Don Gaetz on the Sequester

Republicans in Congress are more concerned about pleasing conservative media than governing. Republicans on the local and state level have to explain to their constituents why their jobs will suddenly disappear. Case in point is Florida Senate President Don Gaetz.

"What's not debatable is that sequestration has created a sense of uncertaintly and instability in sectors of the Florida economy," Gaetz, a Niceville Republican, said during a speech at the Capitol Tiger Bay Club meeting today.

Gaetz noted there are five military bases in the Panhandle region he represents. Directly and indirectly, the defense and aerospace industries employs thousands of people who are already being fuloughed and could face layoffs, he said.

Republicans have talked about massive budget cutting as creating jobs. Balancing budgets and job creation are not one and the same. Britain used drastic austerity measures after the 2008 crash. The results has been a disaster.

What has British achieved through its austerity? Since Cameron took office in spring2010,unemployment hasn’t budged much past 7.9%. Consumer confidence declined further. And gross domestic product, the sum of all goods and services, is below the level when Cameron assumed power.

Bernie Sanders Aganst Grand Bargain

Sen. Bernie Sanders sent out a press release stating he will not vote for the grand bargain that President Barack Obama has proposed for the sequester.

Not a Grand Bargain President Obama stepped up efforts to cut Social Security benefits and lower payments for disabled veterans and their survivors. “It’s a horrendous idea. It is totally absurd because for a start, Social Security has not contributed one penny to the deficit … But it`s not just seniors on Social Security. If you can believe it, this chained CPI [consumer price index] will make devastating cuts for disabled veterans. The men and women who lost arms and legs in Iraq and Afghanistan, the widows of people who were killed in Iraq, it will mean significant cuts for them,” Sanders said Thursday on MSNBC. Obama pushed his “grand bargain” over dinner Wednesday with 12 Republican senators and at lunch Thursday at the White House with House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan “The president historically has not been a strong negotiator,” Sanders said. “The fear is he is going to get a deal that will probably not be strong enough on revenue. That does worry some of us.”

It should be noted that Sen. Sanders hinted he was not going to vote for a health care bill without a public option. Sanders ended up voting for the Affordable Care Act. Republicans are likely to vote against any legislation to end the sequester. Harry Reid is going to ask Sanders to swallow his pride and vote for a compromise.

Rick Scott Runs From Austerity

There was a time when Gov. Rick Scott sent out press releases bashing federal government spending.

FROM GOVERNOR SCOTT

“I applaud the proposal released today to require a federal Balanced Budget Amendment as a part of the debt reduction package in the House of Representatives. It is time for the federal government to begin making the tough choices Americans expect to end irresponsible spending and the crushing national debt.

“I am committed to working with our legislative leaders to ensure that if Congress passes a Federal Balanced Budget Amendment to the United States Constitution, Florida will be the first state to set a Special Session to ratify it. This is exactly the type of reform that Floridians have been asking for from Washington, D.C., and the type of leadership our state and nation need to continue growing jobs and the economy.”

Turns out that Scott is now terrified of the sequester. Rupublicans have been planning the sequester since 2011. The Daily Beast broke the story of The PowerPoint House Speaker presented to fellow Republicans in 2011.

Sets up a new sequestration process to cut spending across-the-board—andensure that anydebt limit increase is met with greater spending cuts—IF Joint Committee fails to achieve at least $1.2T in deficit reduction. If this happens, POTUS mayrequest up to $1.2T for a debt limit increase, and if granted, then across-the-board spending cuts would result that would equal the difference between $1.2T and the deficit reduction enacted as a result of Joint Committee. Across-the-boardspending cuts would applyto FYs 2013-2021, and apply toboth mandatory& discretionary programs. Total reductions would be equally split between defense and non-defense programs. Across-the-board cuts would also apply to Medicare. Other programs, including Social Security, Medicaid, veterans, and civil & military pay, would be exempt. Sequestration process is designed to guarantee that Congress acts on the Joint Committee’s legislation to cut spending.

Austerity policies hurt an economic recovery. Hopefully, President Obama can break the Republicans and pass a infrastructure bill.