Republican governors voiced frustration with their own party over the weekend for lack of compromise on the sequester. President Obama addressed the nation’s governors Monday and called for Congress to compromise.
Nevertheless with three days left before the across the board spending cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011 go into affect, Congress is on a 10-day vacation.
Governors want action not blame
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert when asked by POLITICO what they think of Congressional Republicans’ strategy on the sequester, both gave the exact same response: “What strategy?”
A Tea Party Governor told Congressional Republicans they should compromise on tax increases rather than let the budget cuts stand. On CBS’ Face the Nation, Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) sent a message to McConnell and Boehner:
“...We don’t like taxes. We don’t like increase in taxes. But we know we have to be pragmatic. We know there has to be some kind of compromise, but dang it, they [Congressional Republicans] need to get the job done. They don’t need to leave the public out their hanging.”
“They need to stop having press conferences and start meeting,” Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell told POLITICO Sunday, referring to both Hill Republicans and Obama. “The time for shows is over. We’ve had 18 months.”
Utah’s Governor Herbert said Boehner needs to do ore than blame. “I think there’s a lack of leadership, period. And there’s enough lack of leadership and blame to go around. The president needs to step up with his proposals. Speaker Boehner needs to come to the table with his proposals,” POLITICO reports.
Republican Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin told reporters on Friday “I think this city manages from one crisis to the next, and that’s part of the problem. They don’t deal with the bigger issue, the bigger long-term implication. It’s always end of the year, then it’s March 1, then it’s the next thing — that’s inherently what their problem is.”
Governor Bobby Jindal, however, gave some specific advice saying Congress could fix the problem by “delaying” Obamacare. He did not advocate repeal just postponement for an indefinite period. He is playing it safe proposing something that won’t happen, and taking both sides of the issue.
Accept for Jindal, these remarks show how isolated Congressional Republicans are. Republicans outside of Washington have moved on after the 2012 election. Republicans in Congress haven’t. They are still running against Barack Obama even though the constitution prevents him from seeking re-election.
Republicans in Congress have no plan for governing.
Going back to the president’s first day in office in 2009, Congressional Republicans had one purpose: Prevent Obama from enacting anything. Make him a one-term president.
Obama won re-election and Republicans were caught flat-footed. Their single purpose no longer exists. They have no strategy, programs, or policies for governing. They only know how to attack Obama and blame him for every ill that ever faced mankind.
Republicans outside Congress know that is a problem.
Republicans in Congress forgot that they passed the sequester regardless of who came up with the idea first. It was a hammer, not a policy. Congress has the only authority under the constitution to do something about it.
The only written plan for fixing the sequester was put out by the president. Every member of Congress received a copy. If they lost their copies, it is posted on the White House website. Republicans have no plan.
Congress comes back to “work” Tuesday-- tanned, rested, and maybe hung over. Will they do anything but blame? We’ll know soon enough.
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