Rep. Mark Pocan WRN file photo
Members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation are calling for action to avert the sequester – or at least alleviate the impacts of draconian spending cuts. But the process appears to be inevitable at this point.
Wisconsin’s newest member of Congress has made his first speech on the House floor. Not surprisingly, Madison Democrat Mark Pocan addressed topic ‘A’ in Washington – the looming budget sequester. “The sequester and its irresponsible, indiscriminate, across the board spending cuts is the exact opposite of what we need to be doing right now, to grow our economy,” Pocan said Wednesday. “The biggest threat to our long term economic security is not the deficit, it’s the economy. It’s the lack of jobs. It’s the more than 12 million people who are unemployed in this country.”
AUDIO: Rep. Mark Pocan (5:15)
One of Pocan’s colleagues on the Wisconsin delegation is offering a bill which he says will help to cushion the blow from the sequestration cuts. Republican Representative Reid introduced a bill this week that would allow the heads of federal agencies to determine where to make $85 billion dollars worth of cuts. The current policy spells out where the cuts will be made. Ribble said Congress can act quickly – when motivated. “Let’s face it, around here they have a tendency to move from crisis to crisis. They could move things pretty quickly if they feel the need to.”
On Wednesday, the White House announced that President Barack Obama would meet with congressional leadership of both parties on Friday – the day which is the deadline after which the sequestration cuts are scheduled to go into effect.
WHBY’s Rick Schuh contributed to this report