FINANCIAL TIMES: ….Many saw a recent move by Republicans on Capitol Hill to extend the US borrowing authority as a sign of greater co-operation with the White House. But conservative lawmakers have recently made it clear that they were simply gearing up for another fight, and are prepared to take a hard line on the $1.2tn in cuts even amid objections from military hawks.
“I think the sequester is going to happen,” said Paul Ryan, the influential Republican congressman on NBC’s “Meet the Press”. While he and other Republicans are expressing regret that defence will take the brunt of the hit, a fact that the Obama administration has warned threatens national security, he and other Republicans say the reduction in spending is paramount…
“While I would prefer to see the specific spending cuts configured differently . . . I’m not convinced that we’ll be able to agree with the president and the Democrats in the Senate on how those shifts should occur,” Pat Toomey, the Republican senator from Pennsylvania, told the FT…
Unlike the fiscal cliff deal – which was widely anticipated – the sequester would cause a big hit to 2013 growth forecasts. According to forecasting firm Macroeconomic Advisers, the sequester would knock 0.7 percentage points off growth in 2013, taking its forecast down from 2.6 to 1.9 per cent.… (more)
