The nation’s capital is once again mired in gridlock, with automatic cuts slated to take effect on Friday unless a deal is reached to avoid the sequester. NJ Today caught up with Congressman Scott Garrett (R-5), for a an update on the stalemate. In a phone interview, the senior member of the House Budget Committee spoke with Managing Editor Mike Schneider.
As far as Garrett’s concerned, the sequester can absolutely be avoided if only President Obama would get off the campaign trail and return to Washington, D.C. to work with Republicans on a resolution. While it can be done, that doesn’t mean that he’s confident that it will get done.
WATCH VIDEO:
“[President Obama] is still out there campaigning, doing a 100-city tour, telling Americans they should be scared to death, and obviously that doesn’t help to solve the problem.”
Garrett says he voted against the Budget Control Act back in 2011, which led to the looming sequester. There will be an upside and a downside if automatic cuts are triggered, says Garrett, depending on one’s perspective.
“If you’re in a federal program, that may get 2 or 3 or 5 percent cut in spending; you’ll see some slight reductions there,” he said. “The flip side of that, of course, is many of my constituents — the families and small businesses who have been hurt by this bad economy — have already made cuts in their spending … If families can do it and businesses can do it, I think the federal government can do it as well.”
If cuts do take effect, Garrett wouldn’t say long it will take for the country to climb out of that hole.
“Republicans have already passed two bills to try and end this mire, if you will. The president and the Senate have passed zero, they have not given any legislation to try and get out of it. So yes, we’ll be stuck in it until they come up with what the alternative is and then we can go to the table and try to find common ground that we want to try to achieve.”