Re “Neither side blinks in budget standoff,” Feb. 24, and “White House turns up the volume,” Feb. 26


From day one of President Obama's first term, the Republicans put into effect a political strategy of cheerleading for the failure of his governing, regardless of the harm their self-serving politics caused the country and the silent majority of its citizens.


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The evidence of this is overwhelming.

It started with the “just say no” obstructionism in the Senate, and it evolved into a mantra of “no compromise” preached by extremist House Republicans who endorsed the blackmailing of the White House into the budget cuts compromise.

If the sequester happens and thousands of jobs are lost, the economic recovery reverses and millions of Americans suffer, then the Republicans will have finally won — and the country will have lost, not the president.

Alan Segal
San Diego

Our government is set to spend $3.5 trillion this year and we are having a “budget crisis” over $85 billion in cuts?

This is yet another manufactured crisis by the president to scare the American people into acquiescing to more spending.

The American people are suffering from crisis fatigue, are tired of being “gamed” and deserve far better leadership.

If we can't figure out how to cut out a small percentage of our bloated federal budget, we are done as a country.

Richard Kern
Rolling Hills Estates

With Republicans in Congress unwilling to meet the president halfway on a deficit reduction compromise, I can offer an approach that might move the GOP.

How about if the president were to direct a disproportionate fraction of spending cuts toward Republican congressional districts?

That way, the proponents of massive federal cutbacks could hear firsthand from their constituents about the wisdom of such cuts.

Bernard Roth
Santa Barbara

The president blames Republicans for the looming sequester. But the idea for the sequester originated from the White House.