February 21, 2013 by David K. Sutton
Sequester: Republicans Say Government Is The Problem, And Prove It
Republicans don’t get elected to office to actual do anything constructive. Republicans get elected to office to tear government down. Republicans say government is the problem, and they prove it with their actions.
Since Republicans took control of the House in January 2011, they have held the country hostage many times, and each time they have blamed President Obama for the drama and whatever damage it has done to the country. Republicans thought this plan would work well for them in the 2012 election, only to find out that there are sufficient numbers of Americans who are wise to GOP shenanigans.
MARCH 2011 — Republicans threaten to shut down the government. Of the many ideas being passed around right-wing circles is the idea of a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. But within an hour of government shut down, a budget deal was reached.
JULY 2011 — Fresh off their first manufactured crisis, congressional Republicans threaten to not raise the debt ceiling. This episode led to the S&P credit rating downgrade and Republicans still blame all of this on Obama. A deal was struck hours before the debt limit was reached.
SEPTEMBER 2011 — Another potential government shutdown, this time with Senate Republicans leading the charge.
DECEMBER 2012 — “The Fiscal Cliff” – Republicans can’t accept a permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts for 98% of Americans because 2% will see their taxes increase by less than 5% on income above $250,000. We actually went off the cliff, but a deal was struck just after midnight of the new year. The deal pushed automatic spending cuts out 2 months, kicking the can down the road.
MARCH 2013 — “The Sequester” – This is a result of the “fiscal cliff” deal where they did nothing about the automatic spending cuts, now known as “the sequester.” Of course, Republicans were for the sequester before they were against it. Just search for “Paul Ryan” and “sequester” if you need proof. So will the automatic spending cuts kick in, or will they strike a last minute deal? Stay tuned.
Written with information obtained from The Rachel Maddow Show, February 20, 2013.