Top Links: President Obama brings sequester cuts home

Feb. 19, 2013, 11:45 AM EST

By John Flowers

Top story: President Obama used his bully pulpit Tuesday to explain what $85 billion in sequester cuts per year set would look like.

“Obama warns unemployment rate ‘might tick up again’ if Congress fails to act to avert sequester.” (Steven Dennis)

President Obama Tuesday: “These cuts are not smart, they are not fair…People will lose their jobs.” (David Drucker)

Obama made these remarks surrounded by emergency responders—“the kinds of working Americans whose jobs are on the line if Congressional Republicans fail to compromise on a balanced solution.” (First Read)

“Obama favors replacing the sequester with a combination of spending cuts in automatic programs like Medicare and Medicaid and new tax revenue, raised by scaling back tax breaks that benefit the wealthy and select industries, such as energy firms.” (The Washington Post)

“The $85 billion in cuts, known as the sequester, will start taking effect on March 1 unless Congress acts. The White House says the sequester could derail an economy still suffering from high unemployment and sluggish growth.” (Associated Press)

“Democrats also contend that pressure from business groups wary of financial uncertainty once the sequester kicks in could cut GOP leverage and bring Republicans back to the table.” (The Hill)

So why do Republicans keep pushing the idea that only President Obama’s fingerprints are on the sequester cuts? “It’s an implicit admission that deep spending cuts are bad politically for whichever party owns them. After all, if this were not the case, then Republicans would not need to try to shift the blame to Obama for the cuts that are coming. Yet Republicans, and not Democrats, are the ones who are advocating for replacing the sequester only with deep spending cuts!” (The Plum Line)

“The ‘sequester’ was a brilliant idea and Obama should be proud of it” (Business Insider)

If the sequester hits, don’t expect to hit any of the nation’s parks any time soon. (The Washington Post)

John Flowers

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