Only in the consecrated corridors of Congress could the consensus concur a course of conduct (sequestration) is catastrophic, yet lack the courage to do anything. The only thing crazier would be addressing phantom budget deficits, 10 years hence, which will most likely never materialize. 

Didn’t we learn our lesson in the early 1990s, when everyone agreed it would take a decade to balance the budget? Before we knew it, technological innovations, along with Democrats and Republicans working together in our country’s best interest, produced a budget surplus in just a few years. Thus, the gospel of imagined future budget deficits was proved false. 

Nowadays, numerous politicians wish to focus on the earned benefits of Social Security and Medicare as the big bad wolves driving deficits, when they are solvent for some time to come. When Reagan solved his Social Security crisis, the fund was down to roughly 2 years until insolvency. There is plenty of time to address any future problems in those programs.