Obama And House Democrats Have Yet To Offer Serious Solution To Replace Their Sequester

FYI, a similar version of this release below went out to the following districts: John Garamendi (CA-03), Jim Costa (CA-16), Lois Capps (CA-24), Jim Himes (CT-04), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), Bill Keating (MA-09), Tim Walz (MN-01), Tim Bishop (NY-01), Steve Israel (NY-03), Bill Owens (NY-21), Kurt Schrader (OR-05), and Nick Rahall (WV-03)

Today, President Obama attempted to back away from his sequester by hosting yet another press conference, but Obama and John Barrow have yet to offer a serious solution to replace President Obama’s sequester.

Barrow has repeatedly refused to stop Obama’s sequester, voting against two bills to replace these across-the-board cuts with real solutions to reducing the deficit.

“Canned speeches and press releases won’t save Georgia families from President Obama’s sequester,” said NRCC Communications Director Andrea Bozek. “If John Barrow and President Obama are serious about preventing their sequester, they should have joined with House Republicans in offering responsible legislation to replace it. Instead, they opposed it at the expense of the middle class.”

John Barrow Voted For Sequestration. (S. 365, Vote #690, Passed 269-161, 8/1/11)

Barrow Also Voted Against Legislation Replacing Obama’s Sequester On Two Separate Occasions. (H.R. 5652, Vote #247, Passed 218-199, 5/12/12; H.R. 6684, Vote #644, Passed 215-209, 12/20/12)

President Obama Held A Press Conference Tuesday Blaming Congress For His Sequester. “President Obama sought to sound the alarm on sequester cuts once again and blame Congress for failing to avert them as the clock ticks down on their implementation. Starting next Friday, he said, the cuts will cost hundreds of thousands of jobs and excoriate the economy.” (Donovan Slack, “Obama: Sequester Cuts Will Cost Hundreds Of Thousands Of Jobs,” Politico, 2/19/13)

According To Bob Woodward, Sequestration Was Clearly The White House’s Idea.” “At 2:30 p.m. Lew and Nabors went to the Senate to meet with Reid and his chief of staff, David Krone. ‘We have an idea for the trigger,’ Lew said. ‘What’s the idea?’ Reid asked skeptically. ‘Sequestration.’” (Bob Woodward, The Price Of Politics, 2012, pp. 326)

Politifact Rated President Obama’s Claim That Sequestration Was Congress’ Idea MOSTLY FALSE. (Molly Moorhead, “Barack Obama Says Congress Owns Sequestration Cuts,” Politifact, 10/24/12)

• According To Politifact, Even Though President Obama Blames Congress, “Obama’s Negotiating Team Came Up With [The Sequester].” “Obama said that the sequester — and the defense cuts that would result from it — was not his proposition. ‘It is something that Congress has proposed,’ he said in the debate. But it was Obama’s negotiating team that came up with the idea for defense cuts in 2011…” (Molly Moorhead, “Barack Obama Says Congress Owns Sequestration Cuts,” Politifact, 10/24/12)

The Washington Post Gave Obama “Four Pinocchios” For The Same Claim. (Glenn Kessler, “Obama’s Fanciful Claim That Congress ‘Proposed’ The Sequester,” The Washington Post, 10/26/12)

• “[S]equestration Was A Proposal Advanced And Promoted By The White House” “[Bob] Woodward’s detailed account of meetings during the crisis, clearly based on interviews with key participants and contemporaneous notes, make it clear that sequestration was a proposal advanced and promoted by the White House.”(Glenn Kessler, “Obama’s Fanciful Claim That Congress ‘Proposed’ The Sequester,” The Washington Post, 10/26/12)

The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward: “[P]resident Obama Told A Whopper” (Glenn Kessler, “Obama’s Fanciful Claim That Congress ‘Proposed’ The Sequester,” The Washington Post, 10/26/12)

• Woodward: “What The President Said Is Not Correct…” “‘What the president said is not correct,’ Woodward told POLITICO Tuesday. ‘He’s mistaken. And it’s refuted by the people who work for him.’” (Leigh Munsil, “Bob Woodward: Obama ‘Mistaken’ On Sequester,” Politico, 10/23/12)