The coming social disaster as best I can figure

[Undertoad]

Originally Posted by SamIam

All of the above is written in my own words. My major source for the information came from the non partisan outfit, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: http://www.cbpp.org/files/7-25-11bud-stmt.pdf.

The Statement you linked to was released in July before the passage of the actual bill. Here is the Statement the CBPP released after passage:

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3555

It didn't turn out like Mr. Greenstein anticipated, half the automatic cuts are in defense, and your original post is dead on arrival.

Also, "in my own words" doesn't mean barely rewriting the original and adding "grapes of wrath" hand-wringing.

[SamIam]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

The Statement you linked to was released in July before the passage of the actual bill. Here is the Statement the CBPP released after passage:

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3555

Thank you for pointing out an additional source of information that I had overlooked. I think both statements, the one On House Speaker Boehner's New Budget Proposal and the second on the New Debt Ceiling Agreement contain a great deal of vital information and policy proposals which Americans need to be aware of.

Originally Posted by Undertoad

It didn't turn out like Mr. Greenstein anticipated, half the automatic cuts are in defense, and your original post is dead on arrival.

The OP remains very much alive. Here is what is stated in your link in regard to what can happen if the joint committe cannot come to an agreement:

The joint committee could agree on a much smaller amount of savings without revenues, but nothing close to $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion. Thus, unless Republicans back off their refusal to consider any increase in revenues, the joint committee will fail to produce savings anywhere close to $1.2 trillion — triggering across-the-board cuts that are of unprecedented depth and will remain in place for nine years.

In key respects, then, this deal postpones the biggest battle over deficit reduction, creating an even more cataclysmic clash that would occur most likely in a lame-duck congressional session after the 2012 election. At that point, three huge events will loom: 1) across-the-board cuts in January 2013, with half of them coming from defense (amidst likely charges that they will jeopardize national security); 2) the scheduled expiration of President Bush's tax cuts at the end of 2012; and 3) the renewed specter of default if policymakers do not raise the debt ceiling quickly again by early 2013. Where all of that will lead policy debates and outcomes is impossible to predict at this point.

If anything, half the automated cuts going to defense only make the possible scenarios worse.

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Also, "in my own words" doesn't mean barely rewriting the original and adding "grapes of wrath" hand-wringing.

Your critique of my writing skills is duely noted. What I was trying to do was to avoid a huge dump of cut and paste with never a word of personal comment added - a sin certain members here committ all too often.

And you don't have to like Grapes of Wrath if you don't want to, although I think its a shame to dismiss an American writer with the stature of John Steinbeck out of hand.