E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSThe automatic spending cuts, just days away, would cut $85 billion a year, having an impact on federal food inspectors, TSA officers, Department of Defense and civilian workers. NBC's John Yang reports.
President Barack Obama used his bully pulpit Tuesday to warn of calamitous consequences for the U.S. economy should the automatic spending cuts known as the “sequester” go into effect next Friday.
The president warned that the automatic cuts, totaling about $85 billion over the course of this year, would prompt job losses, weakened national security and canceled government services – among other consequences.
“So these 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,” Obama said in a statement at the White House. “This is not an abstraction; people will lose their jobs. The unemployment rate might tick up again.”
The speech featured no new, concrete proposal from the president detailing how he would prefer for Congress to replace the sequester.
NBC's Chuck Todd says it may feel as though the sky is falling (once more) but it's likely the spending cuts will go through March 1, the government will come up with a compromise deal, and they'll punt something else down the road.
Democrats in Congress released a plan last week that called for $55 billion in new revenues from closing tax loopholes and deductions, and additional cuts by $27.5 billion to each the defense and discretionary spending budgets over the course of the next decade.
Obama’s speech was otherwise spent reiterating points he’s made for the better part of the last two months. He said that any sequester replacement should be “balanced” – shorthand for a combination of new tax revenue and spending cuts – and Obama urged lawmakers to approve a shorter-term replacement for the automatic cuts if they couldn’t reach consensus on a broader package by the end-of-February deadline.
Rather, the president, who was flanked by first-responders whose jobs Obama said would be threatened by the sequester, was making use of political optics and the presidential bully pulpit to pressure Congress to act.
Still, the urgency appeared to have little effect on Republicans, who dismissed the president’s remarks as unserious about reaching a solution.
"Once again, the president offered no credible plan that can pass Congress – only more calls for higher taxes," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a statement.
President Barack Obama voices harsh words toward Republican lawmakers Tuesday while speaking about looming budget cuts.
“Today's event at the White House proves once again that more than three months after the November election, President Obama still prefers campaign events to common sense, bipartisan action,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement.
Indeed, many Republicans have treated the sequester as a fait accompli; Congress is out of town this week, and lawmakers would only have a handful of days next week to act upon the sequester. Some Republicans have also argued that even if the sequester is replaced, its $85 billion in cuts should set a baseline for offsetting cuts in other areas of the budget.
“I have to say, though, that so far, at least, the ideas that the Republicans have proposed asks nothing of the wealthiest Americans or biggest corporations,” Obama said of the GOP proposal. “So the burden is all on first-responders or seniors or middle-class families. They doubled down, in fact, on the harsh, harmful cuts that I've outlined.”
The president added, as if to drive home the point: “Well, that's not balanced. 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.”
This story was originally published on Tue Feb 19, 2013 11:04 AM EST
Leave a Comment:
MORE LIBERAL BS - yawn, yawn!!
The economy is ALREADY in shambles thanks to 4+ years of this miserable, fraud, amateur "leadership." The small business owners (who generate 65% of the jobs in America), have zero, nada, zip, zilch confidence in Obama to do anything even remotely constructive. What impact do you think that lack of confidence has on their willingness to hire, create new opportunities or really stimulate the economy - ummm, how about huge?
What you are seeing is a clever liar who is in deep over his head, pandering to the uneducated masses as to what will happen if he does not get his way - again. This is a panic "tactic" he has used ad naseum. If you are a working member of society with a mortgage, car loan, etc., etc., ask yourself a simple question. Do you continue to spend excessively - new car, new house, new clothes, vacation, etc. etc., when you are already as DEEPLY in debt as we are? No, of course not - who does that? Obama would like to pretend that the wealth of this country is infinite and can be tapped forever - go git them millionaires, right, Mr. Clueless?
