President Obama on Tuesday traveled to a Navy shipyard in Newport News, Va. to argue allowing $85 billion in spending cuts to be triggered was “not smart” and would inflict a “self-inflicted wound” on the economy.
Obama once again pointed the finger at House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Congressional Republicans for stalling on the sequester, saying they “refuse to compromise even an inch” on closing tax loopholes.
“That’s what’s holding things up right now,” Obama said. “Keep in mind nobody is asking them to raise income tax rates. All we’re asking is to consider closing tax loopholes and deductions that the Speaker in the House John Boehner said he was willing to do just a few months ago.”
"These cuts are wrong,” he told the crowd. “They're not smart. They're not fair. They're a self-inflicted wound that doesn't have to happen.”
Obama spoke just hours after Boehner, in some of his most colorful and pointed remarks about the sequester, called on the Senate to get “off its ass” and pass a bill to prevent the sequester.
Read more on Obama's speech in Newport News.
