The White House has recently published state-based fact sheets on how sequestration will impact each state, including Colorado. The White House undoubtedly released these fact sheets to engender support for his administration as he blamed Congress for proposing the automatic cuts. The only problem – it was actually the White House and President Obama who proposed sequestration, not Congress.
The National Republican Congressional Committee released a commercial this morning highlighting the White House’s role in bringing forth this crisis:
Part of the Oscar-themed commercial’s voice-over states:
“for creating the sequester, the award for worst idea goes to President Barack Obama himself. And for their award-winning roles in Obama’s sequester: John Barrow, Nick Rahall, and other liberal Democrats.”
Again, this idea was introduced and pushed by the White House. Some of the funding slashed by the White House’s sequestration in Colorado, according to the White House, will include education, Department of Defense jobs, victims aid programs, jobs placement programs, childhood vaccines programs, domestic violence assistance, and more.
But, let’s remember, this was Obama’s brainchild. And his own party agrees. Democrat Senator Max Baucus admitted so on camera as seen above.
Even reporter Bob Woodward, who has never been particularly friendly to Republicans (see “Watergate”), has called out the President on his insistence that sequestration came from Congress beginning in October. In an October 2012 Politico article, Woodward refutes the President’s claims:
“What the president said is not correct. He’s mistaken. And it’s refuted by the people who work for him.”
Woodward continues to stand by his statement from October in a Sunday Washington Post opinion piece:
“The president and Lew had this wrong. My extensive reporting for my book “The Price of Politics” shows that the automatic spending cuts were initiated by the White House and were the brainchild of Lew and White House congressional relations chief Rob Nabors — probably the foremost experts on budget issues in the senior ranks of the federal government.
Obama personally approved of the plan for Lew and Nabors to propose the sequester to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). They did so at 2:30 p.m. July 27, 2011, according to interviews with two senior White House aides who were directly involved.”
Instead of viewing the White House’s list of sequestration effects on Colorado’s families as a list of budget cuts, Coloradans should view this as a list of important topics with which the President is willing to play politics. Further, Coloradans should not be fooled by the verbal tap dancing by White House lawyers and staff. This was Obama’s idea, foisted upon Congress, and he should take responsibility for the negative implications that follow. The question is – will the media hold his feet to the fire?