# Honest Question: "Who do you think wrote the sequester bill?"



## Dante (Feb 26, 2013)

*Honest Question: "Who do you think wrote the sequester bill?"*

Bills are written by Congress? I know others can help draft a bill, but doesn't the Congress have to write the final version? Who gets credit?

Oh, did you know this is a legal thing, a law, a Congressional mandate?


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## Dante (Feb 26, 2013)

Budget Control Act of 2011 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s365enr/pdf/BILLS-112s365enr.pdf


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## Dante (Feb 26, 2013)

> Who writes our law? : GovTrack.us Blog
> 
> Today&#8217;s question comes from Gwen who asks:
> 
> ...



So if the President did not write the bill, who did?


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## alan1 (Feb 26, 2013)

Congress.
You know, those 90% that got re-elected after kicking the can down the road last time.


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## Dante (Feb 26, 2013)

alan1 said:


> Congress.
> You know, those 90% that got re-elected after kicking the can down the road last time.



Who voted them in?

We did!


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## alan1 (Feb 26, 2013)

Dante said:


> alan1 said:
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> > Congress.
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There is not a single sitting politician in Washington that I voted for.
After their abject failures for the last 12+ years, none of them have earned my vote.


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## Dante (Feb 27, 2013)

alan1 said:


> Dante said:
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Too bad but we have choices. They are not always great choices but that is the nature of a democratic system


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## Politico (Feb 27, 2013)

Who cares. Just get it on already.


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## LoneLaugher (Feb 28, 2013)

Politico said:


> Who cares. Just get it on already.



Austerity is stupid.


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## IlarMeilyr (Feb 28, 2013)

Some high school intern on the staff of a low level Member of the House cobbled it together.

Then it got edited and revised.

When it no longer made any damn sense, the House Speaker asked Obama if it was what the Obama team had in mind.

They then laughed and agreed to it.

Or perhaps that's not the way it all went down.


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## Dante (Feb 28, 2013)

boy, do facts really suck when a life is reduced to wingnut messaging


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## IlarMeilyr (Feb 28, 2013)

Dante said:


> boy, do facts really suck when a life is reduced to wingnut messaging



I am sorry that your life sucks for you, wingnut.

Maybe you should try to post something intelligent to offset your wingnut suckiness.


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## Dante (Feb 28, 2013)

IlarMeilyr said:


> Dante said:
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> > boy, do facts really suck when a life is reduced to wingnut messaging
> ...



A new play thing? Why does gawd favor Dante so much? Life truly is unfair for the rest of USMB


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## Ame®icano (Mar 1, 2013)

Dante said:


> *Honest Question: "Who do you think wrote the sequester bill?"*
> 
> Bills are written by Congress? I know others can help draft a bill, but doesn't the Congress have to write the final version? Who gets credit?
> 
> Oh, did you know this is a legal thing, a law, a Congressional mandate?



Congress wrote the bill.

As a part of agreement with the WH over debt ceiling increase.
Back in April 2011, Obama accused Congress of holding America hostage. Congress told him, if you want us to increase debt ceiling, you need to get serious about spending cuts. 
So, to show how serious he is about it, he offered pledge to cut spending. House rejected his pledge so Obama proposed sequester, Congress accepted and as part of agreement they wrote the bill. 

Then came this: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMZC-Zifx90]President Obama: I will veto any effort to get rid of the sequester cuts - YouTube[/ame]


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## Annie (Mar 1, 2013)

The sequester bill was the brainchild of the administration, as reported by Woodward. That it was written by Congressional staffers doesn't get the administration off the hook, which was the point of Woodward's editorial piece. Now the administration and minions are attacking him as senile and such? Big overplay of hand, and the price is becoming apparent.


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## peach174 (Mar 1, 2013)

It was a bill written in the house.

The bill was the final chance in a series of proposals to resolve the 2011 United States debt-ceiling crisis, which featured bitter divisions between the parties and also pronounced splits within them. Earlier ideas included the Obama-Boehner $4 trillion "Grand Bargain", the House Republican Cut, Cap and Balance Act, and the McConnell-Reid "Plan B" fallback. All eventually failed to gain enough general political or specific Congressional support to move into law, as the midnight August 2, 2011, deadline for an unprecedented U.S. sovereign default drew nearer and nearer.

Ultimately,* the solution came from White House National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling, who, on July 12, 2011, proposed a compulsory trigger that would go into effect if another agreement was not made on tax increases and/or budget cuts equal to or greater than the the debt ceiling increase by a future date.*The intent was to secure the commitment of both sides to future negotiation by means of an enforcement mechanism that would be unpalatable to Republicans and Democrats alike. President Obama agreed to the plan. House Speaker John Boehner expressed reservations, but also agreed.

On July 26, 2011, White House Budget Director Jack Lew and White House Legislative Affairs Director Rob Nabors met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to discuss the plan. Reid, like Boehner several days before, was initially opposed to the idea, but was eventually convinced to go along with it, with the understanding that the sequester was intended as an enforcement tool rather than a true budget proposal. 

On the evening of July 31, 2011, Obama announced that the leaders of both parties in both chambers had reached an agreement that would reduce the deficit and avoid default.The same day, Speaker of the House John Boehner's office outlined the agreement for House Republicans. One key element in the deal being reached and the logjam being broken earlier that afternoon was U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's ability to negotiate with his 25-year Senate colleague, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Biden had spent the most time bargaining with Congress on the debt question of anyone in the administration, and McConnell had viewed him as the one most trustworthy.

So the Sequester came from Gene Sperling Director the National Economic Council.


