Associated Press
Last week, the consensus among many Beltway pundits was unavoidable: the failure to replace the sequester is a bipartisan fiasco, with President Obama ultimately bearing responsibility for Republicans' refusal to compromise.
This week, the Beltway conventional wisdom has a new meme, captured perfectly by the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza: "Did President Obama cry wolf on the sequester?"
In the days leading up to the March 1 sequester deadline, dire warnings about its impact were being issued daily from President Obama. Lines at airports would be interminable. First responders would be compromised. Things would be, in a word, bad.
Then the sequester hit -- and (almost) no one noticed.... The sky is falling language seemed overblown, and the devastating consequences amounted to the suspension of public tours at the White House.
Cillizza quoted an unnamed Democratic strategist saying, "Obama cried wolf in the most shallow 'going through the motion of trying to meet with Congress' way possible." The same report quoted a Republican Senate staffer saying, "They just jumped the sharquester."
To be sure, Cillizza isn't the only one pushing the meme. Politico ran a similar report, and some congressional Republicans have issued "crying wolf" press releases this week.
There are at least three key problems with the argument. The first, and to me the most obvious, is that President Obama wasn't the only one warning about the policy. Congressional Republicans spent several weeks insisting that the sequestration cuts would be "dangerous," "devastating," and "harmful." Indeed, as many political reporters may have noticed, it's precisely why GOP leaders invested so much time and energy in trying to blame the White House -- remember the "Obamaquester" push that suddenly vanished? -- for cuts they assumed would be damaging.
The "did Obama cry wolf" question presupposes that the president was alone in warning of the negative consequences of sequestration. He wasn't.
Which leads to the more substantive second issue: what exactly did Obama say?
Jamelle Bouie had a good piece on this yesterday, documenting the president's sequestration warnings, most of which included specific phrases like "the impact of this policy won't be felt overnight," "a lot of people may not notice the full impact of the sequester," and "what's important to understand is that not everyone will feel the pain of these cuts right away."
The point, of course, is that the president didn't quite cry "wolf" at all. He, like Republicans, warned of negative consequences, but the Beltway meme suggests Obama predicted falling skies the day after the sequester deadline passed. That simply did not happen.
And third, can we maybe wait a couple of weeks before we draw conclusions about the severity of the policy? The sequester policy began six days ago. To ask the "did Obama cry wolf" question is to assume that nothing bad has happened, negating the predictions from February.
But the point, which the president emphasized before the deadline, is that most of us wouldn't see the effects right away. If you or someone close to you is one of the furloughed workers, the consequences are quite real. If you count on a public service that's suddenly been made more difficult, I'm sure the sequester isn't some far-off abstraction, even if you f eel invisible to the Beltway pundits.
But the national impact will take time. When the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the policy would cost us 750,000, that doesn't mean all at once. The losses will be spread out over time, dragging down the economy slowly and incrementally.
The policy has barely begun and will take its toll as the weeks and months progress. To ask whether the president exaggerated the threat is to misunderstand the nature of the threat itself.
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To the Nimrod Squad (aka the GOP) and the media, it doesn't matter what Obama actually said... they'll be happy to supply words to attribute to him with little or no relation to that pesky thing we call "reality", so inconvenient in its facts and verifiable data.
Chris Sleezilla? Tune him out and never mention his name. Sleezilla is, was, and will always be a repuke shill frontman as part of the corporately owned media.
Spot on. The fella is the biggest "both sides do it" idiot out there...
didnt he help write a book with Mark Halprein?
if not they both are about the same.
The "Cry Wolf" meme has been all over Conservative radio and, of course, Fox news for weeks. I'm convinced that the extreme Conservative Right GOP and the extreme Conservative Right Entertainment Complex have a secret SKYPE meeting every morning to discuss talking points, as I'm unclear which came first - Congressional GOP members saying the President is crying wolf or the CREC saying the same - but it seemed to occur simultaneously. I'd listen to Rush and Insannity and scream at the radio for the omissions regarding Obama's carefully delivered speeches, especially when he used specific phrases like "the impact of this policy won't be felt overnight," "a lot of people may not notice the full impact of the sequester," and "what's important to understand is that not everyone will feel the pain of these cuts right away." Ironically, while they chastised the President for a "Chicken Little" approach to the sequester, that nothing would be actually felt, they were also quick to lay blame for it...just in case, I suppose, the cuts would be eventually felt by their constiuents. Hedging their bets, so to speak.
