Let’s face it. Originally, the Republican strategy that finally became a “sequester” bill had more to do with with defeating Barack Obama in 2012 than with solving the national deficit. That strategy backfired, and the race is over.

They could just as easily “unsequester” themselves, if they could stand the embarrassment. That embarrassment can be shared by Congress, who devised it, and the president, who signed it. Then they should review the president’s annual budget, going through it detail by detail to make the cuts they want. That’s the way congresses have done it for centuries. It’s hard work. But that’s what they should be doing, instead of holding a nation hostage to party ideology.

If you like this face-saving plan, then forward it to your congressperson.