President Obama’s selective memory was on display during Tuesday night’s foreign policy debate as he argued that defense sequestration is no longer on the table.
“The sequester is not something I’ve proposed,” Obama said. “It is something Congress has proposed. It will not happen.”
A concern since the summer, the $500 billion sequestration is part of the Budget Control Act and this drastic cut is meant to temper out of control spending. However, it will actually lay off thousands of workers who fulfill defense contractor roles and it hasn’t been entirely ruled out.
The proposed cuts and subsequent lay offs would go into effect on Jan. 2, 2013. As a courtesy and in accordance with federal law (1988 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act), employers are required to notify employees of an impending layoff at least 60 days in advance. Count back 60 days from Jan. 2 and that’s a few days before the election.
Despite downplaying the sequestration during the debate, the timing of the layoff notices became quite an area of concern for President Obama during the summer. The Obama Administration fought tooth and nail to prevent layoff notifications from being approved for mass distribution.
These efforts included a failure to officially approve the sequestration in a timely manner, and a convenient memo from the Department of Labor arguing the minutiae of the WARN Act.
It is estimated that 108,000 civilians stand to lose their jobs with this proposal. This is obviously more than just letting a few people go; this is Obama forfeiting more than 100,000 votes and he knows it.
The President’s blasé attitude regarding defense sequestration is a bold misrepresentation of a stark reality. Defense sequestration is a real threat—one that stands to hike the unemployment rate and cripple American defense.
*Update: After the debate, White House Senior Advisor David Plouffe somewhat walked back the president’s strong statement on the sequestration not happening, telling reporters, “No one wants it to happen… no one thinks it should happen.”
