The manufactured crisis of sequester

Washington Post ^ | 2/23/2013 | George Will

[Servant of the Cross]

Even during this desultory economic recovery, one industry thrives — the manufacture of synthetic hysteria. It is, however, inaccurate to accuse the Hysteric in Chief of crying “Wolf!” about spending cuts under the sequester. He is actually crying “Hamster!”

As in: Batten down the hatches — the sequester will cut $85 billion from this year’s $3.6 trillion budget! Or: Head for the storm cellar — spending will be cut 2.3 percent! Or: Washington chain-saw massacre — we must scrape by on 97.7 percent of current spending! Or: Chaos is coming because the sequester will cut a sum $25 billion larger than was just shoveled out the door (supposedly, but not actually) for victims of Hurricane Sandy! Or: Heaven forfend, the sequester will cut 47 percent as much as was spent on the AIG bailout! Or: Famine, pestilence and locusts will come when the sequester causes federal spending over 10 years to plummet from $46 trillion all the way down to $44.8 trillion! Or: Grass will grow in the streets of America’s cities if the domestic agencies whose budgets have increased 17 percent under President Obama must endure a 5 percent cut!

[Senator_Blutarski]

The GOP could force the democrats off script if they ever went on the offense and threw something at the democrats that they didn’t expect.

Given the nature of the media, if the GOP went on the offensive no one would ever know. The GOP's biggest issue is that the media is fully prepared to demonize the GOP regardless of what they do or say.

Look at the fact that Obama felt completely safe giving a totally false "call wolf" speech about the pending budget cuts. His speech was impossibly over the top and no in the media blinked.

[Count of Monte Fisto]

The GOP could force the democrats off script

The GOP is reading off the same script.