With just 10 days to go before brutal sequestration cuts kick in, President Obama has decided to use his bully pulpit, not just to frame the debate and show the way out of this latest manufactured crisis, but also to make his opponents look reckless and irresponsible. In this case, it meant appearing at a White House event, surrounded by first responders who will suffer if congressional Republicans continue to refuse to compromise.
The president had a fairly compelling pitch to present, which had the added benefit of being true: "[T]hese cuts are not smart. They are not fair. They will hurt our economy. They will add hundreds of thousands of Americans to the unemployment rolls."
"[I]f Congress allows this meat-cleaver approach to take place, it will jeopardize our military readiness; it will eviscerate job-creating investments in education and energy and medical research. It won't consider whether we're cutting some bloated program that has outlived its usefulness, or a vital service that Americans depend on every single day. It doesn't make those distinctions.
"Emergency responders like the ones who are here today -- their ability to help communities respond to and recover from disasters will be degraded. Border Patrol agents will see their hours reduced. FBI agents will be furloughed. Federal prosecutors will have to close cases and let criminals go. Air traffic controllers and airport security will see cutbacks, which means more delays at airports across the country. Thousands of teachers and educators will be laid off. Tens of thousands of parents will have to scramble to find childcare for their kids. Hundreds of thousands of Americans will lose access to primary care and preventive care like flu vaccinations and cancer screenings.
"And already, the threat of these cuts has forced the Navy to delay an aircraft carrier that was supposed to deploy to the Persian Gulf."
Obama added that he and his party remain open to a compromise, including changes to social-insurance programs like Medicare, but he's not open to a remedy that gives Republicans 100% of what they want. The president said, "That would be like Democrats saying we have to close our deficits without any spending cuts whatsoever. 'It's all taxes.' That's not the position Democrats have taken. That's certainly not the position I've taken."
Obama concluded with a challenge: "Republicans in Congress face a simple choice: Are they willing to compromise to protect vital investments in education and health care and national security and all the jobs that depend on them? Or would they rather put hundreds of thousands of jobs and our entire economy at risk just to protect a few special interest tax loopholes that benefit only the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations? That's the choice."
As it turns out, GOP officials are aware of the choice, and for now, appear to have made a decision.
It's probably not the decision the White House is hoping for.
The Hill reports this morning, however, that Republicans say they're not worried about the political impact of the sequester. They tell the paper that they will be able to make the case to the public that the sequester was Obama's idea, meaning he'll take the blame for the damage it does.
The competing approaches are important. On the one hand, we see President Obama warning of dire consequences and pleading with lawmakers to consider a compromise solution to prevent real hardship. On the other, we see congressional Republicans focusing on how best to play the blame game.
For those who care about reality, the sequester really wasn't Obama's idea -- it was part of the ransom paid to Republicans when GOP lawmakers held the nation hostage in 2011, threatening to crash the economy and trash the full faith and credit of the United States. Republicans took credit for the sequester and they voted for the sequester.
But as a practical matter, it doesn't matter whose idea it was. There's a looming threat to the nation and it kicks in next week. One side is focused on resolving the manufactured crisis with a bipartisan compromise; the other side is focused on how to win a public-relations battle, instead of focusing on fixing the problem they helped create.
The odds of avoiding this self-inflicted wound, undermining the economy, the military, and the public's needs are, at least as of today, quite remote.
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I'm betting that the Republicans will just let the sequester happen, and then only restore the defense cuts after the fact. Obama let the Republicans have the leverage here, and it's gonna cost us.
considering that they want the federal government to consist of nothing more than the Department of Defense I wouldn't be surprised
Why do the Democrats led by Pelosi stay silent on matter in the congress ..dont Pelosi and the Democrats have any say in what happens .. if they do why dont they say it ..it seems to me that Boehner and the republicans keep pushing Obama .So why isnt Pelosi pushing Boehner! Boehner was not timid when Pelosi had the Gavel He treated her like a Female Dog.. The dems need to put their big boy pants on and get into this fight
The Republican House can pass a bill to reinstate the Defense cuts, but Harry Reid would just refuse to allow the bill to be referred to a committee, let alone voted upon by the Senate.
Oh, right. We're talking about Harry Reid here. He'll probably rush to get it to a vote of the full Senate.
