Maddowblog - "Reality 1, Boehner 0"

[TomCADem]

Once again, just another reminder why Republicans are the reason why Congress is dysfunctional and Boehner is the worse speaker ever.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/02/20/17030297-reality-1-boehner-0?lite

We're down to just nine days before brutal sequestration cuts kick in, undermining the economy, the military, and public needs. At this point, it'd be a mistake to suggest the bipartisan talks have stalled, since there no talks -- Democrats have unveiled a sequester alternative, and Republicans have not; Democrats have said they're open to compromise, and Republican have said they aren't. The probably of avoiding next week's mess is quickly approaching zero.

With this in mind, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has a 900-word op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on the subject, devoted almost entirely to a desperate attempt to avoid blame. In the larger context, it's only mildly annoying that Boehner invests more energy in pointing fingers than working on a solution, but it's far worse that the Speaker peddles blatant falsehoods, lacking enough respect for the public and the political world to be honest with them.
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This is insane. As the president scrambled to pay the GOP's ransom, so Republicans wouldn't follow through on their threats to hurt Americans on purpose, Obama accepted over $1.2 trillion in spending cuts with no revenue. Boehner said that was inadequate. With time running out, the two leaders agreed to a sequester to give policymakers time for further fiscal talks. Obama pushed for a sequester that was 50% revenue, 50% cuts, but Boehner refused that, too. Eventually they agreed to 50% defense cuts, 50% non-defense domestic cuts, and the Speaker agreed to let the hostage live another day.

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To call this "the president's sequester" is idiotic. Republicans demanded a ransom, and at the time, boasted about the sequester they said they put into the law. Boehner and his GOP cohorts voted for all of this, making it the nation's sequester.

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[One of the 99]

1. Yet Bob Woodward goes on FAUX News

and blames the President.

[NewJeffCT]

2. Well, Woodward is a right winger

always has been. So, not surprising that he's against the president.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

3. Their ability to revise/re-write history

never ceases to amaze me. The silver lining is that, with the advent of social media and You Tube, it's getting harder and harder for things like this to escape down the rabbit hole. This is a particularly egregious rewrite of history, however IMHO. The Sequester could only rightly be called "Obama's Sequester" if it came about because of an Executive Order, which, of course, it did not. Bottom line is that Boehner and the rest of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, that voted for it will have to share the consequences of it with President Obama. I have a feeling that we'll pass March 1 without some kind of elimination/replacement of the Sequester but then Congress will get back together and come up with something once it becomes apparent that Republicans won't be able to pin the blame entirely on President Obama.

[UCmeNdc]

4. If this thing does go down make sure the GOP takes all of the blame.....

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) deserves no wiggle room to get out of his lack of leadership.