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## Skull Pilot (Mar 1, 2013)

Dante said:


> *Honest Question: "Who do you think wrote the sequester bill?"*
> 
> Bills are written by Congress? I know others can help draft a bill, but doesn't the Congress have to write the final version? Who gets credit?
> 
> Oh, did you know this is a legal thing, a law, a Congressional mandate?



It doesn't matter who wrote it it matters who signs it into law.


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## Polk (Mar 1, 2013)

Annie said:


> The sequester bill was the brainchild of the administration, as reported by Woodward. That it was written by Congressional staffers doesn't get the administration off the hook, which was the point of Woodward's editorial piece. Now the administration and minions are attacking him as senile and such? Big overplay of hand, and the price is becoming apparent.



No, the point of Woodward's piece was to claim that the White House was going back on a previously agreed upon deal, even though neither side intended sequestration to be anything other than a placeholder.


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## Polk (Mar 1, 2013)

peach174 said:


> It was a bill written in the house.
> 
> The bill was the final chance in a series of proposals to resolve the 2011 United States debt-ceiling crisis, which featured bitter divisions between the parties and also pronounced splits within them. Earlier ideas included the Obama-Boehner $4 trillion "Grand Bargain", the House Republican Cut, Cap and Balance Act, and the McConnell-Reid "Plan B" fallback. All eventually failed to gain enough general political or specific Congressional support to move into law, as the midnight August 2, 2011, deadline for an unprecedented U.S. sovereign default drew nearer and nearer.
> 
> ...



This has to be one of the most pointless arguments I've ever heard. Why do we care so much about the particular mechanism used for the cuts.  If a hostage was tied to a chair and asked by the hostage taker if they'd prefer to be killed with a gun or with a knife, we wouldn't say the hostage was the one in charge because he chose to be shot instead of stabbed.


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## Wry Catcher (Mar 1, 2013)

Annie said:


> The sequester bill was the brainchild of the administration, as reported by Woodward. That it was written by Congressional staffers doesn't get the administration off the hook, which was the point of Woodward's editorial piece. Now the administration and minions are attacking him as senile and such? Big overplay of hand, and the price is becoming apparent.



Dante provided proof, you provide speculation.  Obama signed the bill, the bill was written by and voted on by members of committees in both houses and finally voted on by both houses before it went to the President for his signature.  

Whose idea it was isn't known and doesn't matter.

Jeez.


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## Dante (Mar 1, 2013)

Wry Catcher said:


> Annie said:
> 
> 
> > The sequester bill was the brainchild of the administration, as reported by Woodward. That it was written by Congressional staffers doesn't get the administration off the hook, which was the point of Woodward's editorial piece. Now the administration and minions are attacking him as senile and such? Big overplay of hand, and the price is becoming apparent.
> ...


Annie is clueless?

no surprise here


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## IlarMeilyr (Mar 1, 2013)

It's complete gibberish.

That is the vital clue.

Clearly, Dante wrote it.


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## Dante (Mar 1, 2013)

IlarMeilyr said:


> It's complete gibberish.
> 
> That is the vital clue.
> 
> Clearly, Dante wrote it.



Early stages of Dante Fevah!


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## Quantum Windbag (Mar 1, 2013)

Dante said:


> *Honest Question: "Who do you think wrote the sequester bill?"*
> 
> Bills are written by Congress? I know others can help draft a bill, but doesn't the Congress have to write the final version? Who gets credit?
> 
> Oh, did you know this is a legal thing, a law, a Congressional mandate?



Bills are passed by Congress, they are written by people. Believe it or not, anyone can write a bill, even you.


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## peach174 (Mar 1, 2013)

Polk said:


> peach174 said:
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> > It was a bill written in the house.
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It was not an argument. It is a statement of facts 
The question was - who wrote the sequester bill and I answered it.
I can't help it if the sequester part came from the administration and not the GOP as was being bandied around falsely.


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## edthecynic (Mar 1, 2013)

Annie said:


> The sequester bill was the brainchild of the administration,* as reported by Woodward.* That it was written by Congressional staffers doesn't get the administration off the hook, which was the point of Woodward's editorial piece. Now the administration and minions are attacking him as senile and such? Big overplay of hand, and the price is becoming apparent.


And Boob Woodward's "report" has been completely discredited. The GOP were pushing the sequester throughout the debt ceiling debate, as reported by Lyin' Ryan, and he reported that they were proud if the fact they got it written into the law after the bill passed the House August 1, 2011.


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## edthecynic (Mar 1, 2013)

peach174 said:


> It was a bill written in the house.
> 
> The bill was the final chance in a series of proposals to resolve the 2011 United States debt-ceiling crisis, which featured bitter divisions between the parties and also pronounced splits within them. Earlier ideas included the Obama-Boehner $4 trillion "Grand Bargain", the House Republican Cut, Cap and Balance Act, and the McConnell-Reid "Plan B" fallback. All eventually failed to gain enough general political or specific Congressional support to move into law, as the midnight August 2, 2011, deadline for an unprecedented U.S. sovereign default drew nearer and nearer.
> 
> ...


Even Boob Woodward no longer tries to defend his false claim that Sperling came up with the sequester since it has been so thoroughly discredited!!!!!! In Boob's discredited book he has Sperling bringing up the sequester in a meeting with himself and Boner and Obama on July 12, the problem with that fabrication is Boner and Obama stopped talking to each other on July 9 and didn't speak again for 5 days until Boner called Obama on July 14, so there was no way the three of them could have been together in the same room having Boob's imaginary conversation, complete with quotes, as found in Boob's discredited book.

