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Roll Call: “Speaker John A. Boehner’s decision to wait on the Senate before taking up a sequester replacement bill may be more tied to his own difficulties getting the votes for one than to a calculated political messaging strategy.”
“The Republicans’ message on the sequester couldn’t be clearer: They don’t have a unified one,” Politico writes. “There seem to be three distinct camps: Most congressional Republicans appear willing to let the sequester happen since they can’t replace it in time. Others want the cuts to be even deeper. And still others wish that House Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama would just get in the same room and negotiate a deal, even if it includes the tax hikes that most Republicans abhor. But in the spin war with Obama — who has had one consistent message of late: that the massive, across-the-board spending cuts set to take effect March 1 will gut cherished programs — the message muddle has put the GOP at a disadvantage.”
But: “Behind the rhetorical war over who is to blame for the sequester, Senate Democrats and Republicans are putting forward proposals that could be the foundation of a future deal to replace the automatic spending cuts likely to take effect Friday,” Roll Call notes.
“Ask Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert what they think of Hill Republicans’ strategy on the sequester, and you get the exact same response: ‘What strategy?’ Politico notes. “It’s a sign that Republican governors might be still giving President Barack Obama a lot of the blame for the sequester — but they're fed up with their own side, too. Their message for House Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders: It’s not OK to just sit on the sidelines. It’s time to do something to stop the automatic cuts, and fast.” For example, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell: “They need to stop having press conferences and start meeting. The time for shows is over. We’ve had 18 months.”
Politico: “It's a reality check moment for the Republican Party, with state leaders fearing they'll be left to clean up the economic disaster back home if Washington can't overcome its partisan stalemate.”
The challenge even gun background checks face in Congress… Tom Coburn says the Senate’s not that close to a deal on even background checks.
And: “The National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre told a crowd of about 1,200 in Salt Lake City Saturday that the federal government wants universal background checks to generate lists of registered firearms so they’ll be easier to seize by federal officials,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports. LaPierre said, “It’s aimed at registering your guns. And when another tragic opportunity presents itself, that registry will be used to confiscate your guns." More: "Picture this: your name, your address on a map giving directions to your home that could include a list of all the specific firearms you own," LaPierre said. "That’s a pretty handy list if you’re a seasoned criminal or a drug dealer or a gang member, isn’t it? How safe to do you think that government list would be?"
Ex-Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) says both sides should work together on fiscal issues and hints that that means increasing revenue as well as cutting spending. “If interest costs for the federal government simply return to their historic levels, it will add $400-or-500 billion of new expenses to the annual federal balance sheet. This will overwhelm any tax increase even this president can contemplate and any spending cuts that even the most ardent House Republican could pursue,” he writes.
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You bet the GOP is at a disadvantage if sequestration has ill effects, they will take the bulk of the political heat. The pentagon will get a 40 Billion cut if it cost jobs they will have a hard time selling that cuts in the government is what is needed to fix our economy and provide job growth. Pretty hard to convince someone that loses their job or gets their hours cut that this was the good medicine you realy needed.
Ah yes, POLITICO, that bastion of unbiased reporting that recently wrote;
Politico: “Republicans and Fox News are moving to purge the controversial political creatures they created. Both were damaged badly in 2012 by loud, partisan voices that stoked the base — but that scared the hell out of many voters. Now, the GOP, with its dismal image, and Fox News, with its depressed ratings in January, are scrambling to dim those voices.” First Read 2/7/13
Roy the republican controlled house has the lowest approval rating ever recorded in the history of taking those polls. They lost the oval office, they lost seats in the senate and if not for gerrymandering and the fact that house reps do not compete in statewide elections they would have lost the house as well. Those are not opinions of liberal reporting those are facts, the electorate has weighed in, and republicans lost on every front. They own this politically, and it's clearly a loser for them, you don't have to believe Politico or any any other source, but you can believe the election results.
Republican pundits are saying the sequester cuts probably won't hurt the recovery but why would we even risk it? Were the last four years not horrible enough? Why would we risk going backwards?
These same Republicans assured us the economy was sound, back in 2008, just as the financial crisis hit. Conservatives don't have a great track record for predicting the effects of policy on the economy.
Truth hurts...
Boehner is just waiting for someone anyone to propose something on the sequester. If it's good and passes both chambers he will take credit for the bill. If it stinks and does not pass both chambers he can blame it on someone else. That's the way Boehner works, "like I got 98% of what I wanted, till it didn't work then it was well it was the President's proposal". This is like the guy everybody's worked with who sits on his ass doing nothing, then when the job gets done he's the first to jump up and take credit for it. One of the biggest problems with the GOP is Boehner.
As a Speaker of the House, he is not qualified to carry Nancy Pelosi's purse.
I watched part of Meet The Press on Sunday (hating myself the whole time.) I heard Maria Bartiromo say she was just the tiniest bit concerned about the effect of the sequester on Defense, and not at all afraid of its effect on the economy.
First of all, who in their right minds thinks its ok to risk our national security to protect the 1% from paying more i taxes? Second of all, did Maria accurately predict the financial crisis of 2008? If not, why would we take her advice on whether the sequestration will hurt our economy? Third, of course Bartiroma and her pals aren't worried about the spending cuts, they are immune to it's effects, just as the rest of the 1%, heck, they made money during the recession. Further proof Wall Street does not think in terms of what is healthy for the country as a whole, including what is required for our national defense.
I remember a time when the two parties could come together for the good of the country and compromise. Each side would give up something and each side would get something they want. Unfortunately the Congress, particularly the House, is unwilling to compromise with anyone. That largely is due to the control the tea party, right wing nut job Fascist wannabes that are controlling the Republican party and their attitude of "my way or the highway". Such memories show that I am no spring chicken as it has been a couple of decades since Congress was willing to work on behalf of the American PEOPLE instead of special interests who have the money to buy what they want from Congress.