Washington D.C. — Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX-01) released the following statement today concerning President Obama’s press conference on the sequester and funding cuts:

“Every single hardworking American taxpayer had a 2% tax increase on January 1st with the payroll tax increase President Obama wanted. Now, the Obama administration is screaming gloom and doom for basically having the same amount of reduction in available spending money because of the sequester. But, it is incredible that the President is acting so indignant when we know and he stated numerous times that the sequester was his idea. Jay Carney has now acknowledged that. Every report of the President’s speech today should include a transcript of the interview he did with the Des Moines register last October, the day after his Iowa debate:

‘[T]he 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 ... 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. It will probably be messy. It won't be pleasant. But I am absolutely confident that we can get what is the equivalent of the grand bargain. (October 23, 2012, in Des Moines, Iowa)

It is clear by President Obama’s own previous words in different settings that he not only wanted the sequester cuts to go through, he also expected that the Bush tax rates would end and everyone’s taxes would go up. For him to now criticize the very ideas he came up with, he supported, and he originally wanted to occur is grossly inappropriate. The 2% cuts are actually a reduction in the automatically increased spending rather than a real cut and slows the Obama growth in government from 20% to 18%. He refused to sit down with Congress to work an agreement until he finished his expensive nationwide fear tour condemning Congress for not working with him, until the day after the cuts were reality.

Now, his administration has released arrested criminal suspects, is threatening to furlough or cut law enforcement, not protect our border, leave our military in harm’s way without adequate support, cut out vaccinations to children, fire teachers they do not even hire, and now pull FAA personnel from 168 airports –all to punish the country. We have never had an American administration intentionally try to do this much damage to American lives as part of a tantrum demanding more money for government. This is a very serious and sad time for America.”