Friday, February 22, 2013

Sequester - Its the Democrats Who Won't Compromise

I had the unfortunate experience of listening to two hours of MSNBC today, while waiting for my wife in a hospital waiting room.  (It was a routine procedure, no worries.)  Besides the ridiculously loaded language* they used whenever describing Republicans, I found their arguments on the coming sequestration to be the worst of their propaganda.  The essence of the argument is that the Republicans invented sequestration and foisted it upon an unsuspecting President and now won't compromise because they want to wreck the country.  This is because at MSNBC the government IS the country and they equate an $85 billion cut to a Federal budget of $3.8 trillion (2.2%) to wrecking the country.  At least one guest made the point that the size of the sequestration is 1/175th of the Gross Domestic Product, saying it is hard to believe it will have much effect on the economy.  Indeed, with sequestration already a certainty, the stock market has not moved much.

With the tax increases that were passed at the beginning of the year, the Democrats got what they asked for, more taxes on the rich.  But of course, now they want even more.  I am waiting for them to propose meaningful reductions in spending.  That's why there is a sequestration.  They don't believe that there is a spending problem.  Until they do, their is no room for serious discussion.

UPDATE

I found this quote from a WSJ article on the sequester:

In the current dustup, Mr. Obama is showing little appetite for negotiating with leaders on Capitol Hill. Thursday, Mr. Obama spoke by phone with Mr. Boehner and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, his first time speaking to either GOP leader in weeks. People familiar with the call said it did little to bring the two sides closer to agreement.


*In one example, Rush Limbaugh was described as "a mouthpiece of the Republican Party" when he is not a spokesman and if he was, the loaded term "mouthpiece" shouldn't be used by a self respecting news organization.

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