Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, said
Congress must "get something done" to avert the looming,
across-the-board cuts of the sequester set to start kicking in later
this week.
"I’ve been surprised some of these Republican leaders have said
they don’t want to negotiate — no eleventh hour deals," Warner told CBS' Charlie Rose on "This Morning."
"I don’t think the public realizes how stupid these cuts are.
In many places we will end up cutting things that will cost the taxpayer
more money than the cuts."
Warner is one whose state the White House warned would be disproportionately affected by the cuts.
Jason Furman, the deputy director of the Obama administration's National Economic Council, told reporters on a conference call Sunday that the cuts could compromise some military readiness in Virginia. About 90,000 civilian Department of Defense employees would be furloughed, and maintenance on 11 ships could be canceled, Furman said.
Warner gave three examples of how
he said the cuts would affect his state — "975 separate line items"
would be cut. It would also have to cut some long-term contracts with
ship- and plane-builders, which Warner said would end up costing the
state more. And it would have to cut back some National Institute of
Health grants, meaning the price of meat could rise.
Warner urged Congress to take up the Senate's plan, which was introduced two weeks ago.
It replaces 10 months of sequester cuts with an equal mix of new
revenues and spending cuts, including the implementation of the
so-called "Buffett Rule."
"Limping from one budget crisis to another doesn’t do anything for this economy," Warner said.
Here's a clip of Warner's appearance, courtesy of CBS:
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