Some hope for repeal? Maybe? Yes, maybe …
by digby
I’ve been agitating to just repeal the sequester since the stupid thing took effect. I’ve never been able to see why everyone treated it as if it was written in stone before the pain of the cuts even kicked in. I certainly never got why the Grand Bargain was the only alternative.
Anyway, my wan little wish may have a chance (emphasis on “may”.) Here’s Greg Sargent:
Top House progressives are demanding a sit down meeting with President Obama to underscore their opposition to any Social Security benefits cuts as part of a Grand Bargain — a sign that the left has no intention of allowing any cuts to go forward without a major fight.
[…]
Over 100 House Dems have already signed a letter opposing Chained CPI, and many of the signatories are likely to be on tomorrow’s letter. Meanwhile, Senators Sanders and Tom Harkin introduced a resolution today opposing Chained CPI, signaling strong opposition among liberals in both chambers.All of this comes at an interesting moment. Suddenly, the idea of temporarily turning off the sequester altogether is being seriously talked about by top Democrats. It required the outcry over sequestration-caused flight delays to bring it about, however. With Republicans complaining about the flight delays — and attacking Obama as responsible for them, even as Republicans claim the sequester as a victory for themselves — Harry Reid is now calling the GOP’s bluff by suggesting we simply cancel the sequester temporarily, by counting war savings to reduce the deficit.
The White House endorsed it too, although they did evidently make it quite clear they still want their Grand Bargain eventually. But it’s hard to see how they get it when the pushback from Democrats makes it clear that they’ll make the Republicans stab their own base in the back to get it.
Sargent writes:
Liberals and unions have long been pushing for the simple cancellation of the sequester. And so progressives are hoping that by signaling anew that any Grand Bargain to replace it with entitlement benefits cuts will face extremely stiff headwinds from the left, it will make it that much more likely that Obama and Dem leaders will see suspending the sequester as a better outcome, and will push harder for it.
He says that the GOP will never go along with it, but I’m not sure of that. Politicians of both parties are hearing from their constituents and they know they’ll hear from them even more if they agree to a Grand Bargain. Repealing the sequester is the easy way to do a reboot on this whole mess. They can agree to some sort of “summit” to deal with the (already rapidly shrinking) deficit and Obama can appoint more commissions or whatever they need to do to save face. But the only way out of this that isn’t going to cause tremendous pain for everyone is to kill this hideous mistake and start over. It’s not out of the question that the basic political survival instinct of Washington politicians is finally kicking in.
We live in hope.
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