The fiscal cliff, government shutdowns, defaults on our debt and now the sequester - it seems that our government is always in a state of emergency and irrational, last minute decision-making.
The sequester is a series of across-the-board spending cuts that could potentially risk our economic recovery, sluggish as it currently may be. The plan originally passed as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011, better known as the debt ceiling compromise (yes, there was a debate on whether we should pay our country's obligations that Congress itself implemented). Unlike past showdowns in which Congress has been able to simply kick the can down the road, the sequester in effect will cut $85 billion in 2013 - which is only a fraction of the total $1.2 trillion in cuts it mandates over 10 years. Cuts include, but are not limited to, funds for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the FBI, special education and Head Start programming.
But the cuts are not the result of bipartisan consensus. Rather, they have been triggered as a result of the Supercommittee to agree to their own deficit-reduction and debt-ceiling increase package by Nov. 23, 2011. Because they failed to reach a compromise, we now must face the automatic spending cuts of the sequester.
Under these across-the-board cuts, legislators don't have discretion over what programs are affected, since the intent is simply to hit all equally. In 2013, funding for non-defense programs will be cut by nine percent, and defense programs will be cut by 13 percent. These drastic measures were meant to put pressure on our legislature to make a budget deal. But even that seemed to be asking too much of our elected officials.
Most parties agree on common sense spending cuts. But in Washington's zero-sum game of politics -where a victory for one party is a loss for the opposing party - there is no room for sensible compromise. The sequester is just another reminder of why we cannot wait till the next presidential election to vote. We must take the 2014 midterm election seriously.
Our congressional leaders are incompetent, and it's evident by national polls. The 112th Congress ended their legislation session with a 10 percent approval rating. In a humorous comparison, Public Policy Polling firm found its favor ranking somewhere below cockroaches, traffic jams and the rock band Nickelback in Americans' esteem.
But the public's dissatisfaction with Congress contradicts election results. In the 2012 elections, voters elected 90 percent of Congressional incumbents running for reelection. The gridlock in Congress, along with reckless defaults like the sequester, that put our economy at risk, is why voters need to head to the polls in 2014 and replace their congressional representatives.
Political engagement and excitement is at its highest during presidential elections. But the public is barely engaged for state and local elections. Due to the fact that one third of U.S. Senators and all House of Representatives assembly members are up for reelection every midterm election cycle, it is important to increase voter turnout during all election cycles. We cannot focus all of our political energy on presidential elections. While our executive leader shares a great deal of responsibility in the legislative process, a partisan, stagnant Congress is the root of policies - like the sequester - that are harmful to our country.
Sadly, the days of last-minute deals and failing to restore our fiscal sanity are far from over. As long as the American electorate reelects 90 percent of all incumbents' members of Congress, we are just moments away from another self-inflicted, fabricated national crisis.