At the end of this year george w. bush 's tax cuts expire , and an automatic " sequester " that slashes spending takes effect .
到今年年底，乔治w布什的减税政策将到期，一个自动的的“扣押”政策将启动。
But even if all mr bush 's tax cuts are extended and the sequester is delayed , there is still fiscal tightening equivalent to 1.5 % of gdp in the pipeline .
The sequester " will not happen " , mr obama said in the debate , though that decision is not in his gift : the sequester is an automatic sanctionjointly agreed by democrats and republicans in a giant game of fiscal chicken .
On the fine detail of defence spending mr obama was rather shifty , however , denying any white house involvement in a threatened " sequester " that would impose drastic , automatic cuts on defence and other domestic spending if a deal cannot be agreed with congress on future tax and spending .
