Sarah Palin says America will eventually default on its debt and claims that the federal government is “stockpiling bullets in case of civil unrest” to prepare.
“If we are going to wet our proverbial pants over 0.3% in annual spending cuts when we’re running up trillion dollar annual deficits, then we’re done. Put a fork in us. We’re finished. We’re going to default eventually and that’s why the feds are stockpiling bullets in case of civil unrest,” Palin wrote in a Facebook message Tuesday.
Jokes aside, do you, dear readers, think the sequester will happen? How bad will that be for all of us? I’m scrambling to grade the essays while preparing for my trip to Spain, so I have zero time to follow the news.
I can’t believe that the expression “budget sequester” follows me from one continent to another. I grew up hearing hushed whispers about it and now I’m hearing about it all over again.
Clarissa's Blog 
It’s pretty much impossible for a country* to default on its debt. With the power of taxation, eminent domain, and seigniorage, a country can always take assets or inflate debts away. (Not that doing this to stay solvent is a good idea; these are all bad approaches, the “nuclear option” if you will that countries should never use if at all possible.)
*that controls its own currency.
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I am not too optimistic I’m afraid; the sequestration may very well happen. The effects will not be good. I am particularly worried about the effect on the science funding agencies; apparently NIH will be cutting 8% of their budget, and NSF will be funding a 1000 less grants!
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“apparently NIH will be cutting 8% of their budget, and NSF will be funding a 1000 less grants!”
– Ah! This is really horrible news. Nobody who is prepared to sacrifice the sciences at this point in history has a brain.
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Ezra Klein has a post that seems to tell me that the Republicans are being offered a deal that gives them four of the five things they want, and they are refusing it in favour of something that gives them part of one of the things they want. I have no idea how the hell someone could be offered 80% of what they want and refuse it.
WonkBlog also has an FAQ about the sequester. There is also the WP article on it.
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“Oh, I’ve Missed Her!”
You probably should not have published this title. She might think you were shooting at her.
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This reminds me of the favorite joke of a friend’s rabbi: “What do you do if you miss your mother-in-law? You aim and you shoot again.”
If the joke is not funny, you are probably not Jewish. 🙂 🙂
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