So after the Sperling claim was thoroughly discredited, Boob then changed it to the Jack Lew claim which in Boob's book took place July 26, but in Boob's WoPo article he changed it to July 27, which was discredited by none other than Boner himself who had the sequester posted on his speaker.gov website on July 25 as part of his "two step approach to hold President Obama accountable."

Face it, Boob Woodward does not have a credible leg to stand on!!!


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## Dante (Mar 1, 2013)

peach174 said:


> It was a bill written in the house.
> 
> The bill was the final chance in a series of proposals to resolve the 2011 United States debt-ceiling crisis, which featured bitter divisions between the parties and also pronounced splits within them. Earlier ideas included the Obama-Boehner $4 trillion "Grand Bargain", the House Republican Cut, Cap and Balance Act, and the McConnell-Reid "Plan B" fallback. All eventually failed to gain enough general political or specific Congressional support to move into law, as the midnight August 2, 2011, deadline for an unprecedented U.S. sovereign default drew nearer and nearer.
> 
> ...



So your argument is, the GOP sponsors a bill in the US House on the suggestion of a Presidential Aide?

According to you, all President Obama has to do to bring Kenyan Socialism to the shores of the USA is get an Aide to suggest to the GOP that they sponsor a bill doing so?

cool!


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## IlarMeilyr (Mar 1, 2013)

Dante said:


> IlarMeilyr said:
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> > It's complete gibberish.
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^ Speaking of Dante's fondness for gibberish.


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## Dante (Mar 1, 2013)

Skull Pilot said:


> Dante said:
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> > *Honest Question: "Who do you think wrote the sequester bill?"*
> ...



Of course. The White House had an idea. The GOP runs with it saying they got 80% or more of what they wanted and all the credit/blame goes to the people who suggested an idea for a bill?


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## Dante (Mar 1, 2013)

Quantum Windbag said:


> Dante said:
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> 
> > *Honest Question: "Who do you think wrote the sequester bill?"*
> ...



Dante wrote earlier than anyone can help draft a proposal  -- please try to keep up. 
then there is this...


Dante said:


> > Who writes our law? : GovTrack.us Blog
> >
> > Todays question comes from Gwen who asks:
> >
> ...


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## Dante (Mar 1, 2013)

peach174 said:


> Polk said:
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So you agree the Congress wrote the bill.

cool


Who in the Congress wrote the bill? A Democratic Senator sponsored the bill in the US Senate and a GOP House member sponsored the bill in the US House. The GOP led House voted overwhelmingly for the bill



Dante said:


> *California Republican Alone Sponsored The Sequester Law in US House
> 
> Obama Signing Sequester Bill "Is this the deal I would have preferred? No."*
> 
> ...


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## IlarMeilyr (Mar 1, 2013)

Dante ^ desperately hoping to be able to grunt out a "point."

It would help if he had one.


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## Quantum Windbag (Mar 1, 2013)

Dante said:


> Quantum Windbag said:
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It doesn't matter what you wrote earlier, in the post I quoted you said Congress wrote the sequester bill. Congress does not write bill, they pass them.


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## hortysir (Mar 1, 2013)

Dante said:


> peach174 said:
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Seriously, Dante.
Spell it out.
What's your point?

Congressional Rs overwhelmingly supported it.
but
Senate Ds overwhelmingly supported it.


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## edthecynic (Mar 1, 2013)

Quantum Windbag said:


> Dante said:
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The bill was written and passed in the House and passed unchanged by the Senate.


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## Dante (Mar 1, 2013)

Quantum Windbag said:


> Dante said:
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Congress wrote the bill


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## Dante (Mar 1, 2013)

hortysir said:


> Dante said:
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And Republicans want cuts in programs they refuse to list, yet Democrats listed teh taxes they wanted raised and the loopholes they want closed

Why won't the GOP be honest and open with the American people and just tell them what they want to cut and why they want to protect the wealthy elites?


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## Skull Pilot (Mar 2, 2013)

Who wrote a bill is immaterial no bill is worth the paper it's printed on until the president signs it into law.

The president owns it.  Period.


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## Dante (Mar 2, 2013)

Skull Pilot said:


> Who wrote a bill is immaterial no bill is worth the paper it's printed on until the president signs it into law.
> 
> The president owns it.  Period.



So a President gets all the credit pr blame for all bills and laws passed and signed into law?  Really?  You people have been blaming Democratic led Congresses for ages now.

glad you cleared that all up


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## Polk (Mar 2, 2013)

peach174 said:


> Polk said:
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But the question isn't really about a fact. People are asking "who came up with the sequester" meaning "who's fault is the sequester". That's squarely on the Republicans, since they're the ones who insisted on budget cuts as a condition for not defaulting on the national debt.


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## Dante (Mar 2, 2013)

Polk said:


> peach174 said:
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True, but any red-blooded American Conservative will ask you "Why let facts get in the way of a partisan attack?"


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## IlarMeilyr (Mar 2, 2013)

Dante said:


> Polk said:
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^ evidence of the tragic way Dante's "mind" works.

He takes Polk's silly spin and recasts it as "fact."

It's not that he hopes nobody will notice. It's that he himself can't grasp the flaw in his own "thinking."


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## IlarMeilyr (Mar 2, 2013)

Dante said:


> Skull Pilot said:
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> > Who wrote a bill is immaterial no bill is worth the paper it's printed on until the president signs it into law.
> ...



Presidents get blamed or credited for the laws passed by Congress which they sought or endorsed and those which they signed.

But for the laws they opposed or which got passed anyway, especially if they at least tried to veto the acts, then those Presidents are not saddled with blame and shouldn't seek any "credit."


