CBO to U.S. Economy: You are *this* screwed in 2013 if the sequestration happens

If Congress can’t make the budget cuts it needs or raise its spending limit, then we face the dreaded alternative of sequestration, wherein Congress essentially applies a budgetary meat cleaver to all federal programs except for a few select ones such as Social Security and defense. So, just how badly will sequestration damage the larger economy? Read on and find out, as the Congressional Budget Office has just released its latest 10-year outlook on the federal deficit and U.S. economic growth. Sequestration will hurt. The question is, how much?