There is good news and bad news on the sequester. The good news is that most Americans believe it will harm the economy. The bad news is they haven't felt it personally, at least not yet.
"A new CBS News poll finds that Americans expect the sequester to hurt the economy by 46-35. But a large majority — 69 percent — say they personally have not been impacted by the sequester cuts, again raising the possibility that their impact may prove too scattered and diffuse to pressure Republicans back to the table to deal."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/05/01/the-morning-plum-a-good-move-on-the-housing-crisis/
It seems that the FAA cuts were the kind of thing that most people would remember. Of course, the Dems caved immediately on that one. While hindsight is 20-20 right now it looks like a mistake. The only thing to hang your hat on is that Democratic Rep. from Maryland Chris Van Hollen seems to understand this.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2013/04/did-faa-sequester-deal-set-precedent.html
On the other hand there are some who are feeling the pain of the sequester personally, like Republican Rep Mike Rogers from Alabama:
"John Mullins, 57, is a lifelong resident of Auburn, Ala., where Rogers held his Tuesday meeting with constituents. For the past 15 years, he's owned Collector's Corner, which sells comic books and other paraphernalia."
"During the town hall, Mullins became frustrated by another attendee's call to impeach President Barack Obama. Mullins said the man also called the president a "terrorist."
If there are a lot more town meetings like this we will see the kind of groundswell that will force the GOP back to the negotiating table.
No question the Dems have to maintain a unite front on sequestration. While a lot of people were rightly critical of the exception made for the FAA-after all, what about all those others hurt by it like Head Start and Meals on Wheels?-the fact is that we don't want to next draft special legislation to shore those things up we need an end to the sequester. Every piecemeal legislation has the effect of making the sequester more entrenched and permanent.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2013/04/faa-il-have-democrats-lost-on.html
There are at least a few Repubicans who admit that Congress' priorities in pushing through the FAA bill are out of whack. North Carolina Rep. Renee Elmers actually proposed legislation in early April to protect cancer patients on Medicare.
" Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) appeared on Wednesday's edition of "All in With Chris Hayes," admitting that the government's priorities on sequestration were not carried out in the right order."
"Ellmers introduced a bill last month aimed at preventing sequestration cuts from harming cancer patients on Medicare. As of April 1, payments under that plan for cancer-related drugs and services suffered a two percent cut. Two days later, The Washington Post detailed how that hit displaced thousands of cancer patients, leaving them long distances or hospital capacity issues."
"A new CBS News poll finds that Americans expect the sequester to hurt the economy by 46-35. But a large majority — 69 percent — say they personally have not been impacted by the sequester cuts, again raising the possibility that their impact may prove too scattered and diffuse to pressure Republicans back to the table to deal."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/05/01/the-morning-plum-a-good-move-on-the-housing-crisis/
It seems that the FAA cuts were the kind of thing that most people would remember. Of course, the Dems caved immediately on that one. While hindsight is 20-20 right now it looks like a mistake. The only thing to hang your hat on is that Democratic Rep. from Maryland Chris Van Hollen seems to understand this.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2013/04/did-faa-sequester-deal-set-precedent.html
On the other hand there are some who are feeling the pain of the sequester personally, like Republican Rep Mike Rogers from Alabama:
"John Mullins, 57, is a lifelong resident of Auburn, Ala., where Rogers held his Tuesday meeting with constituents. For the past 15 years, he's owned Collector's Corner, which sells comic books and other paraphernalia."
"During the town hall, Mullins became frustrated by another attendee's call to impeach President Barack Obama. Mullins said the man also called the president a "terrorist."
"You're a crazy man. You are crazy,” interjected Mullins, the Opelika-Auburn News reported. "The president is not some person trying to take your rights away."
"Mullins then confronted Rogers, saying his primary concern was about sequestration and the effect it would have on his business."
"The House of Representatives has done more to hurt my business than anything government, by anybody -- state, local, federal -- has ever done in that 15 years," he said. "Every time ya'll do something and cut funding, it hurts my customers. They have less money to spend. When they have less money to spend, they spend less with me, which means I have less money. You're ... destroying my business with the sequester."
"Rogers' office did not return a request for comment about the exchange."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/01/mike-rogers-sequestration_n_3195909.htmlIf there are a lot more town meetings like this we will see the kind of groundswell that will force the GOP back to the negotiating table.
No question the Dems have to maintain a unite front on sequestration. While a lot of people were rightly critical of the exception made for the FAA-after all, what about all those others hurt by it like Head Start and Meals on Wheels?-the fact is that we don't want to next draft special legislation to shore those things up we need an end to the sequester. Every piecemeal legislation has the effect of making the sequester more entrenched and permanent.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2013/04/faa-il-have-democrats-lost-on.html
There are at least a few Repubicans who admit that Congress' priorities in pushing through the FAA bill are out of whack. North Carolina Rep. Renee Elmers actually proposed legislation in early April to protect cancer patients on Medicare.
" Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) appeared on Wednesday's edition of "All in With Chris Hayes," admitting that the government's priorities on sequestration were not carried out in the right order."
"Ellmers introduced a bill last month aimed at preventing sequestration cuts from harming cancer patients on Medicare. As of April 1, payments under that plan for cancer-related drugs and services suffered a two percent cut. Two days later, The Washington Post detailed how that hit displaced thousands of cancer patients, leaving them long distances or hospital capacity issues."
"On Wednesday, President Barack Obama signed a bill ending furloughs on air traffic controllers -- a measure that swiftly passed the House and Senate over a two-day span. When asked by Hayes what her reaction was to Congress fixing the FAA's situation first, Ellmers leveled about how she felt."
"I have to admit, I, like so many, were saying, you know, this is a very important issue," Ellmers said. "We don't want people waiting in lines in airports. But at the same time, when we have cancer patients, who are vulnerable and need our help, I really thought that should've been the place that we should've gone first."
At the end of the day, however, she voted for the FAA bill.
"Hayes then pressed Ellmers on her decision to vote for the FAA bill, asking if she had "given away the leverage" to get cancer patients their care. Ellmers thought otherwise, vowing that it "actually helps our cause" because "we've seen that we can actually vote."
I tend to think it gives away leverage but then I think all piecemeal legislation does that even hers-thought I would rather hers than the FAA fix. It's true that we want to mitigate whatever pain we can; still piecemeal measures make the sequester permanent. It's slow burn opposed to fast burn.
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