In the New Republic, Johnathan Cohn writes the Republicans are desperate to avoid the spending cuts of sequestration. Other articles in the media yesterday and today echo this point. In all the columns in all the world of progressive opinion media, the only support offered for this position, however, is the statement made by one Florida Republican congress who said that it would be better to avoid the cuts. Beyond that, there is nothing but the voices of a few other columnists who argue that the cuts in defense would be worse than the gain from the cuts in domestic spending.
The truth is that the GOP is not desperate to avoid the cuts; that is the Democrat position. Indeed, in normal circumstances one would have suspected that some compromise would have been structured to find cuts worth the equivalent of a two or three year portion of the sequester with a concommitant delay in the start of sequestration. The GOP does not want the cuts to come from those account specified in the sequestration; neither does the Democrat party. Surely, there would have been enough fat to be found in the federal budget to satisfy the needs of both sides. President Obama, however, has killed this possibility. Obama announced that the alternate cuts should include major tax increases as well as cuts. Obama must actually have believed the nonsense that the GOP was desperate to avoid these cuts. Otherwise, he had to know that a push for still more tax increases would never be able to pass the House.
It is sad to think that the left wing commentariat and the bulk of the Democrat party including Obama have so misread the political situation. We soon will see the sequestration cuts go into effect because the left has projected its own fears onto the conservatives.
The truth is that the GOP is not desperate to avoid the cuts; that is the Democrat position. Indeed, in normal circumstances one would have suspected that some compromise would have been structured to find cuts worth the equivalent of a two or three year portion of the sequester with a concommitant delay in the start of sequestration. The GOP does not want the cuts to come from those account specified in the sequestration; neither does the Democrat party. Surely, there would have been enough fat to be found in the federal budget to satisfy the needs of both sides. President Obama, however, has killed this possibility. Obama announced that the alternate cuts should include major tax increases as well as cuts. Obama must actually have believed the nonsense that the GOP was desperate to avoid these cuts. Otherwise, he had to know that a push for still more tax increases would never be able to pass the House.
It is sad to think that the left wing commentariat and the bulk of the Democrat party including Obama have so misread the political situation. We soon will see the sequestration cuts go into effect because the left has projected its own fears onto the conservatives.
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