Remember the so-called fiscal cliff we narrowly avoided a few weeks ago? Well, folks, looming before us is yet another possible calamity, and President Obama is working furiously to get his mojo working again.
On March 1, the dreaded sequester, which is tantamount to an economic tsunami, will rip $85 billion in cuts from the economy if Congress fails to act in a timely fashion.
Fresh from Chicago and dealing with the soaring menace of gun violence in the nation, the president began his last ditch appeal to the recalcitrant Republicans, the Party of No, to accept more tax revenues to stave off a catastrophe that could further damage our deplorably high unemployment situation and struggling economy.
To offset the sequester, President Obama is backing a proposal that combines spending cuts and increased tax revenues.
This plan is consistent with the Senate’s proposal that was disclosed last week.
But as expected, the do-nothing Republicans have balked, insisting there will be no new tax revenues. The tax increases they granted at the beginning of the year, in which Congress agreed to raise taxes on family income above $450,000, is about as far as they are willing to go.
It would seem that some sort of compromise is in order, much like the deal cut to avoid the previous fiscal cliff.
If you recall, the sequester has been something in the making for months, and some are irked that the president has waited to the hour of doom to put pressure on his opponents.
Perhaps the only way around the impending crash that could strip thousands of Americans of their jobs, impact our children dependent on child care centers and result in flights delayed and laid-off police officers.
“People will lose their jobs,” the president said. “The unemployment rate might tick up again.” And you know we can’t afford anymore ticks.
Some pundits familiar with the dilemma say that the deadline is not one of immediate consequence, but that depends on how immediate one’s job is to the sequester’s epicenter.
Those employed, for example, at local daycare centers might feel the effects of the tax cuts right away, while more critical workers, FBI agents and first-responders might not get the shock until later this year.
Whatever the case, the most immediate nemesis are those Republicans opposed to any kind of compromise and are content to dig their heels in against tax revenues.
But President Obama has now launched his full-court press with the hope that his effort along with pressure from the public and the business sector will get the stubborn Republicans back to the negotiating table.
“Republicans will come on board,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer. “They have no choice.” Ah, but they do have a choice, and in the past it’s been one that has been absolutely counterproductive and defeating.
As I see it, the Ides of March are upon us and if things unravel, fall apart and thousands more Americans are laid off or furloughed, we know exactly where to point the finger–not that they seem to care.