We're already well past reality here and our children and grandchildren will be left with the consequences of Mr. Gimme-Gimme President. I'm no fan of the Republicans, but this insanity has gone on waaaayyyyy too long. Interesting how his stooges continue to flow out of the woodwork, singing his praises - reminds me of the Stalin and Mao personality cults - scary........
Right on JJA, it's no wonder they do not understand the math. $85B in cuts to our out-of-control deficit is comparable to someone earning an income of $100K/annually and losing a quarter (25 cents). And they really believe this nonsense.
I guess you're just going to ignore the fact most of the deficit was incurred by Republicans. And let's just pretend that the Republican Party and George W Bush (the worst President in our history) weren't handed a balanced budget, a budget surplus and a thriving economy, which they turned into the Second Great Republican Depression. NOW you want the middle class to pay for your incompetence.
Cuts need to be made, revenues need to be increased. A gradual pay down of the Republican Debt will produce the needed result, without creating a Third Republican Depression.
Republican economic policy has caused a recession every single time it has been implemented, and yet Republicans fail to recognize this. They continue to propose what President George Bush 41 called "voodoo economics".
Republicans caused these problems and have intentionally sought to damage the economy further in order to make President Obama look bad. It hasn't worked.
And which Congress passed that balanced budget" Hint--it wasn't one run by Democrats!
If you are going to blame Bush and the GOP for the deficit back then, shouldn't the blame go to Obama and the Democrats NOW?
Only in Democratic La La land does spending more than you have equate to having a thriving economy.
If I spend more money than I have I can't pay my bills and something has to go. I either have to cancel services I use or have utilities turned off or have property repossessed.
But to the government doing the same thing, spending more than it has it isn't faced with having things cut off. It just borrows more that future generations will have to take care of and blindly continues on business as usual.
Isn't there at least one politician that cares more about the duties of office than about reelection?
But then even if there was the media would either call them crazy or totally ignore them.
Spending does have to be cut, but jobs and the private sector economy are more important at the moment than government debt.
Just as in the private economy, a responsible level of debt is acceptable and helps drive the economy forward.
@Stone: define, "a responsible level of debt".
This is just too funny; this is OBAMA'S SEQUESTRATION; the left is trying everything they can to blame anybody else, but Obama has had 18 months...... EIGHTEEN ....to propose some REAL spending cuts....and he just couldn't bring himself to do it....
So....keep blaming everybody but the real culprit here; the sequester is Obama's show, and NOTHING the left can say/do is going to change that....
It's about time this President was called to task for his inability to lead effectively; I have NEVER seen anyone LIE the way this guy has in 4+ years..."Your not going to see your taxes go up by a dime"....Ha-ha
"This won't raise the deficit by one dime".....Bwahhhh
"I am going to reduce the deficit by HALF in my first term".....OMG, he should be doing stand-up
This Ladies & Gentlemen.....is the WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
The Republican Party is a disgrace. They have demonstrated that they will damage the country to gain political, yet they are so stupid that they do not realize that they have lost power because of their willingness to deliberately damage the economy.
Yet it was OBAMA who created the sequester. Truth hurts, don't it?
You wish John.
The idea of the sequestration was to create automatic cuts so severe as to force a Congressional compromise on revenue and spending cuts to avoid it.
Both Parties accepted it.
Now, the Republicans have recessed and gone home.
Obama, our incompetent clown of a President, gets more pitiful with every day that passes. Simpson & Bowles were in the news this morning with an updated plan for an additional $2.4 trillion of deficit reduction over the next 10 years. That is the kind of initiative that should be coming out of the White House. Obama is simply another politician, afraid to do what is necessary. He is a coward.
That's because he doesn't know what to do. He has been clueless for 5 years now.
Hey GOP,
You lost ,now get lost
No America lost.. right now that loss amounts to 7 trillion dollars and rising. Our children have lost their future.. our nation has lost its international respect and the liberals have lost their mind if they think this Moron in the White House has a clue or gives a damn about anything.
