Truly, deeply shameful ~ today's GOP/TPers are nothing but con men and bullies ~ ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

The slow-motion disaster on auto-pilot just keeps getting worse
By Steve Benen - Mon Aug 19, 2013 1:05 PM EDT

Top federal judges in 49 states did something highly unusual last week: they collectively sent a message to Congress. The message wasn't subtle: sequestration budget cuts, they said, were undermining the nation's justice system, jeopardizing public safety, and have the potential to cause a "devastating and long-lasting impact" on the federal courts.

Conditions are arguably worse for scientific and medical researchers dependent on grants, and Sam Stein explained in great detail last week how the sequester has become "a cancerous tumor inside the world of science." Stein talked to one scientist at the University of Virginia who said, simply, "We are in deep s**t."

The New York Times reports today that five months into sequestration, "much of the United States government is grounded." At this year's National Space Symposium in Colorado, for example, representatives from France, Germany, and China made the trip -- but no one from NASA could be there because the agency couldn't afford to send anyone.

And then there are the effects on children.


There's just no reason for the United States to do this to ourselves on purpose. It's a slow-motion disaster on auto-pilot that could be stopped easily, if only Congress would flip a switch and turn the darn thing off.

To reiterate a point from a few weeks ago, let's not forget that sequestration cuts have been condemned by House Republicans and they've been condemned by Senate Republicans. The cuts are hurting the economy, and by some accounts, they're hurting our national security.

So maybe GOP lawmakers will agree to end this madness? According to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), he's open to the possibility, just so long as President Obama cuts Social Security and Medicare.

In other words, we're once again looking at extortion politics at its most ridiculous -- either the White House cuts social-insurance programs to Republicans' satisfaction, or Republicans will continue to embrace a policy that deliberately hurts the country.

And Cantor sees this as responsible because, in his mind, the deficit that's shrinking is actually "growing."

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/08/19/20091575-the-slow-motion-disaster-on-auto-pilot-just-keeps-getting-worse?lite

2016 could be the GOP swan song.

Imagine the scuffle there will be in both houses of Congress over the scraps when the sequester really bites deep, and the reps and senators have to advocate for the interests of their home states and districts, against the interests of their fellow legislators' constituents!

Should be quite entertaining.

And Ted Cruz is all yours.

Free trade works in our favour for once eh, Oskar?