During an interview yesterday with the Des Moines Register, President Barack Obama said the sequester is in place and could be part of a solution to reducing the deficit.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, Rick, let me answer you short term and long term. In the short term, the good news is that there’s going to be a forcing mechanism to deal with what is the central ideological argument in Washington right now, and that is: How much government do we have and how do we pay for it?
So when you combine the Bush tax cuts expiring, the sequester in place, the commitment of both myself and my opponent -- at least Governor Romney claims that he wants to reduce the deficit -- but we’re going to be in a position where I believe in the first six months we are going to solve that big piece of business.
This is a stark contrast to Obama’s statement in Monday night’s debate, when he claimed that he did not propose sequestration and that it would not happen.
According to Bob Woodward, Obama was flat out wrong about the origin of sequestration. In his book, Woodward reports that the idea came from former Office of Management Budget director Jack Lew and Legislative Affairs director Rob Nabors.
It is unclear if Obama lied to the American people on Monday, misled the Des Moines Register on Tuesday, or if Obama has amnesia.