Bulletman's statements , haahahhaha
So, in typical Obama fashion, he parades firefighters on stage as he pitches for yet another tax increase so he can continue expanding his already bloated federal government.
Also, in typical fashion, he's expecting the uneducated populace, to once again buy into his "the Republicans would rather see your house burn down, THAN (give me what I want...).
But, lesseeeee, Prez...
The sequester was YOUR idea, was it not???
But, you can always go on "The View", they're sure not to remind you of that fact.
This thread STARTED (#1) from D. Walker and is so typical of what we face:
"The sequester is not Obama's idea and will undo all of the good that the stimulus brought"
WHAT ?
How many people do you know that got a job from the stimulus Mr. Walker ?....how many "shovel-ready jobs" do you know of that were created ?
Nah.......me neither.
Have a great day my friends.....Obama's ship is taking on water; Pelosi is bathing topless on the upper deck (on the roof of her new airplane)...and Harry Reid needs to come out of the closet. This Administration is clueless.....CLUELESS
Ahhhhhhhhhhh luv it trouble - too funny.
Carnival cruises is creating a tour ship named - Obama.
Its tour packages include, a drift, searching for a port and Tug-O-War.
Hey teabaggers, the stimulus saved and/or created 3 million jobs and averted a depression. Get a clue.
WHAT ????......that Ladies & Gentlemen is the type of comment that has put us where we are currently.
More golf to come.....more skiing in Aspen....more spending on jet fuel to fly around the country and get nothing done...way to go Barry-Boy.....you sir....are the laziest President ever.
The corrupt Chicago Democrat played golf with Tiger Woods this past week. He doesn't care about the poor and the middle class. Obama is the King who the media lets blame everyone but the King! An American Spring will oust Obama from office. Assad, Mubarak, and Obama - presidents who attacked the freedoms of the people while stealing their income!
Obama couldn't lead ducks to water and he's lame duck.
We want cuts you haven't provided any leadership to get cuts in spending. (Years)
You created the bill and now your complaining it will hurt the economy - Look in the Mirror.
Let go sequester - Yippie-YO-Ki-Yay
Republicans don't care. They would prefer the country fail. They are spiteful like that.
Clearly, you have NO sanity. Or you would know who created the sequester as a scare tactic to begin with. You guessed it....OoooOooooDUMBO!, the idiot in chief!
Or...just point me to where all the spending for the past 5 years now has helped the economy and unemployment please?
I promise though I won't hold my breath.
Sequestration was the result of the "bi - partisan blue ribbon" budget committee formulated after Republicans refused to raise the debt ceiling in the summer of 2011. That committee was supposed to put together a plan of specific spending cuts but could not agree on anything. So the automatic 2% cut across the board kicked in as a result of that failure by a bi-partisan budget committee. Aren't you paying attention?
Tom in NH 294381 - the sequester is Obama's idea in 2010. The Democrats did absolutely nothing for 2 years when THEY controlled the House and Senate. It is not the Republicans who asked for this but will get blamed as usual because the media is so left wing it is not even funny. All you Democrats explain to me how one person can vote 6 times for Obama. Oh yea, she was working at the POLLS in Ohio. I forgot she was told she could do this by the republicans. Let the sequester come!
...just read another kid that attended an obama speech.got shot,,can you see a trend??
hahaha you get what you vote for..
the economy,,obama tanked that...lol
If the house allows the country to fail due to sequester (a real stupid term to use to describe your incompetance), then the American people should petition the Supreme Court to 'sequester the house', lock the capitol building and all their offices, and send them back home to their respective states to be interrogated by the Governor/Senate/Legislature of their respective states.
They should be made to justify their existence and worth to the State and to the country. If they fall short, they are fired.
This is the President's own plan. What could be wrong with it? Maybe he would want to try the President's Debt Commission plan instead.
Dear John:
Like the way that started ?....and just like every other "Dear John" letter, this one won't end well for you, or us...
