Of Course: OMB Director Blames Sequestration on the Rich Not Paying Their Fair Share

Townhall Staff | August 02, 2012 9:00 AM

Obama’s acting director of the Office of Management and Budget launched a predictable partisan attack during a House Armed Services Committee hearing this week. Jeffrey Zients

blamed the looming defense sequestration on “Republican refusal to have the top two percent pay their fair share.”

“What is holding us up right now is the Republican refusal to have the top two percent [of earners] pay their fair share,” Zients said in response to a question from Rep. Randy Forbes (R., Va.).

“The root cause problem here is the Republican refusal to ask the top two percent to pay their fair share,” he reiterated, much to the surprise of several committee members who slammed Zients for turning a practical hearing aimed at preventing catastrophic defense cuts into a partisan blame game.

Zients’ partisan remarks appeared to shock Rep. Mike Turner (R., Ohio), who chastised the Obama administration for showing a lack of seriousness about a series of cuts that will shrink America’s military and imperil the country’s national security.

There is so much wrong with Mr. Zients’ statements that it is difficult to narrow down my criticisms. I’ll start by pointing out that his boss signed into law the very defense sequestration that Jeffrey Zients is trying to prevent. There is no getting around that. Next, I feel obligated to point out that Obama’s soak-the-rich policy would not cover the defense sequestration, although it would cost an estimated