Jesus knew very well that “questions” from the elites about paying taxes can be hypocrisy. (Mark 12:15) We have 21st c. hypocrisy too.

The “sequester,” the $85 billion dollar cuts that kick in today, did not happen because of questions about ‘how to cut the debt.’  This is just another step in bringing the failed economic policies of austerity that have been “bleeding” European nations, according to Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Krugman, to the U.S.

N14 protests: 25 million unemployed in Eurozone

Nevertheless, these policies of austerity are  being pushed by today’s “Pharisees and Herodians,” like the hypocrites from the “astoturf” group, the Campaign to Fix the Debt, and its billionaire funders like Pete Peterson. 

Fix the Debt uses issues like the “sequester” to encourage steep cuts to incredibly popular social programs like Medicare and Social Security, and insure that the wealthy pay even less in taxes than they do now.

Got austerity?  Jesus knows it’s hypocrisy by any other name.