The dems in the senate have passed military spending every year with out a peep , then turn around and say they have no choice but to cut food stamps etc , because the gop demand it , big disconnect there , all the way up to obama ..... why wouldn't they hold back bloated military spending and demand funding for domestic programs ?
And once again dems are saying soc sec is on the table , right after they said they would NOT DO THAT last month
I think the gop are crazy enough to tank the economy again myself , but I think they are going to get 100% of the blame for it also , this is their wet dream , crash obamas economy again , and shrink gov ayn rand style , what is there for them not to like about all this? joe shmo losing his job really does not matter to them
I say the president should use his constitutional power to convene a joint session of congress and refuse to let them leave the building until this mess gets fixed. Do your job or enjoy your time "behind bars" until you do.
Uh-huh. In 1995, Newtie thought he had a winning hand, too, when he shut down the government. He ended up getting Bill Clinton re-elected. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome -- isn't that the definition of crazy?
Bingo. Dems just need to start running ads consisting of Paul Ryan and republs claiming sequestration was their idea. Run it all day long.
Republicans have spent years blaming Obama for and accusing him of everything and anything their tiny lizard brains have been able to dream up, all in order to gain political advantage. The most concrete evidence of the efficacy of this strategy is the recent election, in which Obama and rest of the Democrats (House district gerrymanders notwithstanding) wiped the floor with the GOP. And Republicans think this time the outcome will be different?
What was the vote in the House on whether to use the sequester to force the committee to negotiate in good faith?
A majority of Republicans voted for it. They own it.
Yes the sequester came from the White House, and no this isn't a meat cleaver cut. It's a lousy $60 billion net. $120B in cuts and $60 billion in new revenue already delivered. To put this in perspective the cut will be about the size of the Sandy Hurricane package already passed. Oh the horror!
Picture the 600lb man gorging himself and then complaining he didn't get an after dinner mint. This is that absurd.
House Repubs voted for the sequester about 3:1
Well over 50% of Senate Repubs voted for it.
What's your point?
The sequester didn't "come from the White House." The Republican House, the Democratic Senate (with bi-partisan support) and the President all signed on to it. All sides agreed to it as a means of applying pressure to reach a deal. The Dems are still working for a deal. The Repubs are playing a blame games.
hey shooter....what's your point.....do you think that you can convert us to your "imaginary" world????
i challenge you to publicly discuss any of your ideas with rachel, one on one...and both of you agree to have an arbitrary expert "fact check" the debate...
.
shooter,
I am nearly 65. I have yet to see one bill that started in the White House.
In order for things to become law, CONGRESS starts the bill. To say that this started in the White House is either disingenuous or based on lack of knowledge, or both.
I don't think Shooter understands how the government is SUPPOSE to work.
John Boehner said that he got "98% of what he wanted" when he and the Repuiblicans voted to approve of the sequester.
So how is this solely the responsibility of Obama and the Democrats?
Blanks is just an Obama-blamer. Nothing more, nothing less. He loves his Repugnicants.
A$$holes on BOTH sides of the isle decided vacation was more important and the Chief decided a round of skirt-chasing with Tiger was a better use of time, so why should I worry?
Let the cuts kick-in, the important ones will be re-funded, and who knows, maybe they'll find about $60bil in duplicate programs that can go away.
Republican officials HATE America. Its obvious.
Richard Hofstadter on the pseudo-conservative:
“Their political reactions express rather a profound and largely unconscious hatred of our society and its ways -- a hatred which one would hesitate to impute to them if one did not have suggestive clinical evidence ... The pseudo-conservative, Adorno writes, shows 'conventionality and authoritarian submissiveness' in his conscious thinking and 'violence, anarchic impulses, and chaotic destructiveness in the unconscious sphere…… The pseudo conservative is a man who, in the name of upholding traditional American values and institutions and defending them against more or less fictitious dangers, consciously or unconsciously aims at their abolition.'"
That's it, in a nutshell!
Let's attach the 'pseudo' to every instance of calling someone 'conservative' today.
tcinla what you describe is a Fascist ..we all know the Fascist element of the GOP is the TP
Neil - Republican officials love their idea of America, but their love ends there, and as they exercise their fog shrouded hatred toward our first elected and then reelected African American president!
Let's be clear - This Congress, (the Republicans within), have absolutely no intention of fulfilling their legislative obligations, but instead, are milling around as our nation's economy continues to be on the chopping block!
