When President Obama designed the sequester back in 2011 he did so with one goal in mind: forcing Republicans to vote for more tax hikes. So now that the sequester is just one week away and the Republicans still have not budged on their refusal to raise taxes Democrats are desperate to up the pain the sequester cuts will inflict on the American people.
Hence the opposition from Congressional Democrats to Republican plans that would give Obama maximum flexibility in how to administer the $85 billion in scheduled spending reductions set to begin March 1st. Those conversations are happening and theyre happening at a leadership level" a Republican Senate source told The Washington Examiners Joel Gehrke. The bill would not try to replace the cuts but it would instead give the president maximum authority to prioritize."
Democrats want to block this effort at all costs and The Washington Posts Greg Sargent explains why:
At bottom it is simply a way for Republicans to bait Dems into accepting their insistence on reducing the deficit only through spending cuts. Agreeing to it would represent a total cave on the need for more revenues which Dems have worked very hard to keep in the deficit reduction mix. This would signal to Republicans that Dems are prepared to accept a cuts-only approach making it impossible for them to renew any demands for new revenues later. … Agreeing to a cuts-only solution undercuts any leverage Dems can derive from this dynamic. Worse since these cuts would be allocated by Obama agency heads the Obama administration would own them.
Both House and Senate Republicans should move swiftly to force votes on a sequester-flexibility bill. Democrat opposition to the effort would perfectly expose that liberals care far more about punishing the rich through higher tax hikes than they do about lowering unemployment or preserving national security.
When President Obama designed the sequester back in 2011 he did so with one goal in mind: forcing Republicans to vote for more tax hikes. So now that the sequester is just one week away and the Republicans still have not budged on their refusal to raise taxes Democrats are desperate to up the pain the sequester cuts will inflict on the American people.
Hence the opposition from Congressional Democrats to Republican plans that would give Obama maximum flexibility in how to administer the $85 billion in scheduled spending reductions set to begin March 1st. Those conversations are happening and theyre happening at a leadership level" a Republican Senate source told The Washington Examiners Joel Gehrke. The bill would not try to replace the cuts but it would instead give the president maximum authority to prioritize."
Democrats want to block this effort at all costs and The Washington Posts Greg Sargent explains why:
At bottom it is simply a way for Republicans to bait Dems into accepting their insistence on reducing the deficit only through spending cuts. Agreeing to it would represent a total cave on the need for more revenues which Dems have worked very hard to keep in the deficit reduction mix. This would signal to Republicans that Dems are prepared to accept a cuts-only approach making it impossible for them to renew any demands for new revenues later. … Agreeing to a cuts-only solution undercuts any leverage Dems can derive from this dynamic. Worse since these cuts would be allocated by Obama agency heads the Obama administration would own them.
Both House and Senate Republicans should move swiftly to force votes on a sequester-flexibility bill. Democrat opposition to the effort would perfectly expose that liberals care far more about punishing the rich through higher tax hikes than they do about lowering unemployment or preserving national security.
