Sequesteria (sequester + hysteria)
“Sequesteria” (sequester + hysteria) is a term that was popularized by conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh in February 2013. Budget sequestration in the Budget Control Act of 2011 mandated billions of dollars of budget cuts to go into effect in 2013. Limbaugh argued that these weren’t really cuts—money was to be cut from any increase in a baseline budget. Many media outlets portrayed the cuts as catastrophic, creating a sequestration hysteria.
“Sequesteria” appeared on Twitter on February 8. 2013. Rush Limbaugh said on February 21, 2013:
“Just when you thought the Drive-Bys could not top themselves with ‘sequesteria,’ we get this. Matthew Cooper is comparing the 2.2% reduction in the rate of spending increase to the Oklahoma City bombing.”
Limbaugh’s radio segment the following day was titled “Drive-Bys Change Tune on Sequesteria?”
A similar term to “sequesteria” is “sequestrocalypse” (sequester + apocalypse).
Wikipedia: Budget sequestration
The term sequestration was used in legal circles before it was adopted by the United States Congress to describe a section of Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Act of 1985 (GRHDRA). Sequestration is a key piece of the legislation that created[not verified in body] the United States fiscal cliff.
History
As a legal term, sequestration is the seizing of property by an agent of the court, to prevent destruction or harm, while any dispute over said property is resolved in court.
Sequestration was first authorized by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (BBEDCA, Title II of P.L. 99-177). This is known as the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act.
In 2011, sequestration was used in the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA, P.L. 112-25) as a tool in federal budget control. This 2011 act authorized an increase in the debt ceiling in exchange for $2.4 trillion in deficit reduction over the following ten years.
Wiktionary: hysteria
Noun
hysteria (usually uncountable; plural hysterias or hysteriæ)
1. Behavior exhibiting excessive or uncontrollable emotion, such as fear or panic.
2. (medicine) A mental disorder characterized by emotional excitability etc. without an organic cause.
Twitter
Kurt Brindley
@KurtBrindley
#SEQUESTERIA! >> Lack of Funding Affects USS Lincoln Refueling and Complex Overhaul http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=71992 …
1:42 PM - Feb 8, 2013
RushLimbaugh.com
For the First Time in My Life, I Am Ashamed of My Country
February 21, 2013
(...)
RUSH: Just when you thought the Drive-Bys could not top themselves with “sequesteria,” we get this. Matthew Cooper is comparing the 2.2% reduction in the rate of spending increase to the Oklahoma City bombing.
RushLimbaugh.com
Drive-Bys Change Tune on Sequesteria?
February 22, 2013
RUSH: Drive-By Media, something happened yesterday. They changed their tune on these cuts somewhat. Listen to this montage.
NewsBusters
Krauthammer Mocks Sequesteria: ‘We Have Sequestered Against The Lord And His Wrath Is Great’
By Noel Sheppard | March 02, 2013 | 12:23
Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer on Friday perfectly encapsulated the hysteria the White House is trying to gin up regarding budget sequestration.