https://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2013/03/03/getting-things-straight/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usTue, 09 Jun 2026 22:03:59 -0400<![CDATA[GREGORY: Back in October, the President staked out some very clear grounds, in a presidential debate against Mitt Romney, here is one: PRESIDENT OBAMA: First of all, the sequester is not something that I proposed. IT is something that congress proposed. It will not happen. The budget that we’re talking about is not reducing our military spending, it is maintaining it. GREGORY: As the White House as acknowledged, that is not accurate. The President did propose it. He didn’t want it to become law, and Republicans supported it, that it was the White House’s idea, he said equivocally, it will not happen. And yet it’s happened. Is there some responsibility he bears? SPERLING: David, Jonathan Chait of New York Magazine gave the following analogy: A mugger comes up to you and says, give me your wallet. You say, I don’t have my wallet, but here is my watch. Well, technically, giving the watch was your idea, but it doesn’t really tell the whole story. We know, everyone knows, that the president wanted an enforcement mechanism that included revenues on the most well-off. The speaker insisted, the Republicans insisted that if this be an enforcement mechanism, that it be on all spending cuts. Because we were forced to do that, it is true we suggested going back to the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings mechanism. GREGORY: That&#8217;s not what he said in that debate. SPERLING: Well, I think that&#8211; DAVID GREGORY: He said, &#8220;I didn&#8217;t propose it.&#8221;]]>Sun, 03 Mar 2013 23:58:44 -0500<![CDATA[Richard Fernandez]]>https://pjmedia.com/richard-fernandez/2013/03/03/getting-things-straight-n192484