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## Synthaholic (Mar 2, 2013)

All funding bills originate in the House.

That is mandated by the Constitution.


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## Skull Pilot (Mar 2, 2013)

Dante said:


> Skull Pilot said:
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> > Who wrote a bill is immaterial no bill is worth the paper it's printed on until the president signs it into law.
> ...



Who are you people?

The president blames the congress, the congress blames the president.

It's all bullshit.  The idea is that if everyone is to blame then no one is at fault.

The buck stops with the president. So yes the president is to blame for the bills he signs into law.


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## edthecynic (Mar 2, 2013)

Skull Pilot said:


> Dante said:
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No, the GOP gets full blame because they have set up a "Catch 22." 

Boner said the House was done negotiating over spending cuts until the Senate begins to do something."  And Turtle McConnell filibusters whatever they begin to do in the Senate!!!!


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## Skull Pilot (Mar 2, 2013)

edthecynic said:


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Uh huh.

Like I said it's all bullshit. 
  The circle jerk goes on and all you sheep are happily joining in with both hands


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## IlarMeilyr (Mar 2, 2013)

The liberal Democrats are in full denial mode.

NEITHER side, however, gets FULL "blame" for the sequester.  THe plan was a joint effort.  Both sides can suck on the blame.

But the liberal defensiveness over allowing the Obamessiah to take ANY of his wll earned BLAME is so dishonest of them, it brings a smile to my lips.


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## Ernie S. (Mar 2, 2013)

Dante said:


> IlarMeilyr said:
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Can you give us an example of your favored status?. Shit, man! Even your sock puppets can't stand you.


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## IlarMeilyr (Mar 2, 2013)

Dante said:


> IlarMeilyr said:
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^ The familiar refrain of the Dante whine.


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## edthecynic (Mar 2, 2013)

Skull Pilot said:


> edthecynic said:
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Speak for yourself.

Defeated by filibuster, again

The Democratic sequestration replacement was defeated in the Senate today. By filibuster. Reporters who dont include that in their story arent doing their job.
snip/
*The Democratic plan, however, was supported by a majority of the Senate*, with all but three Democrats supporting it and every Republican opposed 
snip/
*Right now, the Republican position  what Speaker John Boehner says virtually every day  is that the House has acted to replace the sequester, but the president and the Democrats in the Senate have not. The truth is that Boehners House actions occurred in the now-expired 112th Congress. And now, the Senate has tried to act, but successful minority Republican obstruction prevented it.* Leaving that out severely distorts the story.

Of course, any bill will need both Democratic and Republican support to clear both chambers of Congress and get a presidential signature. Just because the Democrats have something that wins a majority of the Senate doesnt automatically mean that they are more ready to compromise than the Republicans (I think they are, but that theres a bill Democrats agree on doesnt prove that). However, *it really does undermine Boehners go-to talking point.*


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## Annie (Mar 3, 2013)

Still think the Woodward brouhaha isn't significant? 

All the President?s unaccountable men - NYPOST.com

Kathleen Parker: The Obama White House ?threat? to Bob Woodward matters - The Washington Post

Unless the public demands that access be given, we'll end up with state sponsored journalism. That is a threat.


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## edthecynic (Mar 3, 2013)

edthecynic said:


> peach174 said:
> 
> 
> > It was a bill written in the house.
> ...





Annie said:


> Still think the Woodward brouhaha isn't significant?
> 
> All the President?s unaccountable men - NYPOST.com
> 
> ...


All your links, written by Right-wing hacks, do is repeat Boob Woodward's discredited BS, from his discredited timeline of the sequester to his discredited "threat."

From your link:



> Woodward not only names the individuals involved, but also gives exact timelines for when the discussions took place and how the final agreement came about.



As you can see from my previous post, it is those very timelines that discredit Boob!!!!


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## Rozman (Mar 3, 2013)

Valerie Jarrett and Michelle Obama....


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## Rozman (Mar 3, 2013)

The people who run the President....


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## Ame®icano (Mar 3, 2013)

Wry Catcher said:


> Annie said:
> 
> 
> > The sequester bill was the brainchild of the administration, as reported by Woodward. That it was written by Congressional staffers doesn't get the administration off the hook, which was the point of Woodward's editorial piece. Now the administration and minions are attacking him as senile and such? Big overplay of hand, and the price is becoming apparent.
> ...



Oh, now when is well known whose idea it is, suddenly it doesnt matter...

Thats well known "what difference does it make" attitude, in other words - "so what???"

Well, if it doesnt matter, why libs are making big deal out of it at the first place?


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## editec (Mar 3, 2013)

Skull Pilot said:


> Dante said:
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> 
> > *Honest Question: "Who do you think wrote the sequester bill?"*
> ...



Agreed.

Whomsoever voted for it in Congress or passed it into law as POTUS owns it.

Arguing about _which party owns it_ is just more dumb-assed trolling silliness from idiotic partisans.

The record of *who voted for it* is everything we need to know and THAT is public record.


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## Ame®icano (Mar 3, 2013)

Oops...

WH Adviser Gene Sperling: We Did Put Forward The Framework Of Sequester 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTkn3bY6qmQ&feature=player_embedded]WH Adviser Gene Sperling: We Did Put Forward The Framework Of Sequester - YouTube[/ame]


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## Trajan (Mar 3, 2013)

Dante said:


> > Who writes our law? : GovTrack.us Blog
> >
> > Today&#8217;s question comes from Gwen who asks:
> >
> ...



the president writes bills?

anwyay....


