Sequester Brings Major Change: Obama Says He's Not a Dictator

Maybe the sequester has brought positive changes to the government, today at a press conference he called in order to bash the GOP about the sequester President Obama said "I am not a dictator" something that should make most American's breathe a bit easier.  He also indicated that he couldn't do the Jedi mind-meld (I think he meant the Jedi mind-trick as it's the Vulcans famous for the mind-meld).



The plan Obama is pushing to replace the sequester will result in over $1 trillion in new taxes and only $600 billion in cuts. Well it's not really a plan... according to Investors Business Daily

There are no details, for example, about the $200 billion in cuts to defense and domestic discretionary programs, other than that Obama wants them split evenly.

And while he offers $400 billion in "health savings," 30% are lumped in a bucket labeled "other."

Worse, Obama's "balanced" plan actually counts hundreds of billions of new revenues from taxes, fees and rebates as "spending reductions." Examples:

• His plan to "strengthen" unemployment insurance is labeled as a cut, but it's really a $50 billion tax hike.
•  The $35 billion from the federal worker retirement programs involves boosting worker contributions.  
• Most of the $35 billion in Medicare savings comes from charging wealthy seniors more. 
• The $140 billion in "reduced payments to drug companies" are in fact rebates Obama wants drugmakers to pay Uncle Sam for selling drugs to poor seniors. 
• Then there's the $45 billion in spectrum fees and asset sales that Obama lists as spending reductions.

Viewed correctly, it turns out that more than $300 billion — about a third — of Obama's proposed "spending cuts" are actually revenue increases.  

As a result, instead of $1.2 trillion in spending cuts called for by the sequester over the next decade, Obama would add more than $1 trillion in revenues, while cutting outlays only about $600 billion. And much of those aren't real cuts, but tiny reductions in projected spending growth over the next decade. 

I would say that the President is lying but as he is bending the truth about the spending cuts he may be also fudging the "no Jedi" tricks thing and I really don't want to get the Bob Woodward treatment--or worse.