Bob Woodward Threatened by White House

Yep, you read that title correctly. This is what is being reported. Apparently he has become more skeptical of the Obama administration concerning the sequester. This is being perceived as some type of personal threat.

Bob Woodward said this evening on CNN that a "very senior person" at the White House warned him in an email that he would "regret doing this," the same day he has continued to slam President Barack Obama over the looming forced cuts known as the sequester. 

CNN host Wolf Blitzer said that the network invited a White House official to debate Woodward on-air, but the White House declined. 

"It makes me very uncomfortable to have the White House telling reporters, 'You're going to regret doing something that you believe in,'" Woodward said. 

"I think they're confused," Woodward said of the White House's pushback on his reporting.

As most of us should know by now, Obama is extremely thin-skinned so the report is not surprising in the least. Currently the administration has decided to create a crisis over $85 billion dollars in spending cuts. Obama even went so far as to blame "budget concerns" as an reason for not deploying an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf. In addition, he has even made a list of problems that would follow if the cuts are enacted.

Obama said the looming sequester of $85 billion in budget cuts would: 

1. Weaken national defense
2. Layoff some 800,000 civilian Pentagon workers
3. Weaken disaster response
4. Reduce health care
5. Weaken education
6. Cut school lunch programs
7. Delay energy development
8. Reduce medical research
9. Weaken border security
10. Slowdown or stop FBI investigations
11. Delay federal prosecutions
12. Hamper or shut down air traffic control
13. Weaken and slow down airport security
14. Furlough of USDA meat inspectors
15. Hamper the ability of first responders such as police, fire and paramedics to react

Wait a minute. Didn't the sequester come from Obama?



Yes, the White House put this forward but of course "that was the Republicans' fault." Is anyone still believing Obama at this point? Even Bob Woodward, a liberal, is pointing out how absurd these claims are. Surely this should be a wake up call for those of you good liberals out there. Obama is not interested in honest discussion; he is concerned with creating division through confusion.



One has to wonder - just what exactly does The White House plan on doing to Woodward that would cause him regret? Even more absurd is the fact that this person wrote this in an email, giving Woodward evidence of the threat.

Another question - considering our deficit is in the trillions, how can Obama boldly claim that this $85 billion cut will cause our government to go into some sort of tail spin? Does he really think that we are this stupid? Why would he not be interested in supporting cuts of some kind? Surely he recognizes that something has to give? We cannot keep spending ourselves out of debt. Yes, this method does work for short term. Spending  can in fact jump start our economy but everything has a balance and unfortunately the spending that Obama did during the first four years simply has not panned out the way many expected and the way the administration promised.

A great article that details some of the cuts and when they will materialize can be found here.

Another interesting piece of information I found:

OBAMA’S SEQUESTRATION WARNINGS HAVE EVEN INCLUDED CUTS TO AN AGENCY THAT NO LONGER EXISTS 

In A Report Submitted To Congress In September 2012, The Obama Administration Warned Of Sequestration Cuts To The National Drug Intelligence Center, Which Had Closed Its Doors In June 2012. “In compliance with The Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, the OMB sent a detailed report to Congress in September 2012. But there’s a small problem with the report: One of the cuts it warns against would affect an agency that no longer exists–and didn’t exist when the OMB sent its report to congress. The first line item on page 121 of the OMB’s September 2012 report says that under sequestration the National Drug Intelligence Center would lose $2 million of its $20 million budget. While that’s slightly more than 8.2 percent (rounding error or scare tactic?), the bigger problem is that the National Drug Intelligence Center shuttered its doors on June 15, 2012–three months before the OMB issued its report to Congress.” (Mike Riggs, “White House Report Claims Sequestration Will Affect Federal Department That No Longer Exists,” Reason’s Hit And Run, 2/25/13)

Let's agree that the cuts will have an impact but as to how much of an impact they will have obviously is up for debate. Even if problems arise, it doesn't negate the fact that not doing anything will bring about even more problems later on. Isn't it time for cuts?

Here is a balanced FAQ concerning the sequester.