut's advice is simple - let him swing in the wind:
Republicans should explain — message No. 1 — that in the fiscal-cliff deal the president already got major tax hikes with no corresponding spending cuts. Now it is time for a nation $16 trillion in debt to cut spending. That’s balance. [...] If they do nothing, the $1.2 trillion in cuts go into effect. This is the one time Republicans can get cuts under an administration that has no intent of cutting anything. Get them while you can.
Of course, the damage will be immense but infinitely worse if the cuts are administered with the blunt axe of the sequestor arrangement. The damage will be mitigated if the cuts are administered with some care and thought - but the Democrats are just going to hate sitting down with Repubs and even mentioning that dreadful four-letter word - cuts!
Naturally, the Democratic Senate, which hasn’t passed a budget since before the iPad, has done nothing. Nor has the president — until his Tuesday plea.
The GOP should reject it out of hand and plainly explain (message No. 2): We are quite prepared to cut elsewhere. But we already raised taxes last month. If the president wants to avoid the sequester — as we do — he must offer a substitute set of cuts.
Otherwise, Mr. President, there is nothing to discuss. Your sequester — Republicans need to reiterate that the sequester was the president’s idea in the first place — will go ahead.
I have already arranged my knitting needles and wool and I have booked my seat in the first row before the scaffold. Can't wait! Oh dear - a dread thought! No, surely not, tell me it ain't so - the Repubs can't miss this opportunity, can they . . . ?
