A Few Thoughts About Sequestration

Less than 10 days before sequestration and President Obama is urging congressional action to stop the harmful “meat cleaver” cuts, warning they would compromise military readiness, damage the nation’s fragile economic recovery, and put hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work.

Using about 20 first responders as a backdrop, Obama on Tuesday urged congressional Republicans to at least come up with a short-term package (short-term again, really?) of tax reform and spending cuts to avert the cuts. The urgency has been heightened by the fact that Congress is on a 10-day recess until Feb. 25 (Question: With such important matters to solve that will require hard negotiations to find solutions, why is Congress on a break?)..

Obama emphasized that the emergency responders were the type of dedicated workers who would be put out of work, furloughed and absorb cuts in hours and paychecks. He blamed Congress for “partisan recklessness and ideological rigidity” that created the stalemate. Do you smell a little hypocrisy? First off, President Obama seems to have conveniently forgotten that he was the one who originally thought up and pressed for sequestration. Secondly, he is the one, along with his Treasury Secretary, that will decide where the domestic spending cuts under sequestration will occur. Why lay people off and cut funding to first responders when there are dozens of Federal Programs that could be reduced or cut completely without doing that? Green energy programs for example.

I have said from the very beginning that I did not believe sequestration was a good idea and that, despite everyone claiming it would never be allowed to take effect, both sides were too entrenched in their ideology to compromise on the issues. Sequestration will take place. Cuts to Defense spending and domestic spending will happen; Republicans will claim it is the Democrats fault. Democrats will claim it’s the Republicans fault. In the end most people will buy into the Presidents line and the Republicans will take in on the chin, again (they just won't learn).

Live Long and Prosper....