What a pathetic group of ne'erdowells those Republicans! -Kevo
The Republican plan depends entirely on getting their message out that sequester was Obama's idea and they were helpless in the face of it. Nobody in the know believes it, but they are pinning their hopes on the mighty Wurlitzer and the ignorance of the Fox News demographic.
This President, however, seems to be engaged. The mighty Wurlitzer is not that potent in the face of a President using the bully pulpit to great effect, especially when the Fox demographic is in decline.
Either the Republicans find a way to cave without losing too much face or they pay a steep price in the long term. They don't have the horses to beat the President on this one.
yes, and even the MSM (ABC, Dick Gregory) called out the lies about it from Ryan recently.
plus I love the argument they're making here. "Even though he is incapable of passing law on his own the president (who we often discredit as a crappy leader) forced this law on us and we were powerless to prevent it." Yes the "law" is all the presidents doing, it was the first law in the history of the US that was passed unilaterally by the president. Plus, how do they really expect the American public to forget what happened in 2011. People are going to remember that this entire thing was crafted in order to force a compromise. The super committee, all the reports about how this is a "great" bill (it must be because everyone hates it). Fox news viewers will buy it and blame Obama, and everyone else will simply remember what happened in 2011 and Republicans will look like idiots.
There are hours of tape where repubs take credit for sequestration. The ads write themselves.
So, let's start running the ads!
jjm - You've mistaken the banal David Gregory with the great comedian, and weight guru, Dick Gregory! -Kevo
All laws are passed "unilaterily" by the POTUS. The POTUS does not have a line item veto.
OMG, those delusional idiots. The sequester is just a variation on a theme of Newt's shutting down the government. They just want to show they'll go to the wall.
And in the end, I've come to believe the thing that they are so "angry" at Obama over is being... "uppity."
How dare he?! Doesn't he know he should be willing and compliant, accommodating, bending over backwards for them, even though they are in the minority?
Not because they have logic or influence or popular support behind them. No, not that. It's because they are white and accustomed to wielding power with authoritarian directives, and he doesn't come from their privileged class. He comes from the "servant" class, to their racist sensibilities, and they're pissed because he's not carrying his hat in his hand often enough. Even if he is PRESIDENT, they expect him to be DEFERENTIAL. Not because they expect other presidents to be deferential like that. Rather, they just expect HIM to be deferential.
That alone to them is an offense unto the heavens, whether they are conscious of it or not.
It's like when a woman in a boardroom doesn't still end every sentence with an upturn in her voice, or a slight tilt of the shoulder toward the men in the room. Sure, she can be in the boardroom. She can even have a title that conveys power she has earned and dues she has paid. But she better not betray that title or power in her body language. She better be a negotiator, a facilitator, a go-along-get-along type, or some men in that boardroom will need her to be gone.
They won't compromise. They are never going to let a chance to thwart Obama pass them by. Why end their fun now when his second term is just getting started? There is so much more they can do to hurt him and this country!
Lemme guess what the new-and-improved GOP response will be from Obama's speech today - "We were thisclose to working with Obama on avoiding the sequester, but now that he's being mean to us and using first responders for props, forget it. It's all his fault. Again."
Never mind that those first responders WILL be hard hit by the sequester, as well as others.
Never mind that they haven's compromised with a new counter proposal of their own.
They think blaming Obama will reap dividends, and working with him will not. What else CAN they do? The right thing? Help more Americans? Stop kidding yourself, Capra.
I've written about it before, but there's an awful movie called "Bats," where the local bat expert, played by Boehner lookalike Bob Gunton, explains the damage these killer bats are about to bring to the town, and it will only spread from there. Our protagonists talk about how they have to try to stop them or at least warn the town, and Gunton's response is a shrill crazy giggle and "why would I want to do that?" At that point, assuming you haven't turned the movie off yet, you understand that Gunton is not playing the traditional cliche'd villain in a movie like this, like a guy secretly hired by the military to see if the bats can be used as a secret weapon and if they destroy a town well it only proves their worth as weapons. No, at that moment, you realize Boeh...I mean Gunton is bug-nuts crazy who is going to see the bats wipe out everything in their path because he wants to see it happen. That is sadly an apt comparison to today's GOP. I truly think they want to destroy the economy because they want to see what happens if the economy is destroyed. Because nothing is pulling them back from the brink, and all evidence points to them taking the blame by the majority of the public. I dunno, perhaps they think a better stronger America will rise from the ashes once poor people suffer to the point of dropping off the fce of the earth, or at least the voter rolls.
