Senators John Thune and Jeff Sessions, and Representatives Jeb Hensarling and Paul Ryan have a stunning piece of disingenuity posted in Politico today. Entitled "Senate must pass sequestration transparency", one could assume that these leading lights of budget control are urging action upon the Senate.
They are, in fact, fear-mongering about the Defense cuts in the Sequester. And pointedly commenting about alleged non-responsiveness of the White House regarding what could be the eventual implementation of the Sequester.
Follow me over the bump for the money quote.....
Sequestration was intended to be an action-forcing mechanism to get Congress and the president to act to bring the debt under control. It was never the preferred option for achieving more responsible federal spending.
Let's take a moment to reflect on who it was that passed the Sequester.
The sequestration process was passed last August as part of the Budget Control Act.
It was these self-same Senators and Republicans who authorized the Sequester.
These illustrious Senators and Representatives, Republicans to a man, were directly responsible for unleashing the Sequester on the Military. But now, with the clarity of hindsight, they recognize that they took a less than preferred option. And all this, with the timing for achieving a preferred option in the run-up to November, when virtually nothing happens in Washington.
But better yet, the War Hawk Twins, Senators McCain and Graham, are traipsing about the countryside, stirring up anti-Obama and anti-Sequester feeling in communities that rely on Defense spending as a significant part of their local economies.
Personally, I disagree with the Sequester as being too close to Austerity during a time of economic weakness. But it is truly ridiculous, and shameless, for Republican legislators to wring their hands in fear at a beast of their own creation.