More Truths About The Sequester

The FAA says the sequester will cause hundreds of air traffic controllers to be furloughed and cause flights to be delayed and/or cancelled, causing the loss of billions of dollars in GDP.  So how come they’re still hiring community planners at 100K+ salaries?  Makes one wonder who’s telling the truth.

President Obama spent the last two weeks before the sequester touting the catastrophic damage it would do if allowed to proceed.  He blamed it all on Republicans (and still does) even though, if you look at the actual bill that was signed into law, the signature is his.  Basically, his excuse is “I signed it but I didn’t mean it.”  Oops.

When sequester day came and the country didn’t fall to its knees, the President changed his tune and began saying we can work through it.  I still find it interesting that half of Americans believe the sequester is a forced “spending cut” when in reality, because of baseline budgeting, it is merely a slowing of growth.  The sequester merely makes the automatic budget increase a little smaller but the government is still getting more money this year than last year.  So the entire thing being called a “spending cut” is a lie.  But that’s how Obama rolls.

The President wants the average American to feel the sequester cuts to prove his point.  He closed the White House tour program down, claiming budget cuts from the sequester, yet House Speaker John Boehner rearranged funding for the capital building so he could keep their tour program going.  The people at the White House couldn’t figure that out?  And seriously, isn’t there some other tour or something the President can close down besides the house of the people?  Seems a bit childish to me.

It’s sad that the President made such a big deal out of the sequester that he now feels he needs to make his doomsday prediction come true, one way or another.  When you can put your desired tax increases over the well-being of the citizens you’re supposed to be serving (and leading), there’s definitely a problem. 

In the email sent Monday by Charles Brown, an official with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service office in Raleigh, N.C., (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service?  What the heck is that?)  Mr. Brown asked if there was “any latitude” in how to spread the sequester cuts across the region to lessen the impacts on fish inspections.

He said he was discouraged by officials in Washington, who gave him this reply: “We have gone on record with a notification to Congress and whoever else that ‘APHIS would eliminate assistance to producers in 24 states in managing wildlife damage to the aquaculture industry, unless they provide funding to cover the costs.’ So it is our opinion that however you manage that reduction, you need to make sure you are not contradicting what we said the impact would be.”

So this guy in North Carolina was told that whatever he does, don’t make the sequester look less traumatic than the President said it would be.  Why do people continue to listen to the doom and gloom when every day the truth becomes more and more clear?  The sky is not falling.  And neither are the planes in that sky.  Federal employees will be furloughed yet the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt gets $250 million.  I wonder how many federal employees could avoid furlough with that kind of money.

The sequester should not cause furloughs.  It could easily prevent new hiring but since baseline budgeting raises spending levels every year by law, the “cuts” are to the increase made by baseline budgeting and not a cut from last year’s levels.  In fact – the new budget after the sequester will be $15 billion more than 2012.  If they didn’t have to furlough federal employees last year and the government will have $15 billion more money this year – how does that work?  I’m thinking the administration is cutting spending in the areas that will have the greatest public impact for effect.  The President wants people to suffer a bit to turn them against Republicans.  It’s a shame more liberals can’t see what’s actually happening.  They will continue to support the President, refusing to believe that he would actually do what he’s doing.  And that simply gives him more power.