GOP Calls Obama’s Bluff And Catches His Lies About Sequester Crisis

by Don Azarias
April 1, 2013
The sequester has gone into effect on March 1, 2013 bringing on the spending cuts President Barack Obama once guaranteed would never happen. But it did happen. And, like most Republicans, I’m gloating that the GOP, led by Speaker John Boehner, finally called Obama’s bluff.
With his credibility at stake, Obama is now in an awkward position in his dealing with Republican lawmakers over the seemingly never ending chapter that deals with the U.S. government’s debt and deficit. During the negotiation stalemate with Republican lawmakers, the president and his top advisers were caught exaggerating the impact of budget cuts on the federal government’s ability to operate. The American people are now getting a clearer picture of the fact that the nation, indeed, could afford budget cuts that Obama and his Democratic allies are trying to prevent in order to preserve their unaffordable social service and other government-sponsored safety net programs. A real political dirty trick, isn’t it?
The Obama Administration’s transparency and accountability are taking a tremendous beating while being put under the microscope, not only by the fiscally-responsible Republicans, but also by the angry American public.
Still, it has not stopped the president and his advisers from insulting the American people’s intelligence by their extensive lobbying to persuade the GOP-led House to restore those budget cuts that hit those unneeded entitlement programs. The American public must stand firm in support of Republicans on this issue and reject such an outrageous overture by the White House.
Obama said he would continue to seek a compromise with Republican lawmakers to roll back the cuts. Republican leaders, however, have said they will not negotiate so long as the president insists on tax increases.
Perhaps, out of desperation and being out of option at this point, Obama said he would be willing to make cuts to government-run programs Medicare and Social Security as a way to blunt the effects of the spending cuts.
Say what, Mr. President? You’ll make cuts to the Medicare and Social Security programs? No, Mr. President, we don’t want you to make cuts on those programs. We, hard-working American taxpayers, have paid our share with our hard-earned dollars into the system after spending the best years of our lives trying to make a living. What we want you to do is cut those unaffordable social safety net programs that include the Medicaid healthcare program and food subsidies for those undeserving of government entitlements. You should also consider eliminating foreign aid outlays until we are in a better shape, financially. How could we provide assistance to other countries when a great number of Americans are starving and losing their jobs and homes?
Mr. President, we believe that you are aware that, over the years, the Social Security Trust Fund has generated a $2.7 trillion that you and the nation’s political leaders in Washington, D.C. had “borrowed” in order to fund those other programs that have nothing to do with our retirement benefits. You haven’t even paid it back yet. All you gave to the Trust Fund as a collateral are non-negotiable U.S. Treasury Notes—which are next to useless—and are now sitting in the Trust Fund’s vault.
Obama and the Republicans have been fighting over federal spending since the GOP regained control of the House of Representatives in the 2010 midterm elections. Both sides still haven’t been able to reach a compromise. The $85 billion in cuts apply to the remainder of the 2013 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, 2013. But without a deal they will continue slashing government spending by about $1 trillion more over a 10-year period. Maybe that’s the right thing to do it. No doubt it will have the support of tax-weary American people, especially those belonging to the middle class.
As the impact of $85 billion in cuts will soon find its way through the federal bureaucracy, the president might be able to exert political pressure on Republicans who are concerned about the effect it will have on their constituents. For this, the Republicans might be forced to capitulate and agree to come back to the negotiating table to hammer out a compromise with Obama and the Democrats. However, the American people will agree that it’s a big victory for the GOP in its quest for fiscal discipline.
Both parties are blaming each other for the automatic, across-the-board spending cuts. However, Republicans and Democrats pledged to retroactively undo the cuts. How it will be done is anybody’s guess. Republicans had always insisted there would be no new taxes while Democrats are unwilling to make a compromise without them. Moreover, they want to have their hands on uncontrolled spending detested by Republicans. I’ll just leave this matter to the readers to form their own opinion on which political party is more sensitive to the plight of those tax-burdened middle class.
As the American public knows, the Republicans won’t allow tax increases as part of the deal. Instead, the Republicans want spending cuts to conform with the total revenues that the federal government takes in. The various government agencies will be forced to operate with less money. Personally, I do believe that’s exactly what is needed to restore fiscal sanity in the federal government—a goal that Republicans have always wanted to achieve—because more tax increases means big government.
Such sentiment is being echoed by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) who said any tax increases were unacceptable. “I’m not going to do any more small deals. I’m not going to raise taxes to fix sequestration. We don’t need to raise taxes to fund the government,” Graham said.
I say amen to that Sen. Graham, and I believe a vast majority of the American people feel the same way too.