They really think yelling "Obama Sequester!" is going to give them cover.
I'll refrain from pointing out what that says about their opinion of the rest of us.
Obama has done his best to keep the hurt the Repubs cause to the minimum (Even if I haven't always appreciated the truth that he is President for all of us Obama has never forgotten that.) but there was always going to be a showdown.
It looks like this is it.
My advice?
Take the case outside the Beltway and make the Repubs answer for it, don't let up
I truly think they want to destroy the economy because they want to see what happens if the economy is destroyed. Because nothing is pulling them back from the brink, and all evidence points to them taking the blame by the majority of the public.
Soooo.... they truly want to destroy the economy, even though, as you say, the will take the blame. So they destroy the country AND they know they will be blamed for it. And since "nothing is pulling them from the brink" they are going to purposely destroy the economy. Yeah that will definitely pull them from the brink. Silly. They obviously have a much different approach to the fiscal fix, but come on, destroying the economy on purpose. Really???
@ #8
Do the Repubs realize that every time they do something to weaken the economy, they are weakening the military power of the US?
Not all wars are short.
Besides, I would argue that wars are obsolete. Today, nations compete in the economic world directly by competing economicly, instead of indirectly by going to war. War might lead to nuclear exchange, better to compete economincly.
Don't the Repubs realize that they are traitors to America? No? Why not? Because they don't consider themselves to be American, they are members of the World-Wide-Rich-Men-Club 1st.
Actually they are American. It's the rest of us who aren't.
There was a line in the 1988 movie Die Hard where the Japanese company owner says "Pearl harbor didn't work, so we decided to go with tape decks." With the Chinese population wanting to own some of what they make for export, this is more true today than ever.
skip hoffman @8.2
You're applying logical reasoning to people who aren't behaving logically. If they had a genuine bipartisan approach to fixing this problem, they'd have introduced it. They know what the sequester will do, and they're on vacation. Yes. I think they want to see what will happen. I think at best their "different approach to the fiscal fix" is akin to "we had to destroy the village in order to save it." Which was insane then and insane now.
I am not worried. There is no way Lockheed et. al. allow this to happen. In better news, Rachel Alexandra is stable and walking!
There's a hostage situation, in which the terrorists are willing to kill a group of women and children if their demands are not met. The FBI negotiator gets the terrorists to agree to let the women and children go and take a group of men (who have volunteered) to be hostage instead.
The standoff continues, and it looks like the terrorists are going to kill the men, and they want the FBI negotiator to get the blame for giving them the men as hostages.
That's just crazy.
If the GOP carries out the threat they will lose the House in 2014
The Democrats will crucify them on a cross fashioned from Obstructionism.
Based on how frustrating all of this is for the American public, I cannot imagine how frustrating it must be for President Barack Obama. Lawmakers like John McCain and Lindsay Graham would be fired with cause in the private sector for goofing off and not producing a product. Too bad that we can only hold them accountable at election time but for some of them, that will soon come to pass. What a great day it will be to see them voted out of office and have to go out and get a real job. Who knows, we may see them in the unemployment lines since holding a job will be very difficult unless they learn how to produce a product. I applaud President Obama's fortitude and patience throughout this Republican manufactured crises. We need to remind ourselves that he doesn't have to do this. He could just do what the Pope did and quit.
It would be fantastic if they were voted out. But get a real job, forget it. They will sit back on their lazy butts and draw their government pension adding to the debt.
"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives."
--- John Stuart Mill
Conservatives need to have someone to hate so they can feel better about themselves. Hence, the Obama hate machine!
I don't think conservatives need someone to hate. I think they need someone to feel superior to. They hate those that point out that every one is (or at least should be) equal.
Yeah, Heaven forbid we should all be equal, in spite of what the constitution says. Conservatives from the south know that Obama is not equal to ........say............Lindsay Graham!
And, surprise, I agree! Just not for the same reason. Our president, for openers, is a man.
DoD has informed our Do Nothing Congress that it will implement a furlough program that will require DoD civilians to work 32 hour week. In effect a 20% pay cut. That says nothing about DoD contractors who are likely to see their contracts defunded resulting in 100,000s of layoffs or furloughs. This will have major impacts on readiness and the disruption of important mission critical programs. Congress can do this the smart way or the stupid lazy way. Care to take bets.
