If you watched "Morning Joe" this AM, you saw Scarborough's explanation of why we're in the sequester mess: basically, because Obama's being mean and partisan and pandering to his base by demanding more taxes on "the rich" while refusing to propose any cuts.
Well, that's a lie.
It [Obama's proposal] includes specific cuts to entitlements, including the adoption of chained CPI for Social Security and $400 billion in various cuts to healthcare spending, along with further cuts to mandatory programs as well as to both defense and domestic discretionary programs. Altogether, it clocks in at $1.1 trillion in spending cuts and $700 billion in revenue increases, mostly gained from limiting tax deductions for high-end earners. The proposal is here. Today, just hours before Brooks wrote his column, the White House put up a blog post specifically saying that this proposal is "still on the table."
So to recap: President Obama does have a proposal. It's extremely specific. It includes cuts to entitlements. And by all measures, its basic 2:1 ratio of spending cuts to tax increases is pretty popular with the public.
Looking forward to Scarborough's on-air correction. It's coming, right?
