Sequester: 'It's your fault....No, your fault!'
Just five days before the 鈥渟equester鈥� and its automatic across-the-board spending cuts kicks in, Washington seems frozen in its inability to deal with what most people think is a terrible way to address the federal deficit 鈥� no apparent negotiations between the Obama administration and congressional Republicans, assigning political blame the main activity.
The finger-pointing began Saturday with President Obama鈥檚 weekly radio/web address and the Republican response from Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota.
鈥淎re Republicans in Congress really willing to let these cuts fall on our kids鈥� schools and mental health care just to protect tax loopholes for corporate jet owners?鈥� Mr. Obama asked.聽鈥淎re they really willing to slash military health care and the border patrol just because they refuse to eliminate tax breaks for big oil companies?聽 Are they seriously prepared to inflict more pain on the middle class because they refuse to ask anything more of those at the very top?聽These are the questions Republicans in Congress need to ask themselves.鈥�
Senator Hoeven countered with, 鈥淲hy won鈥檛 he work with us? And the answer, quite simply, is because he wants higher taxes.鈥�
鈥淧resident Obama 鈥� not only wants higher taxes; he鈥檚 actually preventing economic growth and private-sector job creation,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e is blocking it with more regulation, red tape, and bureaucracy.鈥�
On Sunday, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood repeated his warning that the sequester could mean bad news for travelers as air traffic controllers were furloughed and some small regional airports shut down.
But Mr. LaHood 鈥� a former congressman from Illinois and the lone Republican in the Obama cabinet 鈥� took a shot at his fellow party members, too.
"Well, look it, I'm a Republican,鈥� he said on CNN鈥檚 鈥淪tate of the Nation.鈥� 鈥淢y audience is trying to persuade my former colleagues that they need to come to the table with a proposal, which ... they haven't done. While the president has, the Republicans haven't.鈥�
Over on CBS's "Face the Nation,鈥� Education Secretary Arne Duncan warned of the impact just the threat of sequestration is having on his field.
"There are literally teachers now who are getting pink slips, who are getting notices that they can't come back this fall," Mr. Duncan said
Republicans pushed back against such dire warnings.
鈥淪top sending out your cabinet secretaries to scare the American people,鈥� Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said on NBC鈥檚 鈥�Meet the Press.鈥�
"Shame on Ray LaHood," Sen. John McCain responded when asked about the transportation secretary's shot at Republicans on "State of the Union."
As to who鈥檚 responsible for the sequester, Senator McCain pointed to the most-read item in Sunday鈥檚 political news: Bob Woodward鈥檚 op-ed piece in The Washington Post.
鈥淢y extensive reporting for my book 鈥楾he Price of Politics鈥� shows that the automatic spending cuts were initiated by the White House and were the brainchild of [then-budget director] Lew, during the negotiations and White House congressional relations chief Rob Nabors 鈥� probably the foremost experts on budget issues in the senior ranks of the federal government,鈥� Mr. Woodward聽wrote. 鈥淥bama personally approved of the plan for Lew and Nabors to propose the sequester to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid鈥�. Nabors has told others that they checked with the president before going to see Reid. A mandatory sequester was the only action-forcing mechanism they could devise.鈥�
As Woodward notes, a majority of Republicans did vote for the Budget Control Act, which included the sequester. But, he adds, 鈥淜ey Republican staffers said they didn鈥檛 even initially know what a sequester was 鈥� because the concept stemmed from the budget wars of the 1980s, when they were not in government.鈥�
In any case, the Woodward piece 鈥� written by one of the most influential journalists in Washington 鈥� gave plenty of political ammo to Republicans to cite for what House Speaker John Boehner has taken to calling the 鈥淥bamaquester.鈥�
The White House finds it necessary to dispute the Woodward account of responsibility 鈥� initially, at least 鈥� for a budget maneuver with no readily-acknowledged paternity. White House press secretary Jay Carney calls Woodward鈥檚 charge that Obama had 鈥渕oved the goal posts鈥� on budget negotiations by seeking new revenues to accompany spending cuts 鈥渨illfully wrong.鈥�
In a two-page statement Sunday, the White House elaborated:
鈥淭here has never been any question that the President seeking revenues as part of a plan to replace the automatic cuts in the sequester was expected from the very beginning in the 2011 fiscal negotiations and the passage of the Budget Control Act. That the President today is seeking a balanced plan to replace it with revenues and entitlement reforms cannot in even the slightest way be considered a change of policy, a change of expectations, or moving the goalposts.鈥�
With that, Woodward fired back.
"The White House pushback is a classic case of distortion and confusion," Woodward said in an e-mail to Politico on Sunday. "We unfortunately have seen this too often in recent presidential history.... I do not think it is willful. They are just mixed up, surprisingly so."
The psychology behind what's happening now has become a topic for professional discussion.
"It's often believed that you won't be able to extract the very best concession from the other side unless you are on the brink of something that's very bad,"聽Robert Mnookin chairman of Harvard's Program on Negotiation and author of "Bargaining with the Devil,鈥� tells The Associated Press. "It's a hugely dangerous game to play because people aren't always rational in their behavior."
In any case, as Jake Miller writes on the CBS News blog, 鈥淓verybody bought in, but nobody wants to claim ownership鈥� of the sequester.
鈥淓verybody's hands are dirty,鈥� he writes. 鈥淏ut just days before a manufactured crisis sets fire to America's economic recovery, policymakers have fled the burning building, seemingly more inclined to point fingers than put out the blaze.鈥�
Meanwhile, the dire warnings and blame-shifting continues.
Sunday afternoon, the White House announced that it would be releasing 鈥渘ew state-by-state reports on the devastating impact the sequester will have on jobs and middle class families across the country if Congressional Republicans fail to compromise to avert the sequester by March 1st.鈥� 聽
