add 1-2 cents on $1 of ALL taxes and cut ALL government benefits by same % replacing the sequester in a BALANCED way!

As the President has indicated, the sequester and budget deficit should be attacked in a truly balanced way. Yet no proposal offered actually does so or has a chance of passing both the House and Senate. By adding a cent or two as a surtax on all federal taxes and cutting all government benefits and salaries by the same percentage, the sequester can be repealed (if 1 cent) and the deficit largely tamed (if 2 cents). The President should call for this solution in the State of the Union and dare it to be rejected. Republicans could never muster support for opposing a 2 percent surtax on existing taxes. Although the government employees and beneficiaries may find even a 1% cut a hardship, no one can doubt that the private economy has suffered a similar decline during the recession.