Simple idea for GOP: If you don't want to get blamed for the sequester, then get rid of it.

But if you do want to get blamed, create stupid Twitter hash tags like #Obamaquester.

Simple idea for GOP: If you don't want to get blamed for the sequester, then get rid of it.

But if you do want to get blamed, create stupid Twitter hash tags like #Obamaquester.

I can understand the logic of saying President Barack Obama is wrong to warn about the negative consequences of following through with the sequester because it won't be so bad, although I disagree with that view. And I can also understand the logic of saying that the sequester will have bad consequences and that President Obama deserves all the blame for it—though I disagree with that as well.

What I can't understand is the logic behind saying both of those things at the same time, as Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) did in an interview with ABC News:



“It really is sad. The president’s stock in trade is political games, and this is another political game he’s playing,” Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., vice chairman of the House Budget Committee, told ABC News. “It results in greater cynicism on the part of the public, and none of the things he’s saying are true. And people recognize this — it’s 2-and-a-half cents on every dollar.” Price said the president is exaggerating the impact of cuts that amount to less than 2.5 percent of federal spending — an estimated $85 billion this year, out of a federal budget in the neighborhood of $3.5 trillion. Moreover, Price said, the public will wind up blaming the president — notwithstanding polling that suggests the opposite for now. While many Republicans are on record preferring alternatives to the across-the-board cuts, they also argue that the president could mitigate their impact if he so chose. “People know that if bad things occur, it’s because the president wants them to occur,” Price said. “The president is the president. He’s in charge of the government. He has the authority right now to make sure bad things don’t happen.”

Oh, and one other thing for Rep. Price to consider: when it comes to spending money, Congress is in charge—not the president. If he's not aware of that, perhaps he ought to take a look at Article I, Section 8 of a little document called the United States Constitution.