The 12 Apostles Still Meeting

Here is one view of what the 12 Apostles will bring us when they report out.♠ 

In terms of Defense spending, not much.  In this article writer Spencer Ackerman talks to famed civilian budget analyst Professor Gordon Adams.  (I was going to link to the Wikipedia bio on Mr Adams, but, alas, there isn't one.)  (I once interviewed for a job with then Mr Adams.  Alas it went to someone else and I went to Lowell, which has turned out, on balance, to have been good for me.  As for Mr Adams, I don't know.)

The gist of it is that the 12 Apostles, six democrats, six republicans (or six from the Senate and six from the House of Representatives)♥ have to find a solution to our spending problem or automatic sequestration comes into play, with half the budget cuts going to defense spending and half not.  However, it is a long ways to when the ax falls, in January 2013.

“In those circumstances, I don’t think the sequester will ever happen,” says Adams — even if the Supercommittee fails and sequester becomes allegedly “automatic.”  Congress and Obama will have a full year to change the law, something that many in Congress already want to do.

Think about it.  In order for sequestration to happen, both history and the current political environment would have to be defied.  The brass would have to knuckle under and meekly accept the cuts, rather than telling Congress, as Gen. Raymond Odierno did this morning, “cuts of this magnitude would be catastrophic to the military.”  So would the defense industry, with its phalanx of lobbyists.  Members of Congress would have to be happy to explain to voters and the media why they hung the military out to dry.  So would Obama, who can be certain that his GOP rival will vow to roll back the cuts.

Then, of course, there is the various lobbies for the other half of the sequestration, including the various OWS organizations and the several States.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  I was going to link to the Budget Control Act of 2011, but I thought its description of the debt ceiling problem back in the Spring was a bit over the top.
♥  Voters of Massachusetts; remember that one of them is your own Senator John Kerry.

	Democrats	Republicans
Senate Members	Patty Murray, Washington, Co-Chair Max Baucus, Montana John Kerry, Massachusetts	Jon Kyl, Arizona Rob Portman, Ohio Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania
House Members	Xavier Becerra, California Jim Clyburn, South Carolina Chris Van Hollen, Maryland	Jeb Hensarling, Texas, Co-Chair Fred Upton, Michigan Dave Camp, Michigan