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## Trajan (Mar 3, 2013)

edthecynic said:


> edthecynic said:
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				Ame®icano;6898098 said:
			
		

> Oops...
> 
> WH Adviser Gene Sperling: We Did Put Forward The Framework Of Sequester
> 
> WH Adviser Gene Sperling: We Did Put Forward The Framework Of Sequester - YouTube



gotta give props to Gregory here....

....now that thats settled, who cares.........






I want the balance of the 1.8 trillion obama owes in cuts, to make them, as he said, "balanced" to tax revenues enacted....


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## Trajan (Mar 3, 2013)

edthecynic said:


> Skull Pilot said:
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the bill, S.388, if I recall the number correctly would have increased spending by 7.2 Bn according to the cbo...try again....


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## edthecynic (Mar 3, 2013)

Trajan said:


> edthecynic said:
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Did YOU hear those words "We Did Put Forward The Framework Of Sequester" come out of Sperling's mouth?


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## Dot Com (Mar 3, 2013)

Dante said:


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^ that


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## Trajan (Mar 3, 2013)

2: 07...Sperling- we did put forward the design in how to do that......Gregory- which was the sequester...




here, let me save you the time;

Design is the creation of a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system (as in architectural blueprints, engineering drawing, business process, circuit diagrams and sewing patterns).[1] Design has different connotations in different fields (see design disciplines below). In some cases the direct construction of an object (as in pottery, engineering, management, cowboy coding and graphic design) is also considered to be design.


A policy framework is a logical structure that is established to organize policy documentation into groupings and categories that make it easier for employees to find and understand the contents of various policy documents. Policy frameworks can also be used to help in the planning and development of the policies for an organization.

you wanna latch onto the use of the word 'framework' vs. 'design'? have at it....


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## edthecynic (Mar 3, 2013)

Trajan said:


> 2: 07...Sperling- we did put forward the design in how to do *that*......*Gregory- which was the sequester*...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


So you admit that the "sequester" came from Gregory's mouth. The word that came from Sperling's mouth was "THAT." So to know what "that" refers to you need a little more of the quote than you supplied (no surprise there). So clearly Sperling says 3 times that the sequester we have now of all spending cuts was the idea of the Republicans.

GENE SPERLING:  We know, everyone knows, that *the president wanted an enforcement mechanism that included revenues on the most well-off. The speaker insisted, the Republicans insisted that if this be an enforcement mechanism, that it be on all spending cuts.* Because we were forced to do that, it is true we suggested going back to the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings mechanism.

GENE SPERLING:  But I think it's most accurate that* they [the Republicans] did propose an all-spending cut mechanism that would have this type of harmful impact on defense, and on education and research.*

GENE SPERLING:  I think the president was overall right in that* the idea of an across-the-board, all-spending cut was the idea of Republicans.* But, yes, we put forward the design of how to do that.


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## Dante (Mar 3, 2013)

The blame game is nothing but a right wing noise machine attempt to keep the base riled up and together after a string of losing battles.

Taking the whole thing out of context, taking statements the President made that appear to be misleading, but given the benefit of the doubt are more of an honest point of view, that an attempt to deceive.

The right wing, unlike Woodward in is writing, goes to motive. They always attack motive and make things personal.



> Woodward summarizes the thoughts of the Obama team: "There would be no chance the Republicans would want to pull the trigger and allow the sequester to force massive cuts to Defense." Democrats, meanwhile, didnt want to see their favorite domestic programs cut.
> 
> As the negotiations proceeded, Republicans seemed to think the same thing.
> 
> ...


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## Trajan (Mar 3, 2013)

edthecynic said:


> Trajan said:
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> > 2: 07...Sperling- we did put forward the design in how to do *that*......*Gregory- which was the sequester*...
> ...



So, we are going to parse, "that", and ignore their admitting to designing it 

What, wanna revisit the meaning of "is"?

So, how is this statement wrong Ed?


My extensive reporting for my book &#8220;The Price of Politics&#8221; shows that the automatic spending cuts were initiated by the White House and were the brainchild of Lew and White House congressional relations chief Rob Nabors &#8212; probably the foremost experts on budget issues in the senior ranks of the federal government.

Obama personally approved of the plan for Lew and Nabors to propose the sequester to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). They did so at 2:30 p.m. July 27, 2011, according to interviews with two senior White House aides who were directly involved.

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. Nabors has said, &#8220;We didn&#8217;t actually think it would be that hard to convince them&#8221; &#8212; Reid and the Republicans &#8212; to adopt the sequester. &#8220;It really was the only thing we had. There was not a lot of other options left on the table.&#8221;

A majority of Republicans did vote for the Budget Control Act that summer, which included the sequester. Key Republican staffers said they didn&#8217;t even initially know what a sequester was &#8212; because the concept stemmed from the budget wars of the 1980s, when they were not in government.



Bob Woodward: Obama?s sequester deal-changer - The Washington Post


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## CrusaderFrank (Mar 3, 2013)

Honest Question: "Who do you think wrote Obama's sequester bill?"


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## Dante (Mar 3, 2013)

Trajan said:


> ...



President Obama signed the bill _shortly after it was passed by the Senate_.[14] In doing so, the president said, "Is this the deal I would have preferred? No. But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need, and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year."

The bill was first passed in the House  and unlike others, Woodward does not attempt to divine motive and make personal attacks meant to deflect blame 



> Woodward summarizes the thoughts of the Obama team: "There would be no chance the Republicans would want to pull the trigger and allow the sequester to force massive cuts to Defense." Democrats, meanwhile, didnt want to see their favorite domestic programs cut.
> 
> As the negotiations proceeded, Republicans seemed to think the same thing.
> 
> "Boehner told the House Republican leadership and other key members not to worry about the sequester  Guys, this would be devastating to Defense, he said. This would be devastating, from their perspective, on their domestic priorities. This is never going to happen," Woodward wrote.


