Mitt Romney Blasts President Obama Over Sequester Failure

The sequester has arrived as lawmakers on Capitol Hill failed yesterday to make an 11th hour deal to avoid $85 billion in automatic spending cuts. Blame is already being assigned by the usual suspects in the usual directions, but former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney said in a recent interview that the fault lies with President Obama.

“Well, no one can think that’s been a success for the president. He didn’t think the sequester would happen. It is happening,” Romney said in a Fox News interview.

“But to date, what we’ve seen is the president out campaigning to the American people, doing rallies around the country, flying around the country, and berating Republicans. And blaming and pointing. Now what does that do? That causes the Republicans to retrench and then put up a wall and fight back. It’s a very natural human emotion.”

The Huffington Post reports that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is also criticizing President Obama for his handling of the sequester, accusing him of “campaigning.”

According to The New York Times, House GOP members “cheered” Boehner for not negotiating over the sequester cuts on Friday.

In the interview, Romney was also asked about the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement release of some detainees, as a response to our current fiscal woes.

“I think the president has to act in the interest of the country,” Romney said. “And that means if we need an aircraft carrier in the Gulf — and I believe we do, I thought we needed one more — he should do it.”

Romney also opined that people who are “incarcerated” should be kept in prison.

But overall, the man-who-would-be-president holds President Obama solely responsible for the political climate.

“Look, it’s politics,” he said. “It’s, ‘OK, How do we do something that will get a headline that will make it look like those terrible Republicans aren’t coming together?'”

What do you think? Do you agree with Mitt Romney, or do you think that Republican opposition to the President’s plans has gotten us into this sequester mess?