I'm back in a situation with half-way decent connectivity, so I can opine on what's going on in the world of federal waste, and there's little to celebrate.
Maybe it was destiny that I was offline for essentially three-quarters of a year, because it gives me some perspective to look back at my earlier reasoning and see where we are relative to last year. If I had been asked before the election what state the country's finances would be in at the start of 2013, I would have guessed slightly better than what we see today.
I would have wagered on a big win for the democrats last fall, followed by a deal on the spending that would have seen cuts in defense in exchange for modest cuts to the national welfare system, perhaphs even a temporary suspension of Obamacare. Instead both parties kicked the can down the road again, which at some point is either going to result in a broken foot or dead end.
Given this I'm uncertain what to expect for the upcoming sequester. The only thing that's certain is that this Congress and President Obama will take the path of least resistance (minimum cuts, lots of borrowing) unless the electorate wakes up, which is unlikely.
Sensible libertarian views on nearly everything- except foreign affairs.