Budget sequesters looming: who’ll be at risk?

WASHINGTON — Was the Budget Control Act, which Congress passed last August, mostly a convenient exit from the impasse over raising the debt limit? Or was it a genuine attempt to bring spending and revenues into balance?

The answer will come within days as the 12 members of the deficit reduction committee struggle toward their Nov. 23 deadline. Their target: $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions over ten years.

While many on Capitol Hill suspect that the committee won’t be able to design a plan to hit that target, a rare meeting Tuesday between House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated a new urgency.

But the problem remains the same: while there is bipartisan agreement to reduce deficits, there’s also bipartisan agreement that the ways to do so are too risky and too painful.

Defense spending and the tax exemption for health care provide clear illustrations.

If the deficit reduction committee doesn’t come up with a plan, or if Congress rejects it that plan, then automatic cuts, called "sequesters," will take effect.

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