How many times since January, 2013 have you heard the following.
“…his sequester”
“Obama’s sequester”
“The Administration’s sequester”
You have heard it haven’t you? In fact, it seems to be a newly coined RNC/GOP talking point phrase. The problem is, the majority of Americans are informed, avoid Fox News, and are not easily manipulated by slick GOP oratory.
First and foremost, if the Cantor, Boehner and McConnell obstructionist did not attempt to setback the nation via opposition to raising the Deb Ceiling (payments we already owed, not new debt), the word “sequester” may have been held for another day and another GOP induced fight.
The GOP trick of taking a “facilitation” word suggested by the White House, and twisting the word (they also accepted) into talking point mantras, is cheap, bush league (no pun intended) and very much Andrew Breitbartish.
As I have frequently stated, one problem with Right-wing dogma manifest via supporting oratory is the Right has not grown to understand technology. There is a record of everything these days. They also forget there is always a person who either will accept pay to ‘reveal’, or who will ‘do the right thing’ via revelation for other reasons. Ultimately, the GOP fails to realize the days of the Memo-graph machine and eight-track audio tape have long passed into history.
The Daily Beast and Talking Points Memo are reporting a PowerPoint presentation John Boehner used in 2011 Boehner as he apparently worked to secure approval of an agreement with the White House, that, if I am correct, became known as the ‘sequester.”
An excerpt from the TPM piece.
PowerPoint Presentation Shows Boehner Selling The Sequester To His Members In 2011
Although he now blames President Obama for the draconian spending cuts set to take effectMarch 1, just days before it passed House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) characterized the so-called sequester as a way to hold the president accountable.
A PowerPoint presentation that Boehner sent to his conference on July 31, 2011, obtained by The Daily Beast’s John Avlon, cast the sequester and the rest of the deal in favorable terms. The seven-slide PowerPoint was titled “Two-Step Approach To Hold President Obama Accountable” and the final slide made the case for sequestration.
Click for all slides.
Within two days, the Budget Control Act — a debt limit hike, a wave of nearly $1 trillion in spending cuts, and the sequester — was overwhelmingly passed by Congress and signed into law by Obama. “When you look at this final agreement that we came to with the White House, I got 98 percent of what I wanted,” Boehner told CBS News at the time. “I’m pretty happy.”
“Used with permission from the TPM websites, a service of TPM Media LLC.” All rights not expressly granted herein are hereby reserved.
Of course, a member of Boehner’s staff addressed the presentation as having no significance regarding use of the word sequester. As stated above the GOP is ‘word-smithing’ the issue. Their actions may entertain their supporters and contribute to solace in the scope of their obstruction, but the acts are counter-productive and surreptitious.
Now, take a second or two and look at another example of archived information. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll677.xml
Dear Pardu:The only thing the Republicans who answer to Bohner want is to be able to get their mitts freely onto the cash fund of Social Security and to transform Medicare and Medicaid into private profit makers for millionaires and billionaires.That is what they have wanted ever since the days of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, that is the whole basis (besides their antipathy to our President) for their obstructionist ways.They will never rest until their achieve their goals – - unless someone starts an action to outlaw them as a party – - perhaps on the grounds that their obstructionism poses a dire threat to national security – - snark! snark!