March 08, 2013

Rep. Takano Talks Inland Empire Effects of Sequestration on MSNBC’s The Daily Rundown

Washington DC – Earlier today, Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) appeared on MSNBC’s The Daily Rundown and discussed sequestration and its effects on the Inland Empire.

In the interview, Rep. Takano expressed the anxiety of Inland Empire residents saying, “There’s general anxiety. We’ve talked to some of the base commanders [at March Air Reserve Base] and they let us know about some of the things and personnel that will be cut or furloughed. [The Base has] a $500 million local impact. We’re already suffering from 11% unemployment, some of the highest unemployment in California and the nation. The sequester will have a direct impact on my community and it’s already suffering from high unemployment."

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During the Debt Ceiling negotiations in 2011, Congress and President Obama agreed on increasing the debt ceiling in exchange for $2.4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next ten years, with $1.2 trillion in spending cuts laid out in the Budget Control Act of 2011. The other $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction was to be determined by the United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, otherwise known as the “Super Committee”. Upon the Super Committee’s failure to reach an agreement, drastic automatic across-the-board cuts (including defense and entitlements), known as “sequestration”, were to be implemented. The sequester took effect on March 1.