Wow, Columbian editorial caused my pacemaker to kick in for a half hour.

I simply couldn't believe my eyes.

In Our View: Sen. Murray Is Off-Key

Plea to public about sequestration fails to resonate with taxpayers

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

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In an attempt to strike a chord with taxpayers last week, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., instead hit a sour note with a dog-and-pony show.

Murray, the chair of the Senate Budget Committee, held a press conference Friday in Seattle, attempting to drive home the impact of across-the-board federal government budget reductions that went into effect in March. Automatic spending reductions of $85 billion were enacted, or at least authorized for gradual implementation.

The spending reduction, dictated by the Budget Control Act of 2011 and forced into effect when Congress could not strike a budget deal, is often mislabeled as a budget cut. Rather, the sequester simply reduced the rate of growth in the federal budget.

"I'm hearing people say it isn't real, that it hasn't had an impact," Murray said Friday. Two weeks ago, on the floor of the Senate, she said: "We've been forced to take a hard look at the numbers — and exactly what so many important programs and services will look like next year under cuts forced by sequestration, and it isn't pretty."

To drive home her point, Murray presented several people at Friday's press conference who have been directly impacted by sequestration. And that is where her assertions demonstrated that she is out of touch with the mood of the general public.

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Words fail me.  This editorial is so on point that my pancreas is kick starting.

Truth.  It's been a stranger at the Lazy C.