Obama again warns Congress on sequester

President Obama again rang the alarm bell on the so-called "sequester" Saturday in his weekly address, calling on Congress to act now to avert the "deep, indiscriminate" spending cuts due to land on March 1.

The president warned of the dire impact on the nation's economy and national security if Congress fails to act.

"If the sequester is allowed to go forward, thousands of Americans who work in fields like national security, education or energy are likely to be laid off," he said. "All our economic progress could be put at risk."

Mr. Obama's remarks echoed a statement issued by the White House Friday that warned the sequester would "threaten thousands of jobs and the economic security of the middle class."

Republicans, for their part, have laid the blame for the sequester squarely at the feet of the White House.

"We know the President's sequester will have consequences," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement this week. "What we don't know is when the President will propose a plan to replace the sequester with smarter spending cuts and reforms."

The president also warned of the sequester's "impact on our military readiness" that could "affect our ability to respond to threats in an unstable part of the world."

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who has repeatedly warned of the sequester's potential impact on national security, called on Congress during testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday to do "whatever you can do" to avoid the sequester.

"I cannot imagine," Panetta said, "that people would stand by and deliberately hurt this country, in terms of our national defense, by letting this take place."

In a speech earlier in the week, Panetta described the cuts as "legislative madness" - a proposal "designed to be so bad...that no one in their right mind would let it happen."

• White House warns sequester will hurt middle class
• In farewell remarks, Panetta rails against Congress, sequestration

But despite all the doomsday rhetoric, "the good news is, there's another option," Mr. Obama said in his address.

He called on Congress to "pass...balanced cuts and close more tax loopholes until they can find a way to replace the sequester with a smarter, longer-term solution."

The president said Republicans "would rather ask more from the vast majority of Americans and put our recovery at risk than close even a single tax loophole that benefits the wealthy."

Meanwhile, delivering the GOP's weekly address, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski sounded off on energy independence.

Murkowski touted a blueprint she unveiled this week that would help "make energy abundant, affordable, clean, diverse, and secure."

"Energy is not a necessary evil. Energy is good," Murkowski said. "We can end our dependence on OPEC oil. We can make renewable energy more competitive ...We can ensure that research, not endless regulation, is the force behind technological innovation."

Her blueprint, Murkowski said, would "provide a prudent alternative to the heavy-handed approaches coming from the administration and the EPA."

[nearl451]

No cares about the sequester.

It is only a start and is about the fairest way to mete out cuts anyway.

[rwhite8449]

The American Democrats have a memory span of about 2 minutes. The last thing to worry about is low level Government employees being put out of work. This country could carry on just fine wit half of the employees being sent home for 6 months or so. Any position centered around National Securety will not be effected.
Getting rid of 50% of the Farm Bureau management and secretaries may be an improvement in performance and cost savings. Getting rid of Foreign aid would help a LOT in reigning in the cost of doing business in Washington. How about calling back some of the money sent to Egypt along with arms and supplies that are marked to help Obama and the Muslim relatives of the Washington elite.
Well, just saying.....

[Disgusted_with_politics]

These people couldn't run a McDonalds. I don't understand why they were chosen to run a country. This Congress is a bunch of individuals that each want their own agenda to be passed and no one else's. Sequester is set to devastate the economy and the military is already cutting spending to meet the "bottom line" that is unknown at this point. Tax loopholes allowing the rich to pay less (percentage wise) than middle class Americans should be done away with. Republicans say that's raising taxes. No, it's putting the same tax burden on these low tax-paying turkeys the rest of us pay. Unemployment should be SHORT term (not extended for years and years). Do away with Government fat. Stop bailing out failing businesses. Stop backing stupid home loans for people that can't afford them. Government has a place and is important but they are too worried about their own agendas to do their jobs. Sad... if working class America did their jobs like these guys do, we'd all be fired. I'm on the side of neither party at this point (neither understands the word "compromise". The amount of disarray they are putting this country in is unacceptable....of course they probably need to go on another vacation. Sequestration should = Sequester (of Congress) until they do their job.

[tsigili]

That's all just more calls for a blank check, to continue with his runaway spending, and devaluation of the dollar, as well as huge additional increases in the debt.

Obama only knows 2 things.......campaigning, and spending.

Responsible behavior, is NOT in his vocabulary.

[chipmonk13]

Obama and Ried wanted sequester and now they have it. It will be good to slash all spending accross the board---The military could shut down many US operations and only keep Afgan ops going. Perhaps that would lead to actual budget discussions.

For a starter cut the state dept to 40 or 50 friendly nation embassies. Negoitate in the UN not at 295 remote sites. Have the UN move to a 3'rd world country wher spending would help the local economy. Get corn out of gasoline and food prices would go down. Build refinerries again and the necessary pipelines. With the advent of rapid electronic communications we can cut the number of representatives in half and save $3,000,000. / rep. Abolish the EPA and the Dept. of Education. Stop the automatic 6-9% annual increases in all spending catagories that tempt politicians to not plan by budgeting. And finally (as only one starting item), introduce term limits to fotce the bums out faster than old age does.

[diddy_back_again]

Mr. President, you have spent us into oblivion and now you're going to warn Congress on sequester. You sound like a dope. You created this mess.

[btrdb]

Congress, Obama created this mess...let him stew in it. Just say, "no".

[btrdb]

Obama threatens the Reps with being responsible for our country going down the toilet? Try reading Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged for a little insight into Obama's world. He's a Socialist pushing this country deeper into an economic abysis. And guess what? The rich,eg., Tiger Woods, Tina Turner, etc..are fleeing CA and the USA to avoid "their fair share". How long do you think the tax paying middle class will carry Obama's burden he's put squarely on our shoulders? Don't hold your breath.

[omnibus66]

It's amazing how many parrots there are here giving homage to what they heard on Fake News. The pugs believe that the sequester will hurt the economy, therefore a good thing because it might hurt Obama. But it will backfire on them the same as the debt ceiling fiasco. Keep shooting yourselves in the foot, pugs. Shows how red you really are.

[bluesdoc70]

The democrat Senate hasn't passed a budget in four years. Obama didn't even submit his by the legal dead line. The sequester would cut a tiny fraction from the deficit. "I will veto any effort to stop these cuts. There will be no easy off ramps." Barack Obama Nov. 2011. Matter of time folks. God help us.