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## Dante (Mar 3, 2013)

CrusaderFrank said:


> Honest Question: "Who do you think wrote Obama's sequester bill?"



It was not Obama's bill. Obama suggested a way out. He did not send over a bill to the GOP House.


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## IlarMeilyr (Mar 3, 2013)

Dante said:


> CrusaderFrank said:
> 
> 
> > Honest Question: "Who do you think wrote Obama's sequester bill?"
> ...



_He_ suggested the bill.  _They_ passed it.  (He _couldn't_ vote on it since he is not in that Branch.)

But --

He did sign the bill they passed, which he suggested.

He owns it at least as much as they do.


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## Dante (Mar 3, 2013)

IlarMeilyr said:


> Dante said:
> 
> 
> > CrusaderFrank said:
> ...



Now we are getting somewhere.   What did he say when he signed the bill and why did he say it and in what context? I'll help you out here:

"President Obama signed the bill shortly after it was passed by the Senate. In doing so, the president said, "Is this the deal I would have preferred? No. But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need, and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year." Budget Control Act of 2011 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

the context: "In the summer of 2011, Obama and Congress were in a high-stakes stand-off over the debt limit. House Republicans insisted on spending cuts before increasing the debt limit. This was a notable change from the past, when members of Congress from both parties would pass debt ceiling increases with relatively little fuss." PolitiFact | PolitiFact's guide to sequestration


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## edthecynic (Mar 3, 2013)

Trajan said:


> edthecynic said:
> 
> 
> > Trajan said:
> ...


We've been over this in another thread, but you always run away or try to divert, If Obama designed it on the 27th according to the discredited Boob Woodward, how did the already designed sequester get on Boner's website on the 25th??????

Two-Step Approach to Hold President Obama Accountable | Speaker.gov

CAPS TO CONTROL FUTURE SPENDING

The framework imposes spending caps that would establish clear limits on future spending and serve as a barrier against government expansion while the economy grows. *Failure to remain below these caps will trigger automatic across-the-board cuts (otherwise known as sequestration).* This is the same mechanism used in the 1997 Balanced Budget Agreement.
John Boehner,* July 25, 2011*


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## Trajan (Mar 3, 2013)

edthecynic said:


> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> > edthecynic said:
> ...



 I would ask jay carney, woodward, sperling et al. and while you're at is ask obama why he defended it so vehemently ( yes before his balanced approach comments in the same speech

who you gonna believe me? or your lying eyes?


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## beagle9 (Mar 3, 2013)

Headlines on yahoo, says that Obama is willing to cut social nets now, and so I say that if he is going to include them in the cutting, he is only doing this because he feels that the people are blaming the repubs for all of this mess, and he knows that most voters who are the working poor and working middle class numbering in the hundreds of thousands or millions, are tied together at the hip in this nation.  Now once they start feeling the pain everywhere as a result of this cutting, then it will embolden them even further to hate the repubs in which they have been convinced by the dems lies to do, and so they would or should support the dems in the 2016 election as a result of Obama's move on this or they will support Obama more if he turns it all back around afterwards.


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## Quantum Windbag (Mar 3, 2013)

Dante said:


> CrusaderFrank said:
> 
> 
> > Honest Question: "Who do you think wrote Obama's sequester bill?"
> ...



Actually, if we are to believe the White House official who went on the talking heads show today the White House did propose the sequester, not Congress. Since this is the very same guy who told Woodward he would regret taking the position that it was the White House who started this "mess" in the first place, I think we can safely declare that you lost this argument.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTkn3bY6qmQ]WH Adviser Gene Sperling: We Did Put Forward The Framework Of Sequester - YouTube[/ame]


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## Quantum Windbag (Mar 3, 2013)

edthecynic said:


> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> > edthecynic said:
> ...



You lost, give it up.


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## CrusaderFrank (Mar 3, 2013)

The guy who threatened Woodward for not backing them on the Obama Sequester, admits it's Obama's Sequester...

And the Progs still haven't been instructed to acknowledge the obvious


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## Dot Com (Mar 3, 2013)

the sequester is a rw invention just like Obamacare (HC mandate). 

True story

tissue?


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## CrusaderFrank (Mar 3, 2013)

Dante said:


> CrusaderFrank said:
> 
> 
> > Honest Question: "Who do you think wrote Obama's sequester bill?"
> ...



The Sequester was at Obama's insistence. He was presented an adult, sane, rational plan that he rejected


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## edthecynic (Mar 3, 2013)

Quantum Windbag said:


> Dante said:
> 
> 
> > CrusaderFrank said:
> ...


Sperling says 3 times that the sequester we have now of all spending cuts was the idea of the Republicans. It was Gregory who said it was Obama's.

GENE SPERLING:  We know, everyone knows, that *the president wanted an enforcement mechanism that included revenues on the most well-off. The speaker insisted, the Republicans insisted that if this be an enforcement mechanism, that it be on all spending cuts.* Because we were forced to do that, it is true we suggested going back to the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings mechanism.

GENE SPERLING:  But I think it's most accurate that* they [the Republicans] did propose an all-spending cut mechanism that would have this type of harmful impact on defense, and on education and research.*

GENE SPERLING:  I think the president was overall right in that* the idea of an across-the-board, all-spending cut was the idea of Republicans.* But, yes, we put forward the design of how to do that.


