We continue our special coverage of "The Great American Sequestration Scandal", with a Question of the Day: “IS THAT your best bad idea?” “That's the best bad idea I've had today!” ... These lines from Argo, "best movie of the year" could have been ripped from transcripts of conversations between President Obama and treasury secretary nominee Jack Lew.
If you believe the solid reputation of Bob Woodward: “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 [Jack Lew, then-budget director during the negotiations] and White House congressional relations chief Rob Nabors — probably the foremost experts on budget issues in the senior ranks of the federal government,”, then once and for all, it must be acknowledged that it was President Obama, who put "the loaded gun" (sequestration) in the hands of the fools (The GOP).
However, before we go off halfcocked, its important to revisit the sequence of events, as they played out over these last 18 months. Because the Debt Ceiling battle was allowed to overheat, which resulted in the nation's historic credit rating downgrade, which preceded the abject failure of the Super Committee, the pressure must have seemed as unprecedented as the circumstances.
The nation was being embarrassed, the business community was getting annoyed and global markets were all a jitter. Meanwhile, the world could do nothing but sit and watch in disbelief. Under these conditions, even the toughest of hides were being pierced by the ever sharpening barbs of critics and exasperated analysts. Risking the thought of America becoming an outright laughingstock, the scramble for a cover, a stall, a scheme of some kind was on.
The administration found itself in a spot where it was desperate for ideas, any ideas. They'd reached the point where even bad ideas appeared better than no ideas at all. And that, is probably as close to how things went down, that can explain how sequestration ended up being floated past "We the People".
It shouldn't take a super mole to peer into the souls of those responsible for performing under what was undoubtedly, the most tense times since Wall Street's calamitous actions of 2008. The President needed something, no matter how outlandish, to keep the rating agencies off the country's ass, restore waning confidence and to change the narrative. Anything short of promising the moon as collateral, just wouldn't do.
So the President and his crew gambled. The administration wagered giving a pack of recalcitrant GOP asses enough rope to hang themselves. Unfortunately, the crazy bastards are using that very same rope to lasso the President. Lamenting the self inflicted damage now, will garner little sympathy.
Going forward, we have another question for this day. Was this sequestration madness a mere temporary flinch under stress, or an exposed flaw of leadership. Yes, this is tough stuff for blindly loyal liberals and progressives to digest, but for those fighting only for "We the People", it is a legitimate question to ponder.