MORNING MESSAGE: The Truth and Consequences of Sequestration
OurFuture.org's Terrance Heath: "It’s hard for anyone except the most committed conservative conspiracy theorist to think that the Obama administration actually wants the sequestration cuts to happen. Sequestration, as originally conceived, was never intended to take effect ... Many House Republicans are on record as wanting it to happen. Even Republican leadership and high profile members, like Paul Ryan, have publicly claimed to dislike sequester’s cuts while simultaneously embracing them. Ryan has use the same cuts he objected to in the sequester as the 'baseline' for his own budget ... If the sequester happens, it will happen because Republicans want it to happen."
Sequester Votes Today, Deadline Tomorrow
Senate GOP agrees on sequester alternative, setting spending cap then giving Obama power of purse. The Hill: "Some Republicans initially balked at the plan because they thought it gave too much power to President Obama and did not do enough to protect defense programs ... Some Republicans complain that it gives too much authority to Obama. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), the former senior Republican on the Appropriations Committee, said he would 'probably' vote against it for that reason."
Dem alternative offers mix of gradual spending cuts and revenue increases, but . AP: "The replacement measure, which has yet to be distributed publicly, proposes cuts in defense spending and elimination of a program of payments to certain farmers as well as a tax on millionaires as the main elements of an alternative. Yet it also specifies that no defense reductions would take place for 18 months, and officials added that the elimination of the farm program would have virtually no impact on the deficit until a new budget year begins on Oct. 1 ... the Democrats’ approach is the same as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s recommendation, which is to help the recovery gain strength before beginning to make cuts."
Senate to vote on both alternatives today, then go home. AP: "Both the House and the Senate are set to send their members home Thursday afternoon, even as the deadline to avoid the cuts looms the next day. Though bound to fail, the rival votes will allow both sides to claim they tried to address the cuts even as they leave them in place and exit Washington for a long weekend."
Obama warns that sequester is not a "cliff" but a "tumble downward." The Hill quotes: "It's conceivable that in the first week, the first two weeks, the first three weeks, the first month that unless your business is directly related to the Defense Department, unless you live in a town that is directly impacted by a military installation...unless you're a family that now is trying to figure out where to keep your kids during the day because you just lost a Head Start slot, a lot of people may not notice the full impact. But this is going to be a big hit on the economy."
"Will A Government Shutdown Threat Determine The Winner Of The Sequestration Fight?" asks TPM: "Funding for the federal government expires on March 27, and if Congress doesn’t pass legislation to renew that funding, most government services will grind to a halt. ... one option, which has piqued White House interest, according to two Democratic sources, would extend funding for federal agencies at current levels, and yet preserve sequestration, such that the cuts taking effect at the end of the week carry forward, possibly through the spring and summer. That would insulate Republicans from allowing their intransigence over replacing sequestration to escalate into responsibility for a government shutdown ... Reid made clear that even if the parties do reach an agreement to fund the government, it will preserve sequestration so that Republicans continue to face pressure to relent on taxes."
"Sequester Threatens To Push Disabled Government Workers Onto Government Assistance" reports HuffPost.
It's The Republicans' Fault
The Prospect's Jamelle Bouie knocks media for "both sides" frame: "...agreeing with the president—and acknowledging Republican intransigence—violates a key rule for centrist pundits: Both sides are always at fault ... There’s no recognition from any of these pundits that congressional Republicans are autonomous actors who have chosen not to cooperate with the president. Indeed, there’s no recognition of the fact that the president cannot make Congress do anything."
Boehner has to lead, says Slate's Matthew Yglesias: "The president of the United States has many powers at his disposal, but the ability to pull a Jedi mind trick and force congressional opponents to agree to deals they don’t favor isn’t among them ... It is Boehner, not Obama, who must lead and find a way to a solution. It is Boehner, not Obama, who has the ability to move Washington beyond the endless stale debate..."
HuffPost's David Paul argues sequester has driven the GOP to disarray: "Left with no agreement on what to cut, the sequester became the only path forward -- and fiscal conservatism the last principle on which the GOP could make its stand ... Chaos within the Republican Party is not Barack Obama's doing, as John Boehner oddly suggested a few weeks ago. Rather, the last two election cycles have laid bare the untenable contradictions long buried within Republican ranks. With the withering of the old shibboleths, Republicans are struggling to find the common ground upon which they will stand, even as they recognize that it may be years before the Tea Party dominance in the House and right wing control over the presidential nominating process wanes."
Breakfast Sides
Sen. Tom Harkin and Rep. George Miller to introduce $10.10 minimum wage bill, more than President's proposal. The Hill: "The criticism from Harkin and other liberals shows Obama must also worry about his left flank. Harkin, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, will play a key role in the debate because his panel has jurisdiction on the issue, and it could be difficult to bring a bill to the floor without his support."
"Republican group readies immigration blitz" reports Politico: "The American Action Network is poised to launch a major advocacy campaign aimed at winning support for immigration reform on the right – the first significant effort within the Republican coalition to create an atmosphere in which it is safe for GOP lawmakers to support an immigration bill."
