Page 2 - Dumb Sequester News Today

He knows he has to take it on the chin in terms of public opinion. republicans are taking a lot of shot, 52% in our poll think this sequester is a bad idea. spending cuts, however, are pretty popular. i think he understands he has a couple things going for him. people dont believe across the board that tightening the governments belt is a bad thing. and hes also got the support of his caucus right now. raul who will be on our program on the roundtable on "meet the press" on sunday had been criti...

Continuing resolution is crafted and agreed to. gives agencies the flexibility to make these spending cuts less stupid. >> right. >> the president used the word dumb several times to describe this sequester. >> you could have a little less of a dumb sequester, but youre still going to have -- i dont think youre going to shut down the government. thats not in anybodys interest. but then were going to get to, yes, im sorry to tell you. debt ceiling. >> its like a horror movie. debt ceiling part ei...

Are at this deadlock, gridlock situation. the whole idea of a sequester came out of the debt ceiling debacle where the congress of the united states was being held hostage because facing the downgrading of our american cred rating. the sequester was an idea on how we could come up with reducing our debt and deficit. get everyone to the table where we could have a mix of revenue, a review of mandatory spending and cutting strategically to reduce our debt by $1 trillion. to get everybody to the ta...

Spending. the question is, are we going to cut spending in a smart way or do it in a dumb way that disproportionately hurts the military. and thats what this sequester will do. >> texas republican congressman, thank you for taking the time. >> sure. joining me now from capitol hill moments after an exclusive interview with the speaker of the house, david gregory, moderator of "meet the press." tell us what you heard. >> well, chris, by now everybody knows theres no deal and both the president ...

Very frustrating for a practitioner to hear. >> eduard flynn, thank you for your time. >> thank you. the sequester has been front and center in washington for quite some time now, but there are even bigger budget battles on the horizon with the possibility of a government shut down looming later this month. maryland senator barbara mikulski chairs the appropriation committee and she joins me now. i want to start with a philosophical question which is no one, republicans or democrats, thought t...

Committee and senator and former governor of virginia, mark warner, wanting to give the president flexibility. but, generally, the democrats objected to giving the president the flexibility that i think he ought to have because the american people clearly, bipartisan, understand that their tax dollars are being wasted. they think about 50 cents of every dollar that they send to washington is wasted money. so, there are so many ways with overlapping programs that could be cut. there are so many w...

As you say, that they needed to do more of the outside game, but how the outside game works on this congress given the set up in terms of safe districts and everything else. >> right. do they have an incentive? >> what they talk about is really quite a mystery and i think no one is clear exactly how this ends because this is not a split the difference scenario. this is a two-sides diametically opposed scenario. >> i think thats important. i think people think that this is just all politics. they...

Consequences to the sequester. remember, it was put in place because the thought was that the cuts were so odious that no rational legislator, no rational government official, would allow it to happen, and so they are painful and they will have impact. and it is troubling. and the question is whether when congress returns next week there will be a sense of urgency about it, but i do think, as i said earlier, the problem right now is the public has sort of tuned out to all this because its part o...

Some of the republicans in congress that maybe the sequester is all right. maybe this is another way of shrinking government in a dramatic way. and i think, you know, thats a dangerous idea, but its not uncommon in some quarters on capitol hill. >> no doubt. i want to ask you about immigration reform, because despite what happened to john mccain at a town hall meeting last night in arizona, there is a general feeling that -- i know ive talked to chuck schumer and other democrats who are working ...

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