Today’s Times
- President Obama and Congressional leaders failed to stop deep, automatic cuts in federal spending that will immediately shrink the size and ambition of government, Michael D. Shear and Jonathan Weisman report. But both sides said they would not carry the fight into a coming legislative effort to finance the government through Sept. 30, essentially declaring a cease-fire in the budget wars.
- The State Department issued a revised environmental impact statement for the 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline on Friday, adding a new element to the already robust climate change and energy debate around the $7 billion proposed project, John M. Broder reports. The new report concludes that the environmental impact are manageable, which could provide President Obama political cover if he decides to approve the pipeline.
- The $85 billion in spending cuts were intended to be so painful and stupid that they would never come into effect, yet one in eight Americans still gives Congress a thumbs-up, Annie Lowrey discovered.
- Politicians would often issue dire warnings that the Washington Monument, a symbol of American might and freedom, would be closed because of contested budget issues, Andrew Siddons writes. But that tactic is of limited value in the current budget fight because the monument is already closed indefinitely for repairs.
Weekly Addresses
- President Obama used this week’s address to express disappointment in both parties over their inability to compromise on the severe budge! t cuts that took effect on Friday. “At a time when our businesses are finally gaining some traction, hiring new workers, bringing jobs back to America - the last thing Washington should do is to get in their way,†he said. “That’s what these cuts to education, research and defense will do. It’s unnecessary.†He went on to list the ways in which “many middle-class families will have their lives disrupted in a significant way,†saying each layoff or service interruption would begin to cause a ripple effect across the economy.  But there is a “caucus of common sense,†he said, and he plans to continue reaching out to those lawmakers to fix the budget and keep aspects of the government funded.
- Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington delivered the Republican weekly address, saying the automatic budget cuts that went into effect on Friday culd have been avoided if it weren’t for President Obama and Congressional Democrats. She highlighted the efforts made by her party members to elude the so-called sequester with “smarter†slashes to spending and proposals that didn’t survive the Senate. “Our plans cut government waste and make long-term reforms that put us on a path to a balanced budget,†she said. “The president wants a different route. He wants to continue singling Americans out for tax increases, even after he raised taxes just last month to avert the fiscal cliff.†Ms. Rodgers asked the president to “stop using this debate as an excuse to raise taxes,†and instead seize the opportunity to cut spending.
Happenings in Washington
- The National Federation of Democratic Women and members of Delta Sigma Theta will retrace the women’s suffrage march of 1913, beginning at the west front of the Capitol on Sunday morning.
