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from The Great Debate:
A sequestration solution for the Pentagon
The sequestration drama in Washington is less severe and intractable than you have heard. A partial solution: Block the across-the-board cut of $42.5 billion in military funds this year — the Pentagon’s portion of $85 billion due March 1 — and spread the savings over several years by tweaking military spending caps already on the books.
Because this option preserves deficit reduction without raising taxes and lets the military drawdown intelligently, a congressional majority might support it.
Pentagon leaders are sounding the alarm — warning about the impending sequester and the additional $500 billion reduction in spending over a decade. Furloughed civilian employees, extended deployments, reduced naval patrols and procurement delays, they say, will leave the military unable to perform its job and deter U.S. enemies.
President Barack Obama and congressional leaders nod gravely — then blame the other party. Democrats suggest replacing sequestration with new taxes and spending cuts, some to the military. Most Republicans talk about replacing sequestration only with spending cuts and prefer reducing the federal workforce, entitlement spending or other domestic programs’ budgets.
from The Great Debate:
Can GOP blame Obama for the sequester?
More than 25 years ago, Representative Jack Kemp told me, “In the past, the left had a thesis: spending, redistribution of wealth and deficits. Republicans were the antithesis: spending is bad.”
He went on to explain, “Ronald Reagan represented a breakthrough for our party. We could talk about lower taxes and more growth. We didn't have to spend all our time preaching austerity and spending cuts. The question now is: Do we take our thesis and move it further, or do we revert to an anti-spending party?”
from The Great Debate:
Key fiscal questions nominees must answer
We can only hope the final presidential debate Monday provides less heat and more light than the previous two. Especially with regard to fiscal matters, the debates have so far not provided the substance and solutions that voters need and deserve to hear.
Our nation's escalating deficits and debt represent the biggest threat to our national security, as I said in early 2007. Admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said much the same in 2010. So the topic of the third debate, foreign policy and national security, needs to include a frank discussion of fiscal issues.
from Tales from the Trail:
Washington Extra – Turkey talks
The good news? Thanksgiving will not be interrupted by eleventh-hour negotiations by the "super committee" to strike a deal to cut the burgeoning deficit. After months of work, the 11 men and one woman called it quits today. Their statement said "it will not be possible to make any bipartisan agreement." No mention of the word on everyone's tongues: failure.
Even in the early days of the super committee, we are learning, hope was in short supply. At one of the early breakfast meetings, members kept saying how hard it would be to reach agreement. South Carolina's Democratic Representative James Clyburn said to his fellow panel members: "Do you want to know what's hard? Desegregating South Carolina in the 1950s. I met my wife in jail."
from Tales from the Trail:
The First Draft: Presidential e-mail
If you just can't get enough of the goings and doings of President Barack Obama, can't wait for the blog posts, Twitter tweets, Washington whispers or even the newspaper and magazine stories about the U.S. chief executive, now there's help. You can sign up for e-mails from the president. He sent his first one Wednesday. It's hardly a window on the inner workings of the White House but it is a new way to communicate.
"My staff and I plan to use these messages as a way to directly communicate about important issues and opportunities, and today I have some encouraging updates about health care reform," wrote in his first message, also posted here. "The Vice President and I just met with leaders from the House of Representatives and received their commitment to pass a comprehensive health care reform bill by July 31."
