House Republicans are pushing hard to prevent the defense cuts under sequestration in the wake of Super Congress failure. They're running this ad, because, well, because it's Reagan and it's what they do.
Which makes
things like this, from Super Congress member Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), kind of stupid and dangerous.
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), a member of the failed Congressional supercommittee, said Tuesday that he would be open to negotiating the sequestration process and scaling back some of the massive mandatory budget cuts—even if this puts him squarely at odds with the White House.
Asked on MSNBC whether he would consider redoing the mandatory reductions of $1.2 trillion in spending as some Republicans are reportedly suggesting, as a part of negotiations to extend the payroll tax holiday, the South Carolina Democrat answered, "Yes, I would be."
Republicans have two priorities: protecting defense contractors and protecting the 1 percent (which is actually pretty much the same thing). With that as their bottom line, the bottom line taken by President Obama and even Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of no changes to the sequestration is the better negotiating position for the moment. The price Democrats would have to pay to get the payroll tax cut, if they try to negotiate it within the sequestration framework, would likely be too high.