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## Flopper (Mar 3, 2013)

Dante said:


> *Honest Question: "Who do you think wrote the sequester bill?"*
> 
> Bills are written by Congress? I know others can help draft a bill, but doesn't the Congress have to write the final version? Who gets credit?
> 
> Oh, did you know this is a legal thing, a law, a Congressional mandate?


I don't think there was a sequester bill.  The super committee, which was a joint Senate and House committee composed of both Republicans and Democrats created the sequester.  It became part of the Budget Control Act of 2011, passed by both houses by a wide margin.  The sequester had strong support because no one thought our lawmakers could be so inept as to allow this thing to happen.


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## Quantum Windbag (Mar 3, 2013)

edthecynic said:


> Quantum Windbag said:
> 
> 
> > Dante said:
> ...



Sperling said. 

Obama has always said he wanted a balanced approach to reducing the deficit, and has always insisted on including both spending cuts and tax hikes at a 3 to one ratio. Unless Obama is a Republican I can easily make the case you are lying.


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## blackhawk (Mar 3, 2013)

Who signed the sequester bill into law?


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## edthecynic (Mar 3, 2013)

Quantum Windbag said:


> edthecynic said:
> 
> 
> > Quantum Windbag said:
> ...


Sperling said no such thing! Sperling said Obama has already given the GOP a deficit reduction 3 to 1 ratio of cuts to revenue and is now offering an additional 2 to 1 ratio of cuts to revenue.


GENE SPERLING:
Now, you're right, you know, the president has a plan. This is a summary; it's on the White House website. But, you know, the speaker understands this. And what I think is most important to understand is that this really does reflect compromise.* We've already cut the deficit by $2.5 trillion; $3 of spending cuts for every $1 of revenue. *Now the president puts an offer to Speaker Boehner on the table in December; even though the speaker walked away from the negotiations, he's kept that offer on. *And this offer has $2 in spending cuts for every $1 in revenue.*

The Sequester - The Presidents Plan | The White House


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## peach174 (Mar 4, 2013)

No two ways of getting around what Gene Said;
We put forth the design" 
The WH put forth the design of the sequester.
Both parties are to blame but the design of the sequester came from the the administration.
So we were right when we said it came from this administration.


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## Ame®icano (Mar 4, 2013)

Dante said:


> President Obama signed the bill _shortly after it was passed by the Senate_.[14] In doing so, the president said, "*Is this the deal I would have preferred? No. *But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need, and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year."



Of course not, he wanted tax increase without spending cuts. 
As crackhead calls it "balanced approach".


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## Dante (Mar 4, 2013)

Flopper said:


> Dante said:
> 
> 
> > *Honest Question: "Who do you think wrote the sequester bill?"*
> ...



It sequester bill is the Budget Control Act of 2011. Budget Control Act of 2011 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

All attempts as a bill failed " to gain enough general political or specific Congressional support to move into law, as the midnight August 2, 2011, deadline for an unprecedented U.S. sovereign default drew nearer and nearer.[14]"

"The solution ostensibly came from White House National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling, who, on July 12, 2011, proposed a compulsory trigger that would go into effect if another agreement was not made on tax increases and/or budget cuts equal to or greater than the the debt ceiling increase by a future date. *In fact, the "sequester" was originally proposed by Georgia Republican Congressman Jack Kingston in a November 29, 2010 interview with The Wall Street Journal*"
""At the heart of his reform plan is restoring the process of automatic spending cuts that prevailed in the late 1980s under the name Gramm-Rudman. In the 1980s deficits were the budget cut trigger, but Mr. Kingston would apply it to spending levels. If Appropriators exceed the spending targets set early in the fiscal year under the Budget Act, automatic 'sequesters,' or across the board program cuts, would be imposed. When this process was in place in the 1980s, the deficit as a share of GDP fell to below 3% from 6%. Mr. Kingston says his goal is to reduce spending over time to 18% of GDP, down from 24% to 25% today.""


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## Dante (Mar 4, 2013)

In fact, the "sequester" was originally proposed by Georgia Republican Congressman Jack Kingston in a November 29, 2010 interview with The Wall Street Journal





blackhawk said:


> Who signed the sequester bill into law?



Presidential signature

President Obama signed the bill shortly after it was passed by the Senate.[14] In doing so, the president said, "Is this the deal I would have preferred? No. But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need, and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year."

Budget Control Act of 2011 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Woodward summarizes the thoughts of the Obama team: "There would be no chance the Republicans would want to pull the trigger and allow the sequester to force massive cuts to Defense." Democrats, meanwhile, didn&#8217;t want to see their favorite domestic programs cut.

As the negotiations proceeded, Republicans seemed to think the same thing.

"Boehner told the House Republican leadership and other key members not to worry about the sequester &#8230; &#8216;Guys, this would be devastating to Defense,&#8217; he said. &#8216;This would be devastating, from their perspective, on their domestic priorities. This is never going to happen,&#8217;" Woodward wrote.

PolitiFact | Barack Obama says Congress owns sequestration cuts


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## Ame®icano (Mar 5, 2013)

Cmon Dante, you can't just snip the part that serve your purpose. 

From your link: "But it was Obama&#8217;s negotiating team that came up with the idea for defense cuts in 2011, though they were intended to prod Congress to come up with a better deal for reining in the deficit, not as an effort to make those cuts reality."


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## Skull Pilot (Mar 5, 2013)

Obama just can't deal with the fact that his little scheme failed.

He was using the sequester as a political ploy and it failed.  Why else would he shift from the Armageddon predictions to his current talking points?


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## Ame®icano (Mar 5, 2013)

Scaring tactics and blame game didn't work this time.

