Politicsobama sequestersequestration obama sequestration

Lisa Murkowski: The Sequester 'Is Pretty Tough Medicine'

Murkowski Slams 'Tough Medicine'
By 

Politics Reporter, The Huffington Post

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Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks during a news conference about the Keystone XL oil pipeline on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) criticized the looming sequester cuts Monday, despite the fact that she voted for the bill that put the cuts into place.

"Nobody likes this meat cleaver approach (the sequester). This is pretty tough medicine,” she said to reporters in Fairbanks, Alaska, according to the Daily News-Miner. President Barack Obama also referred to the sequester as the "meat cleaver approach."

“I don’t think that’s the best proposal, but I also don’t think that a wise proposal is one-for-one, taxes for cuts," Murkowski said. "I think it’s time we put some real serious cuts in place.” According to the News-Miner, she said that she would prefer cuts to government departments and Medicare and Social Security.

“Basically, we go from impasse to crisis and then we punt,” she said. “That’s not governing.”

Murkowski voted for the Budget Control Act of 2011 that mandated sequestration cuts if a congressional "super committee" did not come up with an equivalent of $1.2 trillion in budget cuts, which it did not. She also voted for the deal to resolve the so-called fiscal cliff, which delayed the start of sequestration from January 1 to March 1 of this year.

Murkowski and other Republicans oppose using revenue increases to replace the looming cuts. Senate Democrats have proposed replacing 10 months' worth of cuts with an equal mix of spending cuts and revenue increases, a move which Murkowski opposes.

Obama, who signed the Budget Control Act into law, warned of the impact of the sequester cuts Tuesday and put the blame on Republicans.

"People will lose their jobs," he said. "The unemployment rate might tick up again."

"So far at least, the ideas that the Republicans have proposed ask nothing of the wealthiest Americans or the biggest corporations," Obama said. "So the burden is all on the first responders, or seniors or middle class families."

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President Barack Obama gives his State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday Feb. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, Pool) (credit:AP)
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Vice President Joe Biden applauds as President Barack Obama gives his State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday Feb. 12, 2013. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio sits at right. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, Pool) (credit:AP)
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President Barack Obama gives his State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday Feb. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (credit:AP)
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President Barack Obama, flanked by Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, gestures as he gives his State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday Feb. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, Pool) (credit:AP)
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Carolyn Murray wipes her eye as she holds a photo of her son Justin during President Barack Obama' State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday Feb. 12, 2013. Murray was shot and killed in Evanston, Ill. Nov. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) (credit:AP)
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First lady Michelle Obama is applauded before President Barck Obama's State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday Feb. 12, 2013. Front row, from left are, Sgt. Sheena Adms, Nathaniel Pendleton, Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, Mrs, Obama, Menchu de Luna Sanchez and Jill Biden. Second row, third from left are, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, Deb Carey and Apple CEO Tim Cook Amanda McMillian, Lt. Brian Murphy, (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) (credit:AP)
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President Barack Obama, flanked by Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, gestures as he gives his State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday Feb. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, Pool) (credit:AP)
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President Barack Obama, flanked by Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, gestures as State of the Union address during a jointhe gives his session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday Feb. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, Pool) (credit:AP)
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WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 12: U.S. President Barack Obama (L) waves before giving his State of the Union address as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) look on during a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill on February 12, 2013 in Washington, D.C. Facing a divided Congress, Obama is expected to focus his speech on new initiatives designed to stimulate the U.S. economy. (Photo by Charles Dharapak-Pool/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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First lady Michelle Obama, front row, center, and other, listen as President Barack Obama gives his State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday Feb. 12, 2013. Front row, from left are, Sgt. Sheena Adams, Nathanial Pendleton, Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, Mrs. Obama, Menchu Sanchez, Jill Biden, Kaitlin Roif and Alan Aleman.Second row, from from left are, Deb Carey, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amanda McMillan, Lt. Brian Murphy, Marie Lopez Rogers and Bradley Henning. Third row, third from left are,Tracey Hepner, Haile Thomas, Lee Maxwell, Sgt. Carlos Evand and White House seniot adviser Valerie Jarrett, (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (credit:AP)
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