Flashback: Obama Bragged About Sequestration

Once upon a time, President Obama’s administration proposed a plan – sequestration – that would automatically cut (mostly) defense spending if a deal to reduce spending could not be met. And during the 2012 presidential campaign, Obama privately bragged about the savings the sequester would bring as part of his “serious” effort to reduce spending. When he was off-the-record with the Des Moines Register, he had absolutely no problem telling the truth: that he was perfectly fine with the sequester taking place.

Fast forward to 2013, and it turns out that massive cuts to defense spending isn’t a very popular move with the public. As such Obama has a response: Raise taxes! Raises taxes! Raise taxes! And if you don’t?

“Emergency responders like the ones who are here today — their ability to help communities respond to and recover from disasters will be degraded. Border Patrol agents will see their hours reduced. FBI agents will be furloughed. Federal prosecutors will have to close cases and let criminals go. Air traffic controllers and airport security will see cutbacks, which means more delays at airports across the country. Thousands of teachers and educators will be laid off. Tens of thousands of parents will have to scramble to find childcare for their kids. Hundreds of thousands of Americans will lose access to primary care and preventive care like flu vaccinations and cancer screenings.” – President Obama< February 2013