It like turned the rudder of a supertanker in the middle of the ocean. It take a lot of time until you see its effect. But the course the economy is now on with the sequester will lead to the rocks of Gibraltar. Ofcourse that is what the Teapublicans want so they can win the next election and finally tear down the social safety net of the working stiffs. After all, when the top 1% of the country holds 40% of all the assets how can you get more? Well, by making sure you don't have to pay for their medical bills or retirement that they have been paying into their whole working life and which was borrowed away because you, the 1%, insisted on goverment support, in tax cuts, and in loop holes, and in govt grants for your businesses. The poor man always pays the bill, because they do the real work while the financier make a living robbing their purchasing power. Lets get real.
These conservatives haven't come through O'Hare Airport yet. When they do, they are in for a surprise. There are longer lines to get through security. But the average person is not affected by anything yet. It will take some time, but it will happen.
The 'meme' SHOULD be 'is the media once AGAIN waiting for 15 minutes before declaring a topic OVER?' 'Is the media ONE MORE TIME not waiting to see what ACTUALLY happens? Are they gonna flip AGAIN???' But oh wait...the 'media' is all gummed up with dumsheets.
Always nice to have these fools demonstrate why the last time I ran across a reporter from the Litter Box Liner Formerly Known As The LA Times, I gave him the count of ten to run before he got his face shoved in his beer mug. He managed to figure out I was serious, and did indeed split. I used to be a reporter, but when I see these guys nowadays, I think of what scum they all are.
4.1 - I'm not sure if we can put the blame solely on the "reporters" they are "workers" after all and are just trying to keep their jobs. But I do blame the corporations that own them, that push that "news" is a commodity which must "turn a profit" because "greed at all costs is good" and only those of US based in reality actually care, cause the sheeple believe whatever they're told to believe.
When the intention of involvement in governmental affairs by those who run and are elected becomes merely to obstruct said government from functioning, any cockamamie story unfettered to the actually policy issues at hand will do simply because the media will chase it, and the cloak for real legislative work will be a bit closer to being run out! -Kevo
gee the President did say it will start slowly and build.
Now, Pilot, don't confuse the issues with facts. The republicans won't be able to comprehend the truth and their heads will explode.
No everyone knows the truth...It's like I said "Heroes and Villains"...This is just the initial mud slinging...in a month when this has started to make things uncomfortable they will be all over Obama for "Not having done anything to avert the crisis"...watch I will put $5 on it
smiling.
of course, assuming reasonable and logical things like republican pundits and/or lawmakers being interested in facts or truth is a flawed premise. the right wing shouting 'he cried wolf' is just another in a long line of them making incorrect claims, lying to the public, and trying to blame their own faults on the left. this is not new. it's almost not even worthy of the title of 'news' anymore. it's just business as usual for the right. that, of course, doesn't mean that we should ignore completely republican lies and witch-hunts, but i'm completely unshocked by this turn of events and their turns of phrase. another day, another attempt to blame the dems for "every thing that ever has, ever will, or hasn't-but-we-can-lie-about happening. "
These are the same people who declare Global Warming is a hoax because it snowed this morning.
Just saying. It's the perfect analogy.
So, my husband will have a 20% cut in pay, and, as it is a furlough and not a lay-off, he will have no ability to get an additional source of income to compensate for it. What will that mean to us? Deferred maintenance contracted with our local small businesses, cut back on groceries, utilities, savings for retirement reduced. Good news is that kids are grown and college has been paid for. His colleagues are scared they will lose their homes.
The sequester's mandated furloughs are essentially a tax increase levied on the civil service. Since most civil servants are perceived as more or less the taxman, this gets a big cheap thumbs up from low information voters who make up a big chunk of the GOP base. No tears are shed for us and not much will be saved. Yet there will be fewer hair cuts, new cars, vacations, and all the other usual spending done as our bills haven't been cut.
Essentially, pols love to provide programs that people like; they just don't want to trouble the public to pay for them.
And then the barber's business will suffer, the car salesman will make less, vacation resorts will lose business and lay off more workers. The domino effect will take a while but it is coming. The economy runs on "disposable income" and that is what will be lost.
Furloughs have already hit in states like NY and NJ with measurable results. It has forced most to cut spending on anything remotely optional.
I've been saying for weeks it will be bad for business, especially small business. Weren't the R's all over small business & how they were helping those job creators (who will now be laying their employees off)?
Are there people on this blog who have already been affected by these cuts or who know someone who has? The best way to put a stop to this meme is to tell real stories about real people.
My son works for DOD in the shipyards. He has three kids at home and one in college. They are giving out pink slips as we speak. Unemployment will not cover his mortgage and college expenses.
My son-in-law is in the Air Force and my daughter has to work full time in order for them to have a decent standard of living. They rely on the day care center on base for my granddaughter. It is not free or even cheap, but more affordable than private centers. This week they were notified that due to the budget cuts, the center will only be open 4 days a week. Impact: Obviously the Air Force isn't going to give my son-in-law more time off, so my daughter will now have to negotiate a 4 day work week, most likely with a commensurate pay cut.
