The Sequester Is the Republicans’ Fault

[Smilo]

The Sequester Is the Republicans’ Fault
Posted on February 20, 2013 by Jon

Everybody’s going to hate it when the sequester cuts 700,000 jobs next week, so Republicans are, understandably, trying to win the blame game.

The problem for them is that it’s completely their fault.

Think back to why we have the sequester. The sequester cuts were supposed to kick in only if the Supercommittee negotiations failed.

Think back to why the Supercommittee negotiations failed. It failed because Republicans were negotiating in bad faith, with Pat Toomey trying to pretend a huge regressive tax cut was a deficit reduction plan.

Think back to why we did the Supercommittee. The Supercommittee was the price Republicans demanded in exchange for raising the statutory debt ceiling.

The fake debt ceiling crisis of 2011 was the origin of this whole thing. If Republicans hadn’t held the debt ceiling hostage for policy concessions for the first time ever (“Boehner Rule”) then there would be no sequester cuts coming next week.

It’s the Republicans’ fault.


http://www.keystonepolitics.com/2013/02/the-sequester-is-the-republicans-fault/

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Short, to the point and absolutely correct

[former9thward]

1. Both sides own the sequester.

Both sides voted for it and Obama signed it into law. If it was good then it is good now. If it was bad then it should not have been voted into law and Obama should not have signed it. 700,000 jobs are not being lost. Utter nonsense. The defense cuts are needed.

[FSogol]

2. Correct. n/t

[The Magistrate]

4. Your Concern Is Noted, Sweet-Heart

Pound sand.

[sofa king]

5. It's the Republicans' fault, but it's the President's trap.

It's the best political long-game hoodwink I have ever personally witnessed in Congress. While the debt ceiling crisis was a highlight, the ball was actually set rolling when the President negotiated the expiration of tax cuts for the wealthy two years in advance. The debt ceiling crisis was actually a hostage-taking designed to force the President to undo the expiration of tax cuts for the rich. At every decision point in the process, the President presented Republicans with a two-gate choice:

The right thing OR Greed

Each choice had a consequence, but the consequence tied to the greed side of the choice was always disproportionately weighted to damage Republicans the most. The more they chose greed, the more damaging the results for themselves. They did not disappoint at all, never once choosing to make life better for their constituents.

It turned out that it was quite simple to lead Republicans down the most damaging path, probably for two main reasons. One is that because Republicans were negotiating in bad faith, they always assumed that their prior agreements could be eroded, negated, or reversed, a course of action that was foreseen by the President, and therefore designed to be very difficult (in retrospect, impossible) to undo. The other is that the President very cynically designed his plan around the fact that Republicans are already corrupted, bought and paid for, and would thus be obligated to focus entirely on their one mission, keeping rich people rich.

Republicans could and did trade everything else away in order to keep rich people getting richer for two more years. They shot their hostages until they had none left, and then they shot themselves until they ran out of bullets.

Now, all we have to do is wait for them to bleed out.

[talkingmime]

6. It's entirely the GOP's fault. Obama had no say in it, despite what FOX says.