Well, the Republican Party IS the party of stupid!
“A liberal is a man too broad-minded to take his own side in a quarrel.”
Robert Frost
“Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a Republican. But I repeat myself.”
― Harry S. Truman
Republicans are the first ones to bring up personal responsibility.
So if I didn't react to an avoidable disaster, it would be my fault because I didn't act responsibly.
So where are the Republicans? Oh yeah. They're at home.
Whenever the Republican put up their wall of Obstructium, I want to see Democratic efforts outside the Beltway at publicizing that fact. Town hall meetings, op-eds, local tv, be-ins... whatever. This has to be done over and over and over, so that even the densest voter will understand that Republicans are simply being petulant.
So what is the answer...more taxes only? Let's say another $250 Billion in taxes per year. That would knock down the deficit 25%. We would still have deficits in the 1/2 to 3/4 of a Trillion a year. The last tax increase on the wealthy brought in $ 60 Billion per year so that means another round of increases 4 times as big. Revenue only is not the answer. There will have to be cuts somewhere. Pick you favorite (I will guess military is #1).
PBO is a better man than I. I would have said the House GOP was full of job-killing, soft on defense, anti-border control, people who don't want to invest in our kids future and are looking to kill Grandma.
Compromise what? The sequester was Obama's idea. The Republicans voted for it as a means to make the Administration actually do something. They did nothing and now we have the sequester. The republicans cannot compromise in the wrong direction. The point was to reduce deficit spending. The administration was unwilling to do this.
And when America sees the props he uses and the complete crybaby one sided tactics he uses, they no then that its all lies. Like spotting a used car salesman.
I am for the sequester. It is our only hope of getting that bloated defence budget cut. The rest can be fixed in a few weeks. The GOP will try to put more into defence. The president will say no.
The GOP will never raise taxes or cut defence. This is the only chance. We'll never get them to agree on raising any revenue. (Unless it comes from the poor, whom they disregard as insignificant.) That won't happen for obvious reasons. So, I say go for the defence cuts while you can. Then fix the programs for the vulnerable.
Let the GOP go back to their elderly constituents and explain why they voted against Meals on Wheels when Obama tries to fix that program.
You REALLY have to go to some other source than Faux Nooze to get your facts and talking points. The Teapublican flavored Kool-Aid you've been consuming has given you a raging case of idiot.
In two weeks all bets are off
OK, so obviously the compromise the President and Democrats are shooting for is strictly revenue this round. No cuts that I can see. And whatever is "passed" will be a drop in the bucket and deficits will go on...maybe a little less than $1 Trillion, but there will still be substantial deficits. Nothing serious will get done on the deficit and debt...again. What a joke. This isn't even worth all the posturing on either side.
Sooner or later - and it looks like it will be later AGAIN - there will have to a downward adjustment on how the government operates. Even if they increase the revenue side a decent amount, we all know Congress will find "new" ways to spend the increase..and not use it solely on the deficit. Guaranteed.
Skip, you say that we have to reduce the deficit. Or, what?
I see almost zero interest rates on new US Bonds.
I see almost on inflation, except gas.
Where is all the damage you claim that the current deficits are causing? Is it all coming in the future with no warning?
Steve,
The way everybody is ignoring the growing debt - which is increased every year by the newest annual $1 Trillion deficit - yes. No warning because most folks are sticking their head in the sand. You make it sound that just because there is little interest on the bonds that it really isn't owed anybody. Most intelligent folks seem pretty pragmatic in every category except this one - the fiscal mess. What do you think will happen - nothing? Nothing at all. NO consequence whatsoever? Yeah...let's ignore it until it is serious money. Like 50 Trillion or 100 Trillion. 16+ Trillion (not to mention the TONS of unfunded benefit obligations that are not really counted in the debt number) really is chump change. OK...no warnings.
I bet you think SS and Medicare are just hunky dory for 50 more years too.
Sorry, but economic recovery is a condition precedent to meaningful deficit/debt reduction. If we take the republican route, our great-great-grandchildren will be living in the same recession.
Want to pay off the debt? CREATE MORE TAXPAYERS.
