As the United States government approaches a deadline for raising the debt limit and the government shutdown nears its second week, Senate Democrats are taking a stand on sequestration.

The party’s leadership rejected an offer from Senate Republicans on Saturday morning mainly because the proposal locked in those budget cuts for too long.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called it the “single biggest sticking point” in negotiations, while his counterpart in leadership, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) deemed it the central dispute.

Beyond the table-thumping, the congressional hearings and the big political speeches, government employees are quietly dealing with the reality of sequestration and working to adjust their agencies to the drastic budget cuts. For some, it has meant forgoing maintenance or training the next generation of leaders, while others are cutting corners in whatever way possible -- including turning up the workplace thermostat to an uncomfortable 80 degrees.

As Congress faces a fast-approaching deadline on passing a federal spending bill Republican lawmakers are reviving the Tea Party-backed Penny Plan designed to balance the federal budget in two years with a one-percent reduction in government spending.

It's roughly 164 miles from Lubbock, Texas to Abilene; not the furthest drive you can do in the Lone Star State but still a bit of a haul. On a good day, you can make the trip in about three hours, which is what Helen Liggett discovered in April when she had to visit a client in the Taylor County Jail.

Modest spending cuts that were put into place March 1 due to sequestration have mostly failed to result in the economic doom predicted by Keynesians. Now the defense industry is working to undo those cuts.
Jeremy Herb of The Hill has reported on lobbying industries going up to Capitol Hill, redoubling their efforts to restore budget cuts:

Before “sequestration” took effect, the Obama administration issued specific — and alarming — predictions about what it would bring. There would be one-hour waits at airport security. Four-hour waits at border crossings. Prison guards would be furloughed for 12 days. FBI agents, up to 14.

At the Pentagon, the military health program would be unable to pay its bills for service members. The mayhem would extend even into the pantries of the neediest Americans: Around the country, 600,000 low-income women and children would be denied federal food aid.

Automatic budget cuts have pushed Air Force bases to slash their flying budgets even though it means grounding pilots and reducing readiness. The cancellations are boosting the arguments of those who want the military excepted from sequestration cuts.

Something awfully troubling has been happening lately in the world. I've been plagued by a nagging sense of ... optimism. As a result, I'm not sure what to do with either myself, or the doomsday-prepper supply of diazepam I keep hidden under the floorboards of my apartment.

Congress decided last week to ease the effects of the across-the-board federal spending cuts on travelers upset over airport delays. But low-income Americans who rely on government housing aid are still feeling the pain.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday chastised Congress -- mainly Republicans -- for moving quickly to end flight delays caused by sequestration while leaving the other major consequences of the sweeping budget cuts unaddressed.