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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEllison to GOP rep.: Don’t whine about sequester after forcing it by threat of default
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) on Sunday called out Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) for complaining about drastic cuts in the so-called sequester after Republicans forced it by refusing to raise the debt ceiling and risking default for the first time in the nations history.
This was a presidential suggestion back in 2011 an idea and, yet, the president himself hasnt put out any alternative, Cole said during a panel segment on ABC. Republicans twice in the House have passed legislation to deal with it, once as early as last May, again after the election in December. The Senate has never picked up either of those bills, never offered their own thing.
Now, were three weeks out [from the sequester deadline] and folks are worried, he continued. They ought to be worried. On the other hand, these cuts are going to occur. The real choice here is do you want cuts to be redistributed in other ways, which is the sensible thing to do, or do you want to let this happen?
Ellison, however, pointed out that Republicans couldnt place all the blame on President Barack Obama after they voted for the sequester created by the Budget Control Act of 2011.
Well, Tom, the problem with saying that this is the presidents idea is you voted for the Budget Control Act, I voted against it, Ellison noted. We wouldnt ever have been talking about the Budget Control Act but for your party refused to negotiate on the debt ceiling, something that has been routinely increased as the country needed it.
You used that occasion in 2011 August to basically say, were going to default the countrys obligations or youre going to give us dramatic spending cuts. Thats how we got to the Budget Control Act.
The Minnesota Democrat added that the sequester was projected to increase both unemployment and the deficit.
Its going to do everything opposite to what your party says they want, he told Cole. Its going to create uncertainty, its going to increase the deficit, its going to increase unemployment, its going to be a problem.
We dont have a presidential proposal, Cole opined. I dont think you speak for the president.
Watch this video from ABCs This Week, broadcast Feb. 10, 2013.
Raw Story (http://s.tt/1zBDn)
freshwest
(53,661 posts)surrealAmerican
(11,361 posts)Ellison is absolutely right - and a powerful speaker.