Boehner: Sequestration looks likely to happen

(CBS News) WASHINGTON - Detention cells are opening in several states Tuesday night. Hundreds of illegal immigrants awaiting deportation are instead being released because the Obama administration says it can't afford to hold them. It's a response to automatic, across-the-board cuts in federal spending that are due to begin on Friday. These cuts were never intended to happen -- they were designed by both parties to be so harmful that they would force the president and Congress to compromise on a better way. But they haven't.

A short while ago CBS News spoke to Republican House Speaker John Boehner. A transcript of the conversation follows.

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Scott Pelley: You know this place better than anyone. It can't be done before Friday. This is going to happen, isn't it?

John Boehner: The House has done its work. It's time for the president and the Senate Democrats to do their work. They've known for 16 months that this date was coming. That's why the House acted twice last year. But yet Senate Democrats and the president have never passed anything. It's time for them to do their work.

Pelley: But the reality is, that this is going to happen on Friday. The president and the Senate are not going to get a bill passed and to you and have your chamber approve that bill before Friday. I mean, the sequester is going to happen.

Boehner: At this point, I would agree. It looks that way. But hope springs eternal.

[knicman]

You're too easy on Boehner. Congress works for the American public. If you are paying someone to do a job and they do it twice and get it wrong, you don't say, "OK".
You say go back and do it until you get it right--even it it take a dozen tries. Boehner should watch the Karate Kid to see how practice makes perfect. If they don't want to do their job, let's elect someone else to do it.
Millions of Americans are depending on Congress to get it right and to cry, "Well we did it twice and it's time for someone else to do it," is just juvenile. Let's put Boehner on unemployment for a week or two and see how he likes it.

[rtb_tpog]

When I see an interview on CBS Nightly News with Harry Reid during which he is asked (and he answers) why the Senate has NOT passed a budget every year AS REQUIRED BY LAW in over 1,400 days, about 4 years now, THEN I will take CBS news seriously.

[westerly1]

President Obama & speaker Boehner have two things in common: They are both in leadership positions and both have an absence of followers. Both have given up on trying to move an intractable Congress. I do think it is the Democrats turn to offer up rational spending cuts to match tax increases. In this *** for tat the next move would be to close tax loopholes in return of cuts in SS/Medicare. But then I'm a leader without followers also (LOL)

[Cajunfilly]

That's what we have been waiting on for three years now. The House submitted two budgets to the Senate and Senator Reid prevented any action on them.

[Jose_Grecko]

Sequestration is a start. But rather than cutting the under $670 Billion to be spent on defense this year, which goes to paying people who actually work, we should be eliminating the almost $1 Trillion which is being spent to keep people away from work by Health and Human Services and the FDA.

[ajvw]

Too bad it's only 2%; should be 5%

[donllawfang]

My comment is at my level as a disabled vet of 25 years and at 77 years old what realy can I do at my level. The vote to extract these people which are doing nothing to help the general public does not work since we have an electrol vote system which everyone plays on that and not the general public. Also the criminals the people which are not born in the USA or have not become US citizens can vote along with so many other things the constitution has spelled out and is not even abided to or just a few people with some money power push through laws which are not voted upon to me is terrible and has caused unrest in the majority of our US general middle class citizens. Some time in the future the majority will come to applying a force which to remove these people which are just sitting on their ass as the speaker has stated by firing them by the people and for the people which this saying has no meaning today in our government jut money talks not reason.

[RIckwaldorick]

Thanks to congressional Republicans putting the economy in jeopardy during the debt ceiling debacle in the summer of 2011 and again in 2012, a package of automatic across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration is set to go into effect on March 1, 2013. Senate Democrats have proposed a balanced approach to resolve this crisis, urging congressional Republicans to avoid the damaging sequester cuts by accepting a package of more tax revenue coupled with targeted spending cuts. But once again Republicans are threatening the economy by risking massive and harmful spending cuts that will hurt the middle class, damage the economy, kill hundreds of thousands of jobs, and harm the most economically vulnerable among us.

[antoniof123]

This is going to go bad for the Republicans the polls are showing it. You should want to avoid this those of you who think the President will be blamed.

In the past the party that refuses to work with the President has suffered. Look at the recent past 1995 to be exact Clinton was supported by the majority of voters and he is now the most popular living President. His approval ratings are in the 60 percent range the only ones who don't approve of him are the ones who well filled with hate.

Keep going watch how it turns out.

[poppy5735]

And it should happen. Obama wanted it. He got it. He owns it!

[nearl451]

Yep. You got it too. May a few homeless released aliens show up at your door.

[Donnie_G]

This just goes to show you that our president is running out of fear cards to play and even dealing from the bottom of the deck isn't helping his position. Hint, Mr. President; if you really want to put knee buckling fear and terror in American hearts, then all you have to do is FAINT, FALL, SUSTAIN A CONCUSSION and let OLD CARTOON JOE take over. Believe me, that would do it!