Post-sequestration politics: Libertarian & progressive perspectives

GUESTS: MATT WELCH & MATT YGLESIAS

To “resolve” the summer 2011 standoff over extending the federal debt ceiling, President Obama and congressional Republicans agreed to form a “supercommittee” to come up with a debt reduction plan. At the same time, they agreed upon “sequestration” – across the board budget cuts that were meant to be so onerous that they would force a compromise. Leading up to the Friday deadline, the Obama administration and Democrats were blaming Republicans for forcing unnecessary suffering on the American people, while Republicans were blaming Democrats for insisting on raising tax revenue instead of focusing on more targeted cuts only. On today’s Radio Times, we ask: What will be the long-term effects of the sequester, and the dysfunctional politics leading up to it? Joining us to discuss the political and governmental consequences of the across-the-board cuts are MATT WELCH, editor-in-chief of Reason and co-author of “The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong With America” and MATT YGLESIAS, Slate‘s business and economics correspondent.

AP Photo/Rick Bowmer