Blaming the Tea Party-Controlled GOP for Sequestration Isn't Partisan, It's Factual

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 14: U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner puckers up when he is asked by a reporter what he had given to his wife for Valentine's Day at the end of a news briefing February 14, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. But the Republicans in Congress are nevertheless willing to take the pocketbooks of the American people hostage, all to try and ransom spending and entitlement cuts that would, in the opinion of many economists, cause further economic damage to all but the wealthiest Americans. President Obama got nearly five million more votes than Mitt Romney, the Democrats picked up two seats in the U.S. Senate in a year in which the Democrats had far more seats to defend, and Democratic House candidates received more votes than Republicans. According to a recent Bloomberg poll, only 35 percent have a positive image of Republicans, and only 44 percent believe the GOP policy of cutting spending and taxes--the thing Republicans say is so important they will blackmail the country to get it -- will create more jobs than the infrastructure investments proposed by the president. And a major driving force behind the Republicans' refusal to compromise--again, against the wishes of a majority of Americans--is a fear of losing their seats to Tea Party challengers.