President Obama is running a new scaremongering campaign to push Republicans into accepting new tax hikes in order to head off the looming March 1 automatic budget cuts that he himself proposed last year. Republicans aren’t budging — so far.

Obama trotted out a familiar staging tactic in his White House speech Thursday, using a group of uniformed firefighters and law enforcement officers as a backdrop and claiming their jobs were at risk. Unlike the “lame stream media,” however, Reuters reported that the backdrop officers “would not necessarily be laid off by the cuts.”

The strategy of the Obama campaign has been clearly set forth: “The administration believes the public will blame job losses on congressional Republicans,” Reuters reported, citing unnamed senior administration officials.

The second prong of the blame-Republicans campaign will be the unions. They plan to stage such photo-ops as “toddlers in strollers and seniors in wheelchairs to underscore the impact the cuts will have on services.” Do you suppose they will revive the disgusting old video showing Granny being pushed off a cliff while the audio blames Republicans?

Obama’s scaremongering didn’t seem to scare House Speaker John Boehner. He said the Republican-controlled House already has passed a plan with “common sense cuts” in spending to stave off sequestration, or the automatic cuts. Said Boehner, “Just last month the president got his higher taxes on the wealthy and he’s already back for more.” Indeed, Republicans last month did agree to tax hikes on wealthy Americans to keep the government from sliding off the “fiscal cliff” consisting of higher taxes and spending cuts.

As for Obama’s proposal to close tax loopholes to raise revenues, Boehner repeated his demand that any revenue from closing loopholes should go toward lowering individual tax rates as part of a comprehensive tax overhaul and not for new spending. He said, “Tax reform is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to boost job creation in America. It should not be squandered to enable more Washington spending. Spending is the problem.” Amen.

Meanwhile, Georgia Democratic Congressman John Barrow asked top congressional leaders to reconvene the super-committee that failed to reach agreement to prevent the automatic cuts. Barrow wrote, “I am hopeful that, having learned more about the dire consequences of the sequester, we have a new sense of urgency to succeed if given the chance. I believe this is the most reasonable course of action and the most likely to be successful.”

His idea was rejected out of hand by Boehner via his press secretary who nailed it: “The Joint Select Committee failed because Washington Democrats refused to accept a balanced approach of spending cuts and additional revenue.”

Now it seems Republicans have dug in their heels. Boehner said he is waiting for the president to show he will actually agree to cuts. He should not budge unless Obama agrees to serious cuts in spending. If not, then let him face the consequences. As Momma used to say when someone messed up, “He’s made his bed. Now let him lie in it.”

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