Mac Queen
I wish the GOP and other Conservatives would go and find out how military families really live. Your son and his family should not have to live like that. They deserve more respect.
In the military, part time soldiers are been let go, people across the street and next to our home are been furlough for 22 days. It is true. The commissary will be close one day a week, the library that was already no getting new books, will be close one day a week. I could go on and on. And what's the media doing in DC. thinking that is no happening. They lived in a box, just like the politicians. Real people is been affected and no one cares about it. No even MSNBC.
It's actually hard to overstate how mindnumbingly stupid the pundit class in Washington is, typified by Cilizza, all the Politico types, etc. They actually do harm to this country--or they would, if any real people ever listened to them.
From now on whenever Calizza is on MSNBC I will be tuning him out. If I wanted his type of comments I would watch Fox.
Call the NBC comment line and state your objection to him appearing and why, particularly when he's on Andrea Mitchell's show at the beginning
AND the end each day. 212 664 4444
The Republicans now have submitted bills that are intended to deflect cuts to some areas of the government. The point being: If the the effects of the cuts would NOT HAPPEN RIGHT AWAY, if the effects were only to play out over time, then the DEADLINE was not something to get so overwrought about. Certainly not dire enough for cabinet secretaries like Janet Napolitano or Ray LaHood to run in front of a camera to prophesy of the impending woes.
And you should note that as the deadline drew nearer, President Obama SOFTENED his rhetoric. Read articles leading up to the sequester deadline and you'll see they note a shift in Obama's tone -- being sure to say that the effects won't be seen right away, etc. So it seems that this article by Benen may not be giving the full picture about Obama's softened tone. There is room to believe that as the deadline neared, and it became more evident that the Republicans were not going to flinch, Obama looked to cover himself politically in the event the sequester was not averted and the dire prophecies were not so damaging as they were portrayed to be.
The cuts are already affecting people. This made mad. Let me say it again. The cuts are already affecting people. Only politicians and all the know it all TV. political commentators and politicians don't want to recognize it. Let me say it again. REAL PEOPLE IS BEEN AFFECTED ALREADY.
So if y'all are so concerned by these cuts, then support your president to negotiate a grand bargain which cuts entitlement spending and corporate taxes while closing loopholes to raise revenue. It's that simple folks.
Keep the real stories coming and be as specific as possible.
Steve and Rachel: find some real people and get them on camera. It is the real stories that bring tears to people's eyes that get noticed.
I keep remembering the women, I think in South Carolina, who is working on some maintenance program for the Pentagon, a single mom and may lose her job or get her hours cut.
Quick, somebody call Joe Soptic!
Go back to Area 51, moron - your sheep miss you.
Ever since Barack Obama was first elected, Republicans and many in the Beltway media have been declaring that our collective sky is falling despite the progress that has been made to pull us out of the ditch we were in. Who knew that all it took for them to sing Happy Days Are Here Again was for Obama to say that the sequestration cuts would have negative consequences.
A casual glance at the news reveals these headlines. How did Cillizza miss it?
Sequester cuts unemployment benefits for 28,000 Oregonians
Sequester budget cuts take its toll locally
FAA says 173 air traffic control towers will close on April 7
Medicare doctors' pay to be cut
Sequestration Cuts Forcing Schools That Serve Military, Native American Students To Squeeze
4th: Republicans have cried Wolf, you've talked about it, so many times the last 5 years and never a peep out of the MSM on Wolf crying. Now, well now, Republicans say the Prez. is crying wolf and all of a sudden, whoa, it's a beltway question!!
I'm really getting sick and tired of the Beltway Media frankly, useless as _________
I believe the President was projecting the consequence of cuts that reduce employment prior to the national unemployment rate reaching 6.5%. Maybe he should have said:
"You can't plant a coconut and expect a mango."
Cilizza actually has a position with WAPO? Reason enough to not pay attention to him. Politico, the GOP's online stalking horse "web" validation? I do not give them click through either, not since '09.
MODS a suggestion then, when putting up a link based header, or run downs, you should indicate where the post originates from, to keep we the viewer/reader from giving support to clown car web sites.
Well, since the main people who will be hurt are 'those people' or the 47%, these guys can't see any real harm being done.
The Republican party has been accusing the American people of electing a foreign born secret terrorist who wants to destroy America - TWICE. And the President crying wolf when transportation for the handicapped in rural America is cut in half? Give me a break.
Why aren't there riots in the streets because Congress hasn't cut their own pay, cut their own benefits, or closed down their offices? They are laughing at us, very loudly, and playing us for idiots.
Remember when Krugman cried wolf over the housing bubble? Sure enough a whole pack of wolves ate our lunch and blew up the economy.
Here they come again.