WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is arguing that looming government-wide spending cuts could idle military resources like naval aircraft carriers, while Republicans are criticizing the president for taking his arguments outside Washington instead of staying to work out a plan before Friday's deadline.
The president planned to appear today at Virginia's largest industrial employer, Newport News Shipbuilding, which would be affected by cuts to naval spending. Obama warned Monday that if the so-called sequester goes into effect later this week, the company's "workers will sit idle when they should be repairing ships, and a carrier sits idle when it should be deploying to the Persian Gulf."
Obama urged Congress to compromise to avoid the cuts, but there has been no indication the White House and congressional Republicans are actively negotiating a deal. The last known conversation between Obama and GOP leaders was last week, and there have been no in-person meetings between the parties this year.
Obama wants to replace the sequester with a package of targeted cuts and tax increases, while Republican leaders insist the savings should come from reduced spending alone.
Comments
Trying to scare people into voting for whatever they want instead of actually rolling up their sleeves and getting rid of horribly outdated spending policies, contracts, etc.
Of course, they wouldn't want to do too much because their campaign money comes from businesses that prosper from this spending.
Wise people are getting weary at Obama's tactic of governing by crisis, by crying "catastrophe" is looming. He is now like a man on the run. If he stays in Washington to try and solve this thing, even compromise, he is fearful others will absolutely realize he is totally lost, that he doesn't have a clue how to do anything but ask for more money and spend on more government programs. Debt and deficits mean little to him, and he refuses, or just can't, face up to the fact that his crazy unlimited spending days may be over. He cannot give anyone of us a sense of stability, he has no answers except to tax and spend, and his lack of leadership is now fully exposed. His tactic, his solution is to scare the people simply because he needs to hide the fact he has no solutions. We are seeing a man who should be a leader, should be presidential, look like a lost little boy throwing a tantrum because he can't get his way, his one and only way.
ooooooo more scary stories
Let the spending cuts come. It will be interesting to see what we can live without.