Add liberal host Bill Press to the list of liberals who want the sequester to hurt Americans in order to prove a political point. On Tuesday morning’s Full Court Press, his radio talk show simulcast on Current TV, Press predicted that the FAA furloughs that went into effect Sunday will be just the tip of the big, bad sequester iceberg:
“[Y]ou know what, it’s gonna get worse and worse and worse and worse and at some point, Americans are gonna be down on their knees saying please get rid of this sequester. It’s gotta happen; you cannot do these across-the-board mindless cuts without having impacts like we started to see yesterday.” But Press didn't stop there, insisting that he "hoped" such delays continued and that they become "un-freaking bearable in every way." [MP3 audio here. [1]]
He spewed:
“And you know what, I hope they continue. I mean, I’ve got a flight coming up to Las Vegas and a few other places, one out to the West coast. I don’t want to have two or three hour delays, but I hope it becomes un-freaking bearable in every way and then let them cry uncle.”
It bears repeating that the sequester represents only a tiny fraction of our federal budget and was originally President Obama’s idea. Moreover, as Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) would tell you, there is plenty of wasteful spending to be cut from government. There is really no need to eliminate essential services unless one is trying to prove that spending cuts are always harmful. Which, of course, is what many liberals, including Bill Press, wish to prove.
Below is the entire oration:
BILL PRESS : I think it’s just delicious to watch these people say ah nothing’s gonna happen, nothing’s gonna happen and then when it does say hey, oh no, oh no! But of course they won’t admit they made a big mistake with the sequester and you know what, it’s gonna get worse and worse and worse and worse and at some point Americans are gonna be down on their knees saying please get rid of this sequester. It’s gotta happen; you cannot do these across the board mindless cuts without having impacts like we started to see yesterday. And you know what, I hope they continue. I mean I’ve got a flight coming up to Las Vegas and a few other places, one out to the west coast. I don’t want to have two or three hour delays, but I hope it becomes un-freaking bearable in every way and then let them cry uncle.
-- Paul Bremmer is an intern for the Media Research Center.