By Susan Duclos
Republicans are coming to understand that Obama, the one trick pony, who consistently attempts to create class warfare with his rhetoric about taxes, taxes and more taxes, are getting the message right and are refusing to back down on their refusal to allow Obama to change the parameters of his own sequestration.
Via The Hill:
Rank-and-file Republicans say they’re not worried their leverage could be cut once the spending cuts are triggered, though they acknowledge Obama is a tough political adversary.
“It’s hard to compete with the bully pulpit that the president has,” acknowledged Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.).
But he and other Republicans see the sequester as the best way possible to actually reduce government spending, which they see as the biggest threat to the nation. They are also ready to note the spending cuts will also affect their own offices.
“The bigger concern is what is good for the country,” said Lamborn, who will have to lay off one of his own staffers because of the sequester.
Republicans are also getting ready to battle by reminding voters it was the White House that conceived of the sequester — the $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions, including lower interest payments, that were included as part of the deal in 2011 to raise the debt ceiling.
The cuts were meant to serve as an incentive for a supercommittee of lawmakers to produce a different deficit-reduction plan. If the supercommitte failed, sequester would happen, and it was designed to impose painful cuts on both defense and non-defense spending so that both Republicans and Democrats would feel political pain.
“It was his [Obama’s] idea — we know that there are elections coming in 2014 — we know that the president and the party will be all out to reclaim the House, but we have acted in good faith, so the president can put all this on Republicans all he wants, but that's just not the fact,” sophomore Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) said in an interview with The Hill.
Conservative groups have also kept pressure on lawmakers, urging them not to waiver from their stance and predicting political advantage from the cuts taking effect.
“If [Republicans] don't shy away from this, if they don't run from their own shadows and they don't [buckle] at the last minute, I think it's a battle they can win,” conservative Heritage Action spokesman Dan Holler said.
This is exactly the right way to handle sequestration, Republicans in the House have passed two bills to replacethe automatic sequestration cuts with far more palatable ones, the Senate and Obama refused both.
Republicans need to beat this drum in every interview, take out television and radio ads, mention it in every statement, highlighting the following four points: 1. Sequestration is the law and it is all about spending cuts. 2. This is Obama's sequestration. 3. This is Obama's refusal to replace it without moving the goal posts his his obvious attempt to raise taxes again.
4. This is Obama's attempt to rewrite history as he was the one who rejected the very same proposals he trying to blame Republicans for. (See- Flashback To December 2012- Obama Refuses Republican Plan to Eliminate Tax Deductions and Loopholes) Every conservative supporter needs to make sure that message gets passed on to their friends, their social media followers, their families. Then rinse and repeat. With this coordinated message, conservatives can easily bypass the media who focuses on Obama's messaging.
Republicans need to hammer these points home to the American public, who overwhelmingly poll in favor of cutting government spending.
