The Sequestration Is Here ... Now What?
Welcome to Sequester Day! How will you celebrate and/or mourn? And what is your government doing to put a stop to it?
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The two most powerful men in Washington failed to come up with a deal to stop the sequester in their White House meeting on Friday, and they said as much. But you don't need words to understand the deterioration of their relationship — you can see it in their faces.
Welcome to Sequester Day! How will you celebrate and/or mourn? And what is your government doing to put a stop to it?
Since the sequester hasn't forced a deficit-cutting deal, some pundits, like The Washington Post's editorial page, David Brooks, and most spectacularly Bob Woodward, are putting their faith in mind control magic to get the centrist deal they want.
Because there appears to be no serious effort to stop it before it starts, we have to think about the actual mechanics of the sequester.
Which is worse: raising taxes or ceding your biggest and most important power to someone else? Some Senate Republicans would rather be irrelevant than raise taxes.
Despite his promise today that he's "not interested in playing a blame game," polls suggest that doing just that would be a very effective strategy for President Obama.
We understand it's all very confusing, but if you take a look at the spin and talking points and (occasional) actual analysis, a few themes start to emerge. If you plan on talking about the sequester today, we advise going with one of these strategies.
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