Sequester in Boehner’s back pocket
by digby
If anyone’s believing the Republican kabuki dance over the sequester, particularly the part where they express dismay over its existence and blame the Democrats, I’d suggest a bit more skepticism. This comment by John Boehner from last month should clear things up:
Mr. Boehner says he has significant Republican support, including GOP defense hawks, on his side for letting the sequester do its work. “I got that in my back pocket,” the speaker says. He is counting on the president’s liberal base putting pressure on him when cherished domestic programs face the sequester’s sharp knife. Republican willingness to support the sequester, Mr. Boehner says, is “as much leverage as we’re going to get.”
Not that this should be any surprise. And, of course, it’s not the liberal base that’s the key constituency in all this, it’s the military. That’s where they have the built-in bipartisan agreement that will allow them to put this ridiculous sequester debacle behind us. They’ll get some more entirely counter-productive austerity, I’m sure. But because it includes such draconian cuts to defense, this can will be kicked to the next phase, which the president hopes will include “entitlement cuts.”
.