No Surprise, Congress Slacking Again.
Congress has officially returned to business after a week-long recess, but there is no new sign of serious negotiations to avert sequestration on Friday.
In opening remarks for the week, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) challenged Republican claims that President Obama is responsible for the looming, $85 billion across-the-board spending cuts because the White House proposed the idea during the 2011 debt fight.Reid noted that Democratic and Republican lawmakers voted to approve the proposal.
“We did this together,” Reid said. “This would not have passed but for the overwhelming vote of the Republicans in the House and in the Senate. If those same Republicans would work with Democrats to find a balanced way to reduce the deficit…[Congress could] reverse the austerity sequester today,” he said.