The Sequester

The "Sequester" is coming.  Starting on March 1st, 2013 $85.4 billion will be cut from federal spending.  While this may not happen all in one day, it will certainly be felt through out the year.  Both Republicans and Democrats are placing the blame on each other, when in fact it was both parties who had agreed to it in 2011.  There was a small taste of what compromise could be.  Now that the spending cuts are actually here, nobody wants to take responsibility for it.  Democrats are blaming Republicans, for not wanting to replace the spending cuts with more taxes and broad based spending cuts, while the Republicans are saying it was Obama who had come up with, and promoted the idea of the Sequester in the first place.
 
The Republicans had already agreed to raise taxes with the fiscal cliff deal.  Now it's the Democrats' turn to go with the spending cuts.  Even though the cuts being put in place are going to hurt, in the long run it's still better for the overall health of the economy.  Nobody is recognizing it, but Republicans and Democrats actually have already compromised.  Now they just need to do it on a much bigger scale.