What I would like to know is, what is cut so far,how bad it is and for whom?


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## Dante (Mar 5, 2013)

Ame®icano;6906490 said:
			
		

> Scaring tactics and blame game didn't work this time.
> 
> What I would like to know is, what is cut so far,how bad it is and for whom?



The GOP sponsored, and voted for the sequester bill agreeing it would be devastating it went into effect.



> It was Obama&#8217;s idea, but Republicans agreed to it and provided key support.
> 
> The most detailed account on this point  is in The Price of Politics, a book by Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward about  the 2011 debt ceiling standoff. His reporting shows the White House developed the idea and presented it to Democratic leadership on July 28 and to Boehner&#8217;s team on July 30.
> 
> ...


PolitiFact | PolitiFact's guide to sequestration PolitiFact | Barack Obama says Congress owns sequestration cuts


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## Dante (Mar 5, 2013)

Ame®icano;6906432 said:
			
		

> Cmon Dante, you can't just snip the part that serve your purpose.
> 
> From your link: "But it was Obamas negotiating team that came up with the idea for defense cuts in 2011, though they were intended to prod Congress to come up with a better deal for reining in the deficit, not as an effort to make those cuts reality."



come up with the idea. so what? Obamacare was Obama's idea too. Didn't see the GOP going for that. 



"Boehner told the House Republican leadership and other key members not to worry about the sequester  Guys, this would be devastating to Defense, he said. This would be devastating, from their perspective, on their domestic priorities. This is never going to happen,"


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## Old Rocks (Mar 5, 2013)

Annie said:


> The sequester bill was the brainchild of the administration, as reported by Woodward. That it was written by Congressional staffers doesn't get the administration off the hook, which was the point of Woodward's editorial piece. Now the administration and minions are attacking him as senile and such? Big overplay of hand, and the price is becoming apparent.



2014 will tell.


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## Old Rocks (Mar 5, 2013)

PolitiFact | PolitiFact's guide to sequestration


Both the White House and Congress, Democrats and Republicans, signed off on the agreement leading to the sequester.

 Here&#8217;s the background: In the summer of 2011, Obama and Congress were in a high-stakes stand-off over the debt limit. House Republicans insisted on spending cuts before increasing the debt limit. This was a notable change from the past, when members of Congress from both parties would pass debt ceiling increases with relatively little fuss.

 Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner tried unsuccessfully to reach a "grand bargain" to put the federal budget on more stable footing. When that failed, they arrived at the much less ambitious Budget Control Act of 2011.

 That law included about $1.2 trillion in future budget cuts, but it also directed Congress to find another $1.2 trillion via a bipartisan "supercommittee." As further incentive, the law had a threat: If a supercommittee couldn&#8217;t agree on a package, or if Congress voted down the supercomittee proposal, a sequester would automatically go into effect, putting in place nearly across-the-board budget cuts, with half coming from defense.

 Both Obama and Boehner supported the plan and urged Congress to pass it, which it did, with bipartisan majorities. The supercommittee deadlocked, though, so it never proposed new cuts. Hence the sequester.

Whose idea was it?

It was Obama&#8217;s idea, but Republicans agreed to it and provided key support.


*And at present, the majority of Americans are blaming the GOP for their intransiegence on new taxes. And intranseigence that is increasingly unpopular, given information like this;*

Wealth Inequality Video Goes Viral ? Is the Distribution of Wealth What You Would Expect? - Barrow, GA Patch


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## Flopper (Mar 6, 2013)

Ame®icano;6906490 said:
			
		

> Scaring tactics and blame game didn't work this time.
> 
> What I would like to know is, what is cut so far,how bad it is and for whom?


From a political standpoint, the sequester will help the Democrats.  Economists estimate the economic impact on the economy will be a reduction in GDP of .5% to 1%.  There is no doubt that this will mean job losses, as much as 750,000 as well as many cuts in government services that directly effects the public.  When election time roles around, do you think the public is going vote for the party that says 85 billion in cuts is not enough?  We need more.  I think not.


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## IlarMeilyr (Mar 6, 2013)

It's not really even 85 billion.  Making sense of the clashing sequester numbers - NBC Politics

But even if it was a full 85 billion, do you REALLY believe that the withholding of THAT piddling amount of "spending" would reduce the GDP .5% to 1%?

Damn.  We must be more addicted to spending what we do not have and cannot afford than I had even feared.


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## Flopper (Mar 6, 2013)

IlarMeilyr said:


> It's not really even 85 billion.  Making sense of the clashing sequester numbers - NBC Politics
> 
> But even if it was a full 85 billion, do you REALLY believe that the withholding of THAT piddling amount of "spending" would reduce the GDP .5% to 1%?
> 
> Damn.  We must be more addicted to spending what we do not have and cannot afford than I had even feared.


I believe the effect on the economy will not be that bad, because in budget talks a compromise will be  reached.  For the Republicans to continue pushing more cost cuts, would be political suicide.  As job  cuts, contract cancellation, and cuts to funds to state and local government hit the media, Republican poll numbers will fall like rock.


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## beagle9 (Mar 6, 2013)

People will get tired of playing this game, so they will soon vote the repubs back in, just so they can get some relief from this hellish war that has been going on within, and ever since the radical libs took the whitehouse. The pubs would do everything they could to make the nation realize why these socialist libs weren't the right group for the job, and this would mean that the gates would swing wide open again finally, if the pubs were to get back the job as the new administration for the nation again.


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## Dante (Mar 6, 2013)

beagle9 said:


> People will get tired of playing this game, so they will soon vote the repubs back in...



 The White House or the Senate or both?


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