Panetta: 'Shameful and irresponsible' if Congress allows sequestration

Politico ^ | 3 Feb 13 | By MACKENZIE WEINGER

[SkyPilot]

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says it would “really be a shameful and irresponsible act” for Congress to allow sequestration to happen.

“We have to prepare for it, because, you know, there are members up on the Capitol Hill that are saying, ‘Oh no, we're gonna stand back and let sequester happen,’” Panetta said in an interview aired Sunday on NBC’s "Meet the Press."

“Let me tell you: If sequester happens, it is gonna badly damage the readiness of the United States of America. We have the most powerful military force on the face of the earth right now.”

If sequester goes into effect, the cuts will directly impact readiness, maintenance and training, he said.

“We are gonna weaken the United States and make it much more difficult for us to respond to the crises in the world."

[SkyPilot]

The GOP really is "The Stupid Party."

Do we have to cut the budget? Yes. What is primarily causing our explosive debt and deficits? Entitlements. Are Entitlements even touched with Sequestraion? No, they are completely exempt. Has Defense already been cut? Yes. Will Sequestration hurt the economy? Very much, perhaps 2 million jobs - GPD just shrank 0.1% due mostly to a 22.1% drop in Defense spending before Sequestration. You can't reform the budget while exempting 2/3rds of the most spending and explosive growth.

Paul Ryan goes on Meet the Press last weeks, smirks, and embraces Sequestration.

Eight months ago, Paul Ryan wrote this article with Rep McKeon:

Military-Crippling Sequester Must Be Stopped

That, ladies and gentlemen, is what is known in politics as a "flip flop."

Because Ryan and Boehner were the worst negotiators since the Native-Americans who sold the Dutch Manhattan island for $14.00, he wants to embrace gutting Defense via Sequestration.

The GOP is dumber than I thought.

1. Obama can now blame all near future economic bad news on Republicans, and he will be at least partially correct.

2. Obama and the Demcocrats will blame future military weakness on Republicans, and they will be at least partially correct.

Hey, Ryan and Boehner, it wasn't Defense that signed off on the Unicorn Hope that some "Super Committee" chaired by John Kerry, Patty Murry, and James Clyburn would reform Entitlements because Congress refused to. Oh, and great formula there Paul - Defense is 17% of the budget but takes 50% of the Sequestration cuts.

This body was such a joke that the Democrats walked out of the "negotiations" and laughed at the Republicans while they did it.

Now, we have a member of the Obama administration going on the Sunday talk ahows making more sense than our recent VP nominee and the head of the House Budget Committe.

Incredible.

[lurk]

Sequestration: What happens when 536 people decide not to nut up.

[ClearCase_guy]

I would make the following points:

1) Sequestration is a done deal. It will happen. Panetta knows this perfectly well.
2) Panetta is telling our enemies: The USA is about to get noticeably weaker; get ready -- now is your chance!
3) Panetta is telling the American people: If you see us refuse to actually use our military, if you see Obama hang back from conflict, if you see us being weak, just blame it all on sequestration; we didn't want it to happen -- really! I swear! -- but unfortunately we just have to be pacifists now and let crazy communists and jihadists run wild without opposition.

[CaptainK]

Sequestration was designed and authored by Obama’s crew. It’s laughable that they are upset about it now and trying to make the Republicans culpable.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/what-is-sequestration-and-whose-idea-was-it-83924/

[Hoodat]

Wasn’t it Obama that demanded sequestration? And wasn’t it Reid who tabled a bill passed by the GOP House that would avoid it?

[SkyPilot]

1) Sequestration is a done deal. It will happen. Panetta knows this perfectly well.

The Dec-Jan "Fiscal Cliff" was properly touted time and time again as devastating to the economy because of the tax hikes and Sequestration. The Republicans completely ignored the Sequestration part of the equation. It was the Democrats who brought it up, and even they were shocked by that. It is current law, yes. So were the tax hikes. Sequestration was only delayed, and now we are 26 days or so and counting until disaster. And the Congress changed those before they were enacted for most Americans. So, Congress should act now as they did for taxes.

2) Panetta is telling our enemies: The USA is about to get noticeably weaker; get ready -- now is your chance!

Then so is the GOP by doing this!

GOP Embraces Sequester Cuts for Budget Leverage

3) Panetta is telling the American people: If you see us refuse to actually use our military, if you see Obama hang back from conflict, if you see us being weak, just blame it all on sequestration; we didn't want it to happen -- really! I swear! -- but unfortunately we just have to be pacifists now and let crazy communists and jihadists run wild without opposition.

And unfortunately the GOP is empowering that argument. They are setting themselves up for getting the blame for military weakness and for the coming economic slowdown (and it's coming). They won't be able to blame ObamaCare or Obama's policies.

Brilliant!

