The Biggest Myth About The Upcoming 'Sequester' Is That It Does Anything To Control The Debt

One of the major results of three years of failed high-stakes budget negotiations was the Budget Control Act of 2011's sequester.

As it stands, it's becoming increasingly likely that hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts — variously described by policymakers as "devastating," "shameful," and recession-causing — is likewise inevitable.

Since the point of this austerity package is to control government spending and decrease the debt, it's worth considering how effective these cuts would actually be.

The reality is, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Congressional Budget Office, these cuts don't even control the debt in the long run:

Sequestration goes into full implementation on March 1. Over the next ten years, the sequester will cumulatively cut $1.2 trillion from the federal budget.

The outcome is considered negative by forces in both parties, as the military will see deep cuts in readiness and other government programs will see significant cuts in staffing and resources. Democrats are attempting to avert or delay the cuts in order to maintain the trajectory of the recovery.