The Hollywood box office loves sequels, even if the Oscars don’t.
Same could be said for a Congress with an appetite for remaking disaster flicks. With the budget sequester set to open wide this Friday, lawmakers are already turning their attention to the next crisis, a possible government shutdown.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-OH, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, have begun to discuss a continuing resolution that funds government operations through September, leaving the sequester that takes effect Friday in place, but allowing the Department of Defense more flexibility to manage the cuts.
Though the White House has already pledged to shut down any measure that lets the sequester cuts go into effect, the House plans to forge ahead with a vote on the CR next week. - Read more at the Wall Street Journal
REPUBLICAN GOVS TO HOUSE GOP: STEP IT UP! Republican governors in states that stand to be hit the hardest by the sequester cuts are growing impatient with Washington. “They need to stop having press conferences and start meeting,” Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell told POLITICO Sunday, referring to both Hill Republicans and Obama. “The time for shows is over. We’ve had 18 months.” - Read more at Politico
STORM-DEVASTATED STATES BRACE FOR CUTS The Fiscal Times’ Eric Pianin reports, “New York, New Jersey and a handful of other Northeastern states that bore the brunt of Hurricane Sandy would be among the biggest losers if $85 billion of scheduled across-the board cuts in domestic and defense spending are allowed to kick in on Friday. New York for example would lose approximately $42.7 million in funding for primary and secondary education, putting an estimated 590 teacher and aide jobs at risk.” - Read more at The Fiscal Times
POLL: CUT DEFENSE, NOT DOMESTIC PROGRAMS The majority of voters say they support defense over domestic cuts, a new poll conducted by The Hill found. A solid 58 percent of respondents said they prioritized cutting the national debt over maintaining current spending levels to both domestic and military programs, but 49 percent said they would more likely support spending cuts to the Pentagon’s budget, and 69 percent said they would oppose cuts to any social programs. , Voter favorites such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are exempt from the sequester cuts. - Read more at The Hill
