Posted on 02/10/2013 6:58:52 PM PST by SkyPilot
Sen. John McCain, a top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is calling on President Barack Obama to provide leadership to end the standoff over sequestration and the looming budget cuts for the Pentagon.
"What I would like to see is the president call the [party] leaders over to the White House and say, 'Look, we've got to solve this problem,'" McCain said on "Fox News Sunday." "All he does is go out and make speeches."
Tens of billions of dollars of spending cuts under sequestration will kick in on March 1 unless Obama and Congress act to prevent them. And Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other Pentagon leaders have warned those cuts could seriously harm U.S. national security.
"Republicans and Democrats are responsible for this new 'cliff,' and I'll take responsibility for it for the Republicans. But we've got to avoid it, we've got t\o stop it," McCain added. "The president is the same one that during the campaign said, 'It's not going to happen.' He just dismissed it."
"The world is very dangerous," McCain said. "The men and women in the military deserve better than what we're giving them."
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
McCain basically saying to Obama that he should act like a President who exhibits leadership. Reagan would have solved this self-imposed DC crisis in a matter of days.
Basically, all parties involved (including the Republicans) are holding the military hostage.
Lock them all in a room until they agree to reform entitlements, and let's move on.
Is he senile, clueless or suffering the ill effects of all those years in captivity? Does he think Mr. Obama is a Democrat in the same way that JFK, Harry Truman or Hubert Humphrey was? Does he not understand what type of individual he’s dealing with?
McCain asks Obama to do what he has no capability of doing - employ leadership.
Maybe John forgot that “sequestration” was Obama’s concept all along?
Poll:
Who is the brighest of these two dimwits
Juan McCain
Chuckles Hagel
McCain and Grahamnesty can go screw themselves. They had well over 16 months since this bill was passed to recommend sensible cuts to the military. They cant because every project is someones pet project, so this is the only way anything will get cut.
Forget entitlements. Most voters will support higher taxes before they will changes to entitlements.
Besides, GOP proposals on entitlements don't save a dime for ~ 10 years so changing that is hardly an emergency.. In fact, I don't like the idea of today's congress cutting spending many years in the future, then claiming an accomplishment.
I mean why give themselves an ultimatum if they are just going to ignore it when the time comes.
They said if they didn't have a deal they would cut spending across the board- they don't have a deal so CUT SPENDING ACROSS THE BOARD!
There is not one single department that could not survive a 10% cute- AND I am guessing most of them could do the same work with a 70% cut.(from a lifetime of experience working for diff govt)
Just keep the 3 out of 10 who do actual work and fire the 7 out of 10 who read the paper or back-stab each other or make alliances to get promotions (the government version of the TV show ‘survivor’)
Obama needs a way out now. If Sequestration is implemented he loses. The Republicans need a way out too, because if they let it happen they must accept blame for abandoning the military. It is DC politics at its worst right now.
Just have a press conference saying that on January 1 Obama got his tax increases. Now is time to pay for it with cuts.
Entitlements are the real problem. The military is only 17% of the budget. Moreover, entitlements (as voracious as they are now) are about to explode in the next decade to nightmarish proportions. You just can’t say “forget” them. That is madness.
” they don’t have a deal so CUT SPENDING ACROSS THE BOARD!”
I suspect that was Obama’s plan, he set up this sequestration/mandatory cut plan. All that has to happen is nothing, and it will take place, and the blame will go to the Republicans, which was, I think, the intent of the whole charade.
If only you were correct.
He’s provided leadership to drive us far down the path of progressive tyranny.
Madness is McCain and Grahamnesty claiming that entitlements are fully funded by trust funds (IOUS the gubment gave itself) for 10 years just because those over 55 are the GOPs most loyal voting base..
If this is all about cutting them in 10 years then just wait 10 years to do it.
Meanwhile Defense spending has grown gigantic, Maryland and N Virginia need some budget cuts so they can understand what the rest of the country is going through.
Here in Maryland they are still building new housing developments as if the housing boom never crashed.
Why? This was agreed upon by both sides. Let it happen.
I don’t want to hear the whining now. If this is all Obama let it be so. If this is the stupidity of Republicans, let it be so.
America, hold somebody accountable for something.
He’s “reaching across the aisle” again, no matter how many times he gets bit. i think his brain is fried.
What could go wrong?
This was agreed upon many months ago. Did you hear it?
What do you propose now to break that bill?
No one is going to cut entitlements anytime soon. Its a fact of life. There is no tooth fairy either.
Speaking of the military, you misunderstand its purpose. Its main purpose now is social experimentation : gays, wimmin, illegals (coming in McCain/Grahamnesty amnesty) not any real purpose.
Hell, drones are cheap. They do all the real fighting now. They can survive some cuts, and the military can still be effectively used to destroy this country morally.
This old fossil needs to shut up and go play shuffleboard already.
It was agreed to in 2011, and both sides say it was so lousy that it should not have been implemented. The Democrats would not reform entitlements, so Jack Lew at OMB in the White House dreamed up the "Super Committee" which was supposed to reform entitlements, and the Democrats walked out of the meetings and it all collapsed.
What do you propose now to break that bill?
"Break" the bill? You make it sound like stopping the evisceration of the military is akin to "breaking" the Covenant of Abraham. Well, to "break" this bill there should be modest entitlement reform. Raise the Medicare age to 67 and change the Cost of Living calculation for Social Security. That will take dollars out of my wallet as I am retired military, but it has to done.
The problem with this action is, if Obama injects himself into the decision process he can be blamed,he would have to LEAD,and what we know about Mr.voting PRESENT,that is an anathema to him.
MR.MCCain save your breath,the thing you are good for in Obama’s world is an object for blame,nothing more
Did you see him at the Benghazi and Hagel hearings?
John McCain: The grand inquisitor
He sure ran a terrible campaign against Obama, but most in DC would argue that he probably one of the toughest negotiators around.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7J6dRkJjOI
God bless the hapless Boehner, but if the GOP was smart enough to send McCain to these negotiations, the White House would think he was Kurt Russell in "Tombstone" compared to Boehner.
Our national will is being sapped because of: Entitlements
The "Super Committee" would not act because of: Entitlements
Our debt is exploding because of: Entitlements
Entitlements
The military was cut by $487 Billion (over ten years) starting in 2011. They are trying to absorb that cut (that was real dollar cuts, not baseline budgeting), on top of a Continuing Resolution that has sapped the DoD budget. Sequestration is the final knife that will cut 25% in Operations and Maintenance (at least) and has to be cut between March and September.
my: 78% Of Combat Brigades Will Skip Training Due To Sequester, CR
Navy: Lincoln Refueling Delayed, Will Hurt Carrier Readiness
Obama had actually agreed to a chained CPI COLA reduction for Social Security back in December. It was Harry Reid that who was so angry he actually burned the proposal in his Senate fireplace (true story). The media reported that.
Obama just hinted at the Democrat retreat in Leesburg VA that they might be "angry at him" very soon, but they had to stick together.
I think an Entitlement reform compromise is closer than most people thing. I agree, it is going to be very, very, very difficult. But there is hope. If we don't do anything, we are going to become Greece (or worse) very soon. The problem is not the military budget - it is entitlements.
It is difficult to say the least. I would not change any age qualifier and COLA should be tied to food and transportation costs. (yeah right).
Entitlement reform would start with reduction of numerous fed agencies. NEA, EPA, TSA, etc.
Pipe Dreams I know
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