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(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)
BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN
It’s Washington that got us into this sequester mess — and surprise both sides are trying
to convince us it’s the other’s fault.
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY RAY LAHOOD, ON CNN: “They need to come to the table with a proposal,
which frankly they haven’t done. While the president has, the Republicans haven’t.”
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), ON CNN: “The president has now said it was Congress’s fault. We
know the president wasn’t telling the truth about that...”
The sequester, which is just a fancy word for gigantic spending cuts, starts to kick
in Friday unless lawmakers do something to stop it.
And the White House is working hard to paint the GOP as the reason Washington hasn’t
been able fix it so far.
And adding to the pressure: The administration released a series of reports detailing how
the cuts would impact each and every state.
In Alabama, for example, 150 teacher and teachers aide jobs could be cut.
In Indiana, one thousand children could lose access to Head Start programs.
And in Florida, more than 30,000 civilian Department of Defense employees could be furloughed.
Then again, at least among conservatives, there’s the belief that it’s time to make
some painful spending cuts — and there are Republicans who are willing to let the sequester
happen — even while admitting it isn’t the best way to get spending cuts.
SEN. TOM COBURN (R-OK) ON “FOX NEWS SUNDAY”: “Look the federal government is twice the
size it was 11 years ago. We’re spending almost 4,000 per person per year coming out
of the federal government.”
Basically, barring an 11th hour compromise, discretionary spending is headed below 2008
levels.
Defense would be cut by around 8%, and non-defense programs by about 5%.
And given the back-and-forth blame game bickering we gave you a taste of earlier, Politico’s
David Rogers says the chances of a deal BEFORE the cuts are set to kick in are slim at best.
Still, The Hill says no matter where they stand on cutting spending, both sides DO seem
to agree that cutting them across-the-board as planned isn’t the best way to do it.
Which makes the fact they’re unlikely to compromise by Friday even more confounding.
Both Democrats and Republicans are expected to release proposals this week, with likely
not enough time or political will to pass either.