"The White House Office of Management
and Budget said in the report to Congress today that it would have to chop $109
billion from government programs in fiscal 2013, split evenly with $54.7
billion coming from defense and $54.7 billion from programs outside defense,
including an $11 billion reduction, or 2 percent, from Medicare." (Roger Runnigen,
"Obama Sequestration Report Warns Of 'Devastating Impact' Of Cuts," Bloomberg, 9/14/12)
Obama's Sequestration Report "Simply Lists The Dollar Amount Of The Cuts But Fails To Address
Their Real-World Impact." "The 394-page report, however, simply lists the dollar
amount of the cuts but fails to address their real-world impact. For instance,
it would cut the number of food inspectors and air traffic controllers on the
job. But when asked on a conference call, a top White House official wouldn't
say whether such cuts would require closing meatpacking plants or shutting down
smaller airports." (Andrew Taylor, "Administration Warns Of
'Destructive' Budget Cuts," The Associated Press,
9/14/12)
Dangerous Cuts To Defense Spending And
Veterans Care Are Mandated By Obama's Sequester
"Total Defense
Function Spending Must Be Reduced By $54.667 Billion." ("OMB Report Pursuant To The Sequestration
Transparency Act Of 2012," Office Of Management And Budget, p.6, 9/14/12)
- Obama's Sequestration Would Cut
Defense Programs By 9.4 Percent And A Number Of Pentagon Accounts By 10
Percent. "The overview: There
would be a 9.4 percent cut to most defense programs - except those
exempted in the sequestration law - and a 10 percent cut to a handful of
other Pentagon accounts that are not subject to annual congressional
appropriations." (Austin Wright And Jonathan Allen, "White House
Releases Sequester Details," Politico,
9/14/12)
- The White House Sequestration
Report Claims That "Sequestration Would Result In A Reduction In
Readiness Of Many Non-Deployed Units." "While the Department of Defense would be able to
shift funds to ensure war fighting and critical military readiness
capabilities were not degraded, sequestration would result in a reduction
in readiness of many non-deployed units, delays in investments in new
equipment and facilities, cutbacks in equipment repairs, declines in
military research and development efforts, and reductions in base services
for military families." ("OMB Report Pursuant To The
Sequestration Transparency Act Of 2012," Office Of Management And
Budget, p. 1, 9/14/12)
Defense Programs Will Be
Cut At A Higher Rate Than Domestic Programs . "The overview: There would be a 9.4 percent cut to most
defense programs - except those exempted in the sequestration law - and a 10
percent cut to a handful of other Pentagon accounts that are not subject to
annual congressional appropriations. Medicare would get hit with a 2 percent
cut, while domestic discretionary programs - such as scientific grants and
Education Department programs - would be subject to 8.2 percent cuts. Most
mandatory domestic programs - those that are funded based on eligibility -
would be slashed by 7.6 percent." (Austin Wright and Jonathan Allen,
"White House Releases Sequester Details," Politico, 9/14/12)
- Obama's Sequestration Would Cut
$5 Million From The Armed Forces Retirement Home. ("OMB Report Pursuant To The Sequestration
Transparency Act Of 2012," Office Of Management And Budget, p. 169,
9/14/12)
- Obama's Sequestration Would Cut
$4 Million From Veterans Employment And Training. ("OMB Report Pursuant To The Sequestration
Transparency Act Of 2012," Office Of Management And Budget, 9/14/12)
- Obama's Sequestration Would Cut
$6.867 Billion From The Defense Department's Operation And Maintenance ,
Army. ("OMB Report Pursuant To
The Sequestration Transparency Act Of 2012," Office Of Management And
Budget, pp. 42, 9/14/12)
- Obama's Sequestration Would Cut
$296 Million From The Defense Department's Joint Improvised Explosive
Device Defeat Fund. ("OMB
Report Pursuant To The Sequestration Transparency Act Of 2012,"
Office Of Management And Budget, pp. 48, 9/14/12)
- Obama's Sequestration Would Cut
$2.010 Billion From The Defense Department's Aircraft Procurement, Air
Force. ("OMB Report Pursuant To
The Sequestration Transparency Act Of 2012," Office Of Management And
Budget, pp. 48, 9/14/12)
- Obama's Sequestration Would Cut
$1.325 Billion From The Defense Department's Afghanistan Security Forces
Fund. ("OMB Report Pursuant To
The Sequestration Transparency Act Of 2012," Office Of Management And
Budget, pp. 43, 9/14/12)
- Obama's Sequestration Would Cut
$4.27 Billion From The Defense Department's Operations And Maintenance,
Air Force. ("OMB Report Pursuant To
The Sequestration Transparency Act Of 2012," Office Of Management And
Budget, pp. 43, 9/14/12)
- Obama's Sequestration Would Cut
$3.879 Billion From The Defense Department's Operation s
And Maintenance, Defense-Wide.
