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Sequester Madness Is Bad Policy, Bad Politics

Originally posted at Capital Gains and Games.

I want to say this as directly as possible: The sequester - the Jan. 2 across-the-board spending cut that was triggered when the anything-but-super committee failed to agree on a deficit reduction plan last November - needs to be canceled.

In case there's any doubt about what I mean, note that I said "canceled" rather than postponed, delayed, kicked down the road, modified, revised or anything else short of completely stopping the sequester from happening. And I mean both the military and domestic spending cuts, not just one or the other.

The sequester needs to be canceled because it's the wrong fiscal policy at the absolutely wrong time that, as the Congressional Budget Office has said (and no one has seriously disputed), will hurt the economy at a point in the recovery when the other components of gross domestic policy won't be able to absorb the blow.

Other than that, it's a great idea.

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Better Off? Hell Yes!

Damn right America is better off than it was four years ago.

Four years ago was September 2008. George W. Bush was president and Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers was collapsing. It was a time of fear. It was a time of panic about the future. Recalling that anxiety is unsettling. But it’s important for comparison sake.

Lehman filed for bankruptcy this week four years ago – Sept.

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