Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said on Monday that President Barack Obama developed sequestration to force Republicans to capitulate to his view for fear of being blamed should the drastic cuts take effect next month.
“The sequester was an Obama idea,” Limbaugh said, according to a transcript of his afternoon show. “But as usual, Obama is acting as though it's a Republican idea that has him imprisoned. It's a dastardly trick that was played on him — and the Republicans are up to their usual tricks 'cause all they want to do is take things away from people. That's all the Republicans ever want to do.”
Limbaugh was responding to comments by Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, in which he explained sequestration “as a budget threat, not as a budget strategy” and backed Obama’s plan of addressing the $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts over 10 years with revenue increases and budget cuts.
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The White House is touting that the GOP “fooled” Obama into sequestration — and that if it goes through, Republicans are to blame.
“Sequestration is the dirty trick that they fooled Obama into agreeing with, and now that we're about to get it, we can't have it,” he said. “Well, the fact of the matter is it was Obama's idea.”
Noting that half the cuts would come from the defense budget: Limbaugh added, “Republicans don't want any defense cuts. Why? Because if you listen to the Democrats in the media, Republicans like the military, 'cause they love being able to launch missiles and kill people.
“The Democrats would be faced with cuts in Medicare. And the Democrats don't like cuts in Medicare because the Democrats like saving people. These are the images that have been put out.”
The White House is employing “the usual scare tactics,” Limbaugh said. “The Democrats are running around saying, ‘You're going to lose your food stamps.’ ‘Kids will be starved.’ ‘We're taking food out of the mouths of babies.’ It's the same thing that they always do. They've been doing it since 1995.
“It's all designed to scare the Republicans into not letting it happen, because they're going to fear that the American people will believe that they want kids to starve. The American people will believe they want old people to not have healthcare. The American people will believe that they don't want anybody having food stamps. The American people will believe all this — and the Republicans usually do cave, in light of such pressure.”
Referring to Durbin’s remarks, Limbaugh added, “The point of this comment was, ‘Come on, sequestration, it was never really meant to be the budget. It was just a budget strategy. It's just out there as a really bad thing that nobody wants — and because nobody wants it, we'll come to a deal first.’
“Sequestration was designed as a budget threat, not a budget strategy. And that's true,” Limbaugh concluded. “It was designed to be so toxic to both Democrats and Republicans that neither of them would let this happen and they would agree to a deal.
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“So, one by one, the Republicans are caving in and throwing away every core belief that they have trying to make sure that nobody dislikes them,” he said. “I have no idea where the sequestration thing is going to end up.
“All I know is, the Democrats are lying through their teeth about spending cuts that haven't happened, debt reduction that hasn't happened, debt fixes that haven't happened.”
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