U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga) released a statement on Tuesday accusing President Barack Obama of using American people as “pawns” during the sequester cuts discussions.
Broun’s statement is a response to Tuesday’s Washington Times article, which published an email from the Administration official encouraging a government employee to ensure the sequester budget cuts are as painful as the President warned.
“President Obama should have to personally apologize to every soldier, every teacher, every firefighter, and every single other American he lied to and used as a pawn in his sequester game,” said Broun in a press release. “The Washington Times uncovered hard evidence today that the Administration has flat out been using scare tactics to trick the American people into thinking the sequester needs to be administered in the most detrimental way possible.”
The Washington Times article details how a government official Charles Brown of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services from Raleigh, N.C., asked in an email if he would have any flexibility in how to enact the sequester – related budget cuts so that fish inspections in the region are not affected.
The Washington Times published parts of the response to Brown’s query, which clearly encourages the official to ensure the cuts are as painful as the President has been warning.
“We have gone on record with a notification to Congress and whoever else that ‘APHIS would eliminate assistance to producers in 24 states in managing wildlife damage to the aquaculture industry, unless they provide funding to cover the costs,’” says the email. “So it is our opinion that however you manage that reduction, you need to make sure you are not contradicting what we said the impact would be.”
Broun called the President’s behavior “shameful” suggesting that Obama is simply trying to ensure that the American people don’t see through his tactics, regardless of what the consequences might be.
“As shown in this article, many agencies would be able to achieve savings through modest and reasonable spending cuts,” continued Broun. “Unfortunately, it seems that responsible cuts don’t fit with the Administration’s message of ‘big spending, or else.’
“Republicans didn’t cave into President Obama’s demand for higher taxes, the sequester went into place, and the world didn’t come to an end – so now the President is trying to cover his tracks because he knows he cried wolf.”
Rep. Broun represents Georgia's 10th congressional district.
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