Obama is running out of rope; he has lied so much that his "will not raise the deficit a dime" comment was ridiculed by the media. the country is seeing that this game of 3 card monty is getting close to termination.
Gas prices are SKYROCKETING; have you even looked at them ?
The economy is teetering on the edge of a great fall; and our President's plan ?
Go play yet another round of golf with Tiger while we are 2 weeks away from all hell breaking loose.
What a man....what a pitiful man. (when he sealed his college records, I KNEW)
Obama, the executive leader, signed the bill for sequester. The US News media should make it clear. Obama is screwing the PEOPLE.
I hear you about that. The press continues to favor a inept leader.
We have no press just promotional speakers........
Politico has a story running, about this White House's control and manipulation of the media.
Even ABC's Ann Compton, who has covered every President for decades, is not a fan:
This is the President's own plan. What could be wrong with it? Maybe he would want to try the President's Debt Commission plan instead.
The dangerous "sequester" will cut what amounts to about eight (8) days of federal spending. Not 80. Not 18. But 8. Yeah, sounds like a catastrophe to me.
Any rational government would spread out the cuts to such an extent the average person would barely notice.
If you haven't figured out by now that lunatics are running Washington, maybe this will convince you.
The sequester is obama's...any dem troll knows that
And pelosi, hoyer and reid saying we don't have a spending problem..LOL..where do they get these clowns
Both parties created this stupid sequester idea and the President supported it.
The President is supposed to be a leader though and he should make a real proposal. The Republicans have tried several detailed proposals only to be rebuffed by the Democrats.
If the Democrats are serious, let them actually pass something reasonable in the Senate....then they could pressure the Republicans into doing something.
Looking objectively, both parties deserve the blame on this. However, the Democrats have offered nothing in the way of reducing expenditures, because they don't believe there is a problem.
The real issue is whether you believe that we need to slowly reduce expenditures to prevent future financial problems or whether you think we do not have a spending problem, but a revenue problem.
There is not even an agreement that their is a problem, so it becomes almost impossible to reach a solution. Just remember though that if you believe this is a revenue problem, that everyone will end up paying more taxes.
We would save more if OBAMA TRAVELED LESS, Than sequester will provide in savings...
House Democrats made a detailed compromise proposal last week. Boehner's response was to recess and go home.
The last "detailed" Republican plan that I am aware of was the "Ryan Plan," which was voted down in the Senate.
Budget and appropriation bills begin in the House, then go to the Senate...not vice versa.
If the sequestration goes through and the country falls back into recession, as most economists predict, it will be blamed on House Republicans and most will be voted out of office in 2014.
stone, from what I have seen of you ramblings on here....I think you would blame the Republicans for everything no matter the actual circumstances.
The House Democrat proposal was full of revenue increases and no spending cuts. Again we can't agree on the facts here which is a problem.
Then, House Republican leadership should sit down with Democratic leadership and work out their differences. What exactly are the Republicans proposing to cut?
When you play with fire, you can get burnt
Obama has already devastated the economy. Nice try though.
You do realize that the "sequester" is only removing 85 billion from a 3.8 trillion dollar budget in 2013? That is approximately 2.24%. If we can't handle a 2 1/4 % reduction - God save us. BTW even with the 85 billion in reduced spending, we will still run a deficit of 818 billion in 2013. I can't believe people are ringing their hands over this small reduction in deficit spendng..
Yes and they were supposed to be so devastating.
Look back at what Canada did in 1994, low and behold their economy didn't crash.
The "balanced approach"?
Taxes were raised to kick the can down the road. How many times will President Obama ask Americans to pay more without actual real present cuts? Taxes were raised in Obamacare. Taxes were raised to reconcile the self-imposed fiscal cliff.
The approach to tax now for current revenue and bend the future cost curve downward is far from balanced.
Obama's idea of a balanced approach is you pay, I spend. Hey, thats balanced, we each do our part.