Increase in the federal debt from March 1, when sequestration took effect, to March 19 of this year: $109 billion.
($109,134,270,782.20, to be exact.)
Increase in the federal debt from March 1, 2012, to March 19, 2012: $73 billion.
($73,223,651,961.17, to be exact.)
All figures from the Department of the Treasury.
Either tax revenues are way down from a year ago (surprising, considering the tax increases that kicked in January 1), or our overall spending rate is higher than a year ago even with the sequester, or both.
UPDATE: Campaign Spot reader Nick writes in with an explanation:
Federal tax revenues are way down compared to last March for a reason connected to the tax increases but not immediately obvious: tax filings are running well behind normal numbers. The IRS didn’t get important tax documents like Form 1040 Instruction booklets distributed in print until the beginning of March, over a month later than normal. Trying to read and follow that booklet online is a nightmare; most people who do their own taxes waited until they got printed copies to start preparing their taxes.