Hank Johnson: “Sequestration is a self- inflicted wound that really does not have to happen. I hate to make my Tea Party friends…”

“Sequestration is a self- inflicted wound that really does not have to happen. I hate to make my Tea Party friends uncomfortable by using a dirty word, but with a little compromise we can get this thing passed. If Tea Party Republicans choose not to compromise, sequestration will arbitrarily take $85 billion out of our economy, lowering our GDP and harming our economic recovery. We shouldn't sacrifice our economic well-being because Republicans are unwilling to vote for one penny in new contributions from their billionaire friends. Republicans continue to stand up for the billionaires. They continue to stand up for the oil companies and all of the other powerful interests out there that are making money hand over foot while middle class Americans are asked to shoulder the burden of the Tea Party obsession of cutting government. Now, there is a big difference, ladies and gentlemen, between cutting government and cutting services that people need and depend on. There is a big difference between having a less costly government versus not having a government to do the things that people need to be done. Let's take, for instance, the Defense budget. Last week, at a constituents' meeting, Senator John McCain said that these sequester cuts could significantly undermine military programs. ``We are facing a situation where our national security is at risk,'' Senator McCain said, adding that furloughs could affect as many as 49,000 military and defense jobs in Arizona.…”