Americans will blame GOP for sequester
Posted by Greg Sargent
With the sequester all but certain to hit next week, both parties are laying the groundwork to win the political battle that will unfold once the American people begin to feel the effects of the spending cuts it will inflict. Today John Boehner takes to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to argue that the sequester is all Obama’s fault. Boehner argues that the politics of the sequester favor Republicans:
The president has repeatedly called for even more tax revenue, but the American people don’t support trading spending cuts for higher taxes. They understand that the tax debate is now closed. <...>
So, as the president’s outrage about the sequester grows in coming days, Republicans have a simple response: Mr. President, we agree that your sequester is bad policy. What spending are you willing to cut to replace it?
As a substantive matter, if John Boehner really believes we can achieve substantial deficit reduction with spending cuts alone, then perhaps he should go ahead and name the specific spending cuts Republicans would support that would accomplish this. That aside, I continue to be perplexed by the apparent belief among Republicans that they will be able to shift the blame for the sequester entirely to Obama. Boehner’s claim that the American people “don’t support trading spending cuts for higher taxes” is highly dishonest: in reality, we’re talking about closing loopholes and deductions enjoyed by the rich and corporations; and the American people oppose bringing down the deficit only through cuts to specific programs. The American people know who stands for a deeply unbalanced approach, and who favors a more judicious balance.
Indeed, majorities of the American people take a dim view of the Congressional GOP’s policy priorities. A recent Post poll found that 55 percent of Americans — including 55 percent of independents and 64 percent of moderates — have an unfavorable view of the policies Congressional Republicans will pursue over the next four years. This is not a political atmosphere in which Republicans can count on escaping blame if and when Washington shenanigans damage the economy. Obama just decisively won an election that turned heavily on public perceptions of which party is really on the side of working Americans, and which is really on the side of the wealthy. Polls have shown majorities see Republicans as the uncompromising party in Washington. So the public is likely to be inclined to blame them — at least in part — for the continued standoff, without paying close attention to the details. Put simply, Republicans have more to lose politically than the reelected Obama does.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/02/20/the-morning-plum-americans-will-blame-gop-for-sequester/
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more. Whatever tax dollars collected from New York citizens should go to New York. You know where all the revenue is. It is in the most populous states. The most populous red state is Texas. And if you want to break it down further, most of the revenues come from urban areas. Shut down every military base in the red states and let them find their own industry. Maybe the cities within these states should also appoint their own governments like West Virginia did during the Civil War. And anybody living in the rural areas should be restricted from getting employment or doing business in urban areas. For example Phoenix can elect their own state government. Charlotte and Raliegh can elect their own government or merge with Durham and Fayetteville. They can evict Pat McCrory and tell him to move his capital to the swamps or some where that has his constituents. Let them create their own jobs and raise their own revenues. They can sell all their goods to themselves.