("OMB Report Pursuant To The Sequestration Transparency Act Of
2012," Office Of Management And Budget, pp. 40, 9/14/12)
- Obama's Sequestration Would Cut
$3.269 Billion From The Defense Depar
tment's
Defense Health Program.
("OMB Report Pursuant To The Sequestration Transparency Act Of
2012," Office Of Management And Budget, pp. 41, 9/14/12)
- Obama's Sequestration Would Cut
$4.291 Billion From The Defense Department's Op erations
And Maintenance, Navy.
("OMB Report Pursuant To The Sequestration Transparency Act Of
2012," Office Of Management And Budget, pp. 42, 9/14/12)
- Obama's Sequestration Would Cut
$2.141 Billion From The Defense Department's Shipbuilding And Conversion,
Navy. ("OMB Report Pursuant To
The Sequestration Transparency Act Of 2012," Office Of Management And
Budget, pp. 46, 9/14/12)
As Embassies Overseas Are Being Attacked, Obama Announced
Sequestration Would Cut Millions For Embassy Security
Obama's Sequestration
Would Cut $1.084 Billion From The State Department's Diplomatic And Consular
Program, Including $2 Million For The Protection Of Foreign Missions And
Officials, And $129 Million For Embassy Security, Construction, And
Maintenance. ("OMB Report
Pursuant To The Sequestration Transparency Act Of 2012," Office Of
Management And Budget, pp. 135-136, 9/14/12)
OBAMA PUT SEQUESTRATION IN THE DEBT CEILING DEAL, THEN STOOD ON
THE SIDELINES AND LET THE SUPER COMMITTEE FAIL, TRIGGERING THE CUTS
The Idea For Including A
Trigger In The Debt Ceiling Deal Which Included Defense Cuts Originated From
The White House. "Lew, Nabors,
Sperling and Bruce Reed, Biden's chief of staff, had finally decided to propose
using language from the 1985 Gramm-Rudman-Hollings deficit reduction law as the
model for the trigger. It seemed tough enough to apply to the current
situation. It would require a sequester with half the cuts from defense, and
the other half from domestic programs. There would be no chance the Republicans
would want to pull the trigger and allow the sequester to force massive cuts to
Defense." (Bob Woodward, The Price Of Politics, 2012, p. 339)
- The White House Was Pushing For
Defense Cuts So That They Could Sell Their Plan To The "Rank And
File." "Boehner seemed to agree.
Simply put, the White House and the Democrats were going to be able to
sell a deal to their rank and file because of Defense cuts." (Bob
Woodward, The
Price Of Politics, 2012, p.
204)
- White House: "We Have An
Idea For The Trigger. … Sequestration." "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.' Reid bent down and put his head between his knees, almost
as if he were going to throw up or was having a heart attack. He sat back
up and looked at the ceiling. 'A couple of weeks ago,' he said, 'my staff
said to me that there is one more possible' enforcement mechanism:
sequestration. He said he told them, 'Get the hell out of here. That's
insane. The White House surely will come up with a plan that will save the
day. And you come to me with sequestration?' Well, it could work, Lew and
Nabors explained. What would the impact be? They would design it so that
half the threatened cuts would be from the Defense Department. 'I like
that,' Reid said. 'That's good. It doesn't touch Medicaid or Medicare,
does it?' It actually does touch Medicare, they replied. 'How does it
touch Medicare?' It depends, they said. There's versions with 2 percent
cuts, and there's versions with 4 percent cuts." (Bob Woodward, The Price Of Politics, 2012, pp. 326)
Biden Admitted That
Cutting Defense Spending, Particularly Veterans Programs, Was Politically
Dangerous But Said, "We Should Look At It." "On the national side, including Defense,
the State Department, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs, Lew said, 'We are
beginning a strategic review - a fast strategic review is being initiated. But
it's possible to talk about the numbers without Defense being on the table.'
'Veterans Affairs,' Biden interrupted in some wonderment. The military was
sacred, and it could be political suicide for Democrats to consider cuts for
vets. 'This is a dangerous area,' he acknowledged, 'but we should look at
it.'" (Bob Woodward, The Price Of Politics, 2012, p. 115) Source: RNC Research