Well bdop4, that is the chicken and the egg argument. Raising taxes, especially on corportations probably will not creat a ton of new jobs/taxpayers. And for all the good stimulus packages may be, they will not create many permanent jobs. In the last stimulus I believe, there was a decent amount of cash to help keep and/or hire more first responders for cash strapped cities. The only problem the funds were for one year. After that year, most of the cities still did not have the $$ to pay those extra employees. Unless you are talking about something like the old WPA or something (which would cost a lot), the government does not create jobs - except if you are talking about massive hiring in the military and other govt agencies.
The government certainly can create an environment for growth. The engine of economic success is the middle class. If we provide incentives for industry to come back to the US, and people can get decent work, our deficit can be reduced rather quickly.
It's not rocket science. It's jobs. It's spending by the average American. It is demand and supply. First, it is demand. If people have no jobs and no money, demand means nothing. Bring the outsourced jobs back through tax reforms that encourage industry.
Made in the USA used to be a good thing. It still can be. We have a great work force here and China's environment is losing its appeal.
Sorry Skippy, but "raising taxes on corporations" will create new jobs. Or rather, re-instituting a marginal rate of 50% or higher on all income over $2 million will create jobs.
A CEO getting $10-20 million per year? Ain't gonna happen. No corporation will pay an executive $10 million dollars knowing that 50+% of everything over $2 million will go straight to the IRS. The corporation, however, will still have to pay that 50+% rate on their own profits (they're "people" too!) unless those millions are spent in ways that qualify them to be deducted as business expenses. Things such as increased wages, higher dividends, R&D, materiel purchases, etc.
And spending those millions in those ways will create jobs. We know because we have an example of it doing just that: the period 1946-1980. The greatest and longest economic boom in this country's history. The economic boom that made the vast majority of the people in this country qualified to call themselves "middle class".
That economic boom.
Barack Obama talks a good story, but it his own deficit commission captains that have submitted the most Draconian proposals of all. 1/4 from Medicare & Medicaid payments to providers and higher Medicare premiums. 1/4 from cutting back on most tax exemptions and reductions, like mortgage interest and retirement savings, while cutting income tax rates for the wealthy. Cuts would be made to Social Security cost of living payments and cuts to federal pensions and another $600 Billion from health-care spending. "A further step would make additional changes to Social Security and health-care spending and revamp transportation spending, the two said, without giving details." Meanwhile, Congress is in recess for another week. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-19/obama-s-deficit-commission-leaders-offer-new-debt-plan.html
@ #22
The Simpson-Bowls (I'm sure the spelling is wrong) Commission never made a report, only the leaders put out something. It did not have more tax cuts for the rich.
And it is just 2 guy's opinion. Can me and a friend write something and get you to even read it? I didn't think so.
It is torch and pitchfork time ladies and gentlemen.. I don't think another dip in the recession deep-end is going to do you legislators and favors! I'd personally savor watching the entire @!$%#-house go up in flames..
all this about cutting back and raise tax, to me is just a witch hunt, we do not have to change any thing welfare,medicare,medicarid, raise prices of food, cloth, house, gas,water and elect. it just a witch hunt. we should have more money the troop are back ,that was the money the was huritng social securityand us. please we the people know better then u all think. the big thing is up the cost of liveing that is hurthing the problem lower the price so we can have money on our pockets,tax here the thier and so on it not helping us,I do thing that Mr.Bush should be charge for war crimes.
This a 2.4% cut in federal spending. Granted it is focused on the military and discretionary spending. Maybe it should be spread among all spending then every program cuts their "fair share". That is what Democrats claim all the time!
Besides, President Obama signed this into law 18 months ago. Didn't he read the fine print?
Exactly. This sequestration "law" was passed by Congress - Republican AND Democrat - and was signed by the President. If he and the Democrats did not want this to ever go into effect, then they should not have "kicked the can down the road" AGAIN and solved this a couple of years ago. Kinda of funny if you think about it. Congress passes and the President signs a law or procedure that they had no intention of it ever actually going into effect.
One of the few men in the political arena whom I respect is Howard Dean. He said recently to just let the sequester go. I happen to agree with him. We need those defence cuts and the GOP will never allow for more revenue, so get what you can: the defence cuts. They'll never get them otherwise.
It can all be straightened out after the sequester. This is not Armageddon. It is a 2.4% cut across the board. Most people will not notice it. There's a lot of hype over this. You don't know what to believe. I believe Dean. He has always seemed to have a lot of common sense and seems honest to me.
It won't cause a recession. I am almost certain of that.