Did 'sequester' backfire? Obama calls for 'smarter solution.'

President Obama asks Congress to pass limited spending cuts and tax reforms to avoid the March 1 sequester ? and buy time for a long-term deal on deficit reduction. Republicans aren't impressed.

By Linda Feldmann,?Staff writer / February 5, 2013

At an announcement in the White House briefing room Tuesday, President Barack Obama called on Congress to pass a small package of spending cuts and tax reforms that would delay the larger, automatic 'sequester' cuts from going into effect.

Joshua Roberts/Reuters

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President Obama called on Congress to pass limited spending cuts and tax reforms Tuesday, in an effort to buy more time ? ?a few more months? ? to craft a deal on long-term deficit reduction. The hope, he said, is to avoid the economically damaging, across-the-board spending cuts known as the ?sequester,? which is due to take effect March 1.

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Congress is not likely to pass a budget before then, thus the need for a short-term fix, Mr. Obama said. The March 1 deadline for the sequester already represents a delay from its original deadline of Dec. 31, when it was postponed as part of the ?fiscal cliff? deal between the White House and congressional Republicans. With yet more time, Congress can ?replace these cuts with a smarter solution,? Obama said.

?There is no reason that the jobs of thousands of Americans who work in national security or education or clean energy, not to mention the growth of the entire economy, should be put in jeopardy just because folks in Washington couldn't come together to eliminate a few special-interest tax loopholes or government programs that we agree need some reform,? the president said, speaking from the White House briefing room.

Obama added that the proposals he put forward during the fiscal-cliff negotiations late last year are ?still very much on the table.? But the sticking point with Republicans is still there: higher tax revenues. Republican leaders say they?re done with tax hikes, having conceded an increase in the tax rate for the wealthiest Americans from 35 percent to 39.6 percent in the fiscal-cliff deal.

?The deals that I put forward, the balanced approach of spending cuts and entitlement reform and tax reform that I put forward, are still on the table,? Obama said, touting ?sensible reforms? to Medicare and other entitlement programs, as well as savings in health care.

Republican leaders in Congress were not impressed. The White House had put out advance notice of the president?s proposal, and even before Obama spoke, House Speaker John Boehner rejected it.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/wk7f2GOU8-g/Did-sequester-backfire-Obama-calls-for-smarter-solution.

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