[stevem]

Panetta definitely knows a thing or two about shameful and irresponsible.

[Future Snake Eater]

Interesting look at sequestration.

[SkyPilot]

Well, he is a Democrat. But, as CIA Director it was Panetta who went after, and finally authorized, Bin Laden to be killed. Valerie Jarret had thwarted Panetta at every turn, so he enlisted Hillary and Biden for backup, and took the action on his own.

When it appears that dazed Bath House Barry was hauled out away from his boyfriend's arms from inside the golf course locker room, that's because he was.

[palmer]

The defense budget needs to be slashed along with the rest and this is a start.

[SkyPilot]

Wasn’t it Obama that demanded sequestration? And wasn’t it Reid who tabled a bill passed by the GOP House that would avoid it?

Correct on both counts, but only the partial story to date.

Jack Lew, Obama's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director came up with the idea of Sequestration. Bob Woodward confirmed this. Obama said during the final debate with Romney that it came out of Congress. That was a lie - but it was Congress that signed off - including the GOP.

The Republicans have passed two bills to avert Sequestration, but both had zero chance of passing the Senate. The Republicans were given three chances to turn off Sequestration during the Fiscal Cliff talks, and they turned each one of them down, shocking the Democrats and the White House. In fact, the media reported that the Republicans were walking out of the negotiation room after the tax deal was agreed to and it was the Democrats who had ask them to address it. In short, all their rhetoric during the campaign about diverting this appears to be hot air.

The GOP also said they would alleviate the Defense cuts through the Debt Ceiling negotiations, but they gave up that fight before they even tried, and then the GOP announced after their "retreat" meetings in Virginia (aptly named those), that they had "embraced" the Defense cuts.

[palmer]

2) Panetta is telling our enemies: The USA is about to get noticeably weaker; get ready -- now is your chance!

Laughable. Did our increased defense budget (each year to date) save the ambassador? Does a cut of an extra unneeded engine or similar item make us weaker? There may be a problem down the road but sequestration is not going to make Iran build its nukes any faster, is not going to stop Obama from arming Morsi, etc.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks SkyPilot.

We are gonna weaken the United States and make it much more difficult for us to respond to the crises in the world.

A.K.A. the Obama Doctrine.

[Right Wing Assault]

Well, Leon, I’m sure you can talk your boss into preventing it.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Didn’t the democrats vote for the sequestration bill? Didn’t Obama happily sign it?

Why did the democrats support a bill that is so bad? Now they want republicans to save them from their own bill?

[Eagle Forgotten]

Your post is a great exposition of my ambivalence about Paul Ryan.

At one point I thought he was a real stalwart, and I was very pleasantly surprised when Romney picked him instead of a get-along-to-go-along type.

Too often, though, as you detail, he seems to have “gone native” with the Beltway culture.

[SkyPilot]

Hello Charles,

Yes on all counts, you are correct. Sequestration was an idea that was hatched directly out of the White House. Obama and his OMB Director Jack Lew.

Why did the Republicans vote "Yea" and agree? Because they were deathly afraid of a government shutdown and not getting their Social Security checks and other checks. They thought that would sink them in the 2012 elections, so they agreed to this poison pill. What they really want (and what I want) is Entitlement reform. Putting hope in the "Super Committee" in Rainbow Land to accomplish that was pure fantasy. The Democrats literally walked out and bragged about it to the media.

Dems Storm Out, Sabotage Super Committee

If Paul Ryan and the Republicans could have done anything before agreeing to this "Super Committee" it would have been to not burden Defense with 50% of the cuts. But the GOP (and Paul Ryan) was AWOL on that.

So what do we have today? A horrific situation for the Republicans that they themselves are bragging about.

was correct. A strong national military drives a strong economy, and not just because of Defense employment. A strong military in the world is the backbone of our world economic and political standing. Reagan said this time and time again.

Why defense spending plunged 22% last quarter — and killed GDP

The economy just dropped back in negative growth for the first time since 2009 largely on a 22.1% drop in Defense. This is before Sequestration. Sequestration will gut the military (that word "gut" has been used by every member of the Joint Chiefs - unprecedented rhetoric because it is true this time).

Paul Ryan goes on Meet the Press last weeks and smirks about letting Sequestration "happen."

Leon Panetta goes on the Sunday talk shows yesterday (appearing right along side Gen Dempsey) and says this:

"We've got a plan for that possibility, because there are so many members that are saying, you know, 'We're gonna let it take place,'" Panetta said. "But I have to tell you it is irresponsible for it to happen. I mean, why in God's name would members of Congress, elected by the American people, take a step that would badly damage our national defense, but more importantly undermine the support for our men and women in uniform?"

The GOP is the "stupid party." They are going to cede economic growth and a strong Defense to the Democrats. In fact, because of this issue, they already have.

Incredible. Just incredible.