- (Photo: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque) With little indication that
political leaders are willing to reach a compromise on
government spending and taxation priorities, the Friday
sequester deadline will be followed by (at least) four more
budget crises created by Washington politicians. The sequester
was a set of reductions in the growth of government spending
that went into effect on Friday as part of the Budget Control
Act (2011). The cuts in spending growth were designed to be so
painful that they would force even a deeply divided Congress and
president to agree to a long term deficit reduction plan. But,
they were not painful enough to encourage political leaders to
engage in one of the most fundamental aspects of Democratic
governance: compromise. The failure of the sequester to enforce
an adherence to Democratic norms of policymaking on the nation's
political leaders bodes ill for what lies ahead. In the coming
months, Congress and President Barack Obama will need to fund
the government for the rest of the cu