Posted on 02/27/2013 11:27:09 AM PST by Hoodat
WASHINGTON — With the clock ticking on the sequester, Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania has crafted an alternative plan that would give President Barack Obama discretion over where to cut $85 billion in annual federal spending.
As of now, the across-the-board cuts set to take effect Friday would slice many domestic and defense programs indiscriminately. Toomey, a Republican, contends that the spending cuts should go forward, but there should be some license over where the cuts are made.
For Democrats, the plan is a non-starter. And some Senate Republicans are reportedly pushing back against Toomey's proposal as well, uncomfortable with ceding congressional spending authority to the White House
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Obama, who took his stop-the-sequester road show to Virginia on Tuesday, rejected the idea outright.
"You don't want to have to choose between, let's see, do I close funding for the disabled kid, or the poor kid? Do I close this Navy shipyard or some other one? When you're doing things in a way that's not smart, you can't gloss over the pain and the impact it's going to have on the economy," Obama said during a speech at a Virginia shipyard. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.mcall.com ...
"You don't want to have to choose between, let's see, do I close funding for the disabled kid, or the poor kid? Do I close this Navy shipyard or some other one?"
This is what executive leaders do every working day. They make decisions that affect lives. Yet instead of a leader, we get someone who can't even commit to a simple legislative vote.
No, Mr. President. You can't vote 'Present' on this one. The ball is in your court. I pray that Boehner doesn't fold so that America can finally learn what an imposter we have living in the White House.
When you let the average moron in the street “elect” senators, this is what you get.
The founders should have been constituted the Senate as the House of Governors. Let them be the ones that make up the other half of congress.
What we ended up with today is a damn mess.
I see Toomey is fitting right in to DC...he's a good candidate to head up the Department of Department of Redundancy. My question is why did Toomey even see the need to do this?
No. He just wants to draw attention to himself and when the Country goes bankrupt, he can point to it and say "he tried".
That is the “Department of Redundancy Department”!
It was a good strategic move: passing mention in the press to show "flexibility" on GOP side and pin responsibility on Queen Bam.
Toomey is doing this to show what a fraud Obama is. The MSM refuses to report that the current sequester allows the President to call the shots. Instead, they make him out to be completely powerless in stopping this egregious Republican act. With Toomey's bill, it forces the President to publicly reject taking control of the situation. It's a political win for the GOP, because it shows the general public that Obama is playing politics instead of leading.
Absolutely... I've believed in this concept as well. Nothing wrong with a dual-hatted nature of the Governor position.
Interesting insight.. I hadn't viewed it from that angle. This would be interesting if it passes, because then the onus is on the POS to actually identify cuts on his own.
Lately his monthly email/press release has been touting his bipartisan working relationship with Casey.
This all started suddenly a few months ago.
Maybe Specter's spectre found a home.
See post #10.
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