Sequester was Obama’s idea:
My extensive reporting for my book “The Price of Politics” shows that the automatic spending cuts were initiated by the White House and were the brainchild of Lew and White House congressional relations chief Rob Nabors — probably the foremost experts on budget issues in the senior ranks of the federal government.
Obama personally approved of the plan for Lew and Nabors to propose the sequester to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). They did so at 2:30 p.m. July 27, 2011, according to interviews with two senior White House aides who were directly involved.
But still he’s upset…and what about this time? That a bipartisan (202 Republicans and 159 Democrats voted for it) bill was passed that stopped the obvious politically motivated furloughs of air traffic controllers:
President Barack Obama says the congressional fix for widespread flight delays is an irresponsible way to govern, but he’s prepared to sign the legislation that lawmakers fast-tracked.
He says the bipartisan bill to end furloughs of air traffic controllers is a “Band-Aid” solution rather than a lasting answer to this year’s $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester.
The cuts have affected all federal agencies, and flight delays last week left thousands of travelers frustrated and furious and Congress feeling pressured to respond.
“Republicans claimed victory when the sequester first took effect, and now they’ve decided it was a bad idea all along,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, aired Saturday.
He singled out the GOP even though the bill passed with overwhelming Democratic support in both the House and Senate.
As DrJohn wrote yesterday, this was a political ploy and Obama lost big time.
Hours before the federal spending sequester began on March 1, when President Barack Obama predicted that “People are going to be hurt,” he did not add, Trust me, I’ll make sure of it. But he might as well have, as this week’s furloughs of air traffic controllers make obvious. The furloughs reflect panic: Having exaggerated their early predictions that the sequester’s small reduction in spending growth would seriously affect Americans, many Democrats are hell-bent to pre-empt those Americans from drawing two logical conclusions: If one level of cuts is this painless, then maybe we should make … more cuts to expenditures. And while we’re at it, maybe we should ignore the politicians who told us that if Washington lowered the spending growth curve … the Earth will fly into the sun….
So, what could the administration do to make a reduction of barely 1 percent of actual federal outlays — less than $45 billion of this year’s roughly $3.8 trillion — turn citizens against Republicans who oppose more tax increases? Easy, or so the president’s men and women figured: Cue the air controller furloughs! Let’s stall some flights on the tarmac! Sure enough, travel delays have followed. We’re less certain, though, that this hostage-taking will cut the way the White House expects: The scheme relies on citizens being — how to put this delicately? — stupid enough to think that the Federal Aviation Administration can’t find a more flier-friendly way to save $600 million.
Air traffic controllers knew it:
“I am disgusted with everything that I see since the sequester took place,” another FAA employee wrote. “Whether in HQ or at the field level it is clear that our management has no intention of managing anything. The only effort that I see is geared towards generating fear and demonstrating failure.”
Especially when it was reported that air traffic controllers were operating at 22% over capacity.
Obama thought we were too stupid to realize this was a political ploy
He was wrong.
See author page
Does BHO not realize that these days everything is recorded and all the lies and BS he spreads keep popping up. BHO’s sequester, but he denies it, even though there is actual proof. If the press did any job at all, as they were intended, they would be after him like dogs after a fox. I remember the Nixon press days when they actually tried to get the truth, they drove Nixon nuts.
the creeps are covering him and their jobs, he own the SEQUESTRE, he still try to pin it to the REPUBLICANS,
there is something very wrong with him, maybe it’s the drug which is suspicious to screw up a brain,
he was using a lot in his teen so who is denying he still on it now,
his madness outburst one after each other,
every time he is not given what he want is directed at the REVENGE on people to feel his anger,
he sure did a lot of wrong on the people this time, those many who reelect him,
we told you, but you where stunt by his campaigns, now how does it feel.
The bi-partisan Super Committee developed the Bill, it was voted in by Congress and now the GOP cries becasue they have to wait a few hours for a plane while children are being denied medial treatment. Nice. The GOP looks like the party of the elite once again.
The 32 Dumbest And Most Devastating Sequester Cuts
$20 million cut from the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Programs
$10 million cut from the World Trade Center Health Program Fund
$168 million cut from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
$75 million cut from the Aging and Disability Services Programs
$199 million cut from public housing
$96 million cut from Homeless Assistance Grants
$17 million cut from Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS
$19 million cut from Housing for the Elderly
$175 million cut from Low Income Home Energy Assistance
$928 million cut from FEMA’s disaster relief money
$6 million cut from Emergency Food and Shelter
$70 million cut from the Agricultural Disaster Relief Fund at USDA
$61 million cut from the Hazardous Substance Superfund at EPA
$125 million cut from the Wildland Fire Management
$53 million cut from Salaries and Expenses at the Food Safety and Inspection Service
$13 million cut from the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan Program (Co-ops)
$57 million cut from the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control
$51 million cut from the Prevention and Public Health Fund
$27 million cut from the State Grants and Demonstrations
$44 million cut from the Affordable Insurance Exchange Grants program
$633 million cut from the Department of Education’s Special Education programs
$184 million cut from Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research
$71 million cut from administration at the Office of Federal Student Aid
$116 million cut from Higher Education
$86 million cut from Student Financial Assistance
$512 million cut from Customs and Border Protection
$17 million cut from Automation Modernization, Customs and Border Protection
$20 million cut from Border Security Fencing, Infrastructure, and Technology
$79 million cut from Embassy Security, Construction, and Maintenance
$604 million cut from National Nuclear Security Administration
$232 million cut from the Federal Aviation Administration
$394 million cut from Defense Environmental Cleanup
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/03/02/1662271/the-dumbest-and-most-devastating-sequester-cuts/
But the rainmen running our government can find money for this crap:
The federal government is spending $152,000 to study “voice therapy” for transgenders, saying it is incumbent to being “accepted as one’s preferred gender.”
“This study will illuminate the capabilities of the human larynx and inform the relationship between voice production and perception,” states a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant, awarded to George Washington University. “The long term goal of this research is to inform and provide new directions for Transgender (TG) voice care, thereby improving the lives of TG people who feel their voice is a great obstacle to living as their preferred gender.”
That is, the money is being spent to help the mentally ill pretend they are members of the opposite sex.
Our money must be spent on this because otherwise, according to the public health relevance statement, cross-dressing weirdos will “face discrimination when their voice does not match their preferred gender presentation.”
This is the inevitable result of letting the liberal ideologues who run the government seize control of financing medical research.
lifted from Moonbattery.com
retire05
that beat the research on SNAIL SEX
which was outrageous and pervert
bye
Had the Senate done its Constitutionally mandated job for the last four years, and passed budgets every year, on time, I don’t believe the sequester would have been an issue. Obama knows exactly what he’s trying to do, and having a fair amount of success at achieving his goals… to the detriment of the citizens of the United States and the country as a whole.
Scott in Oklahoma
yes sir, and it’s a first for AMERICA to really observe the ARROGANCE,
he has POWER and not the WISDOM to know best,
he doesn’t want to know either,
only the short sight to know worse how to revenge for a reason
he alone know from where his hatred began, and it’s deep within his core,
bye
The FAA/DOT cut of Air Traffic Controllers’ hours was a two-fer.
Obama (of course) wanted the Sequester to make a noticeable splash AND Obama LOVES to hurt small and medium American business.
This did both.
Too bad he got shown for a fraud …. again.
He didn’t even bother to cut the DOT/FAA budget for hiring community organizers!
@retire05: Really? You’re complaining about $152,000 while the GOP still allows trillions of potential tax dollars to be sent to off show accounts. Your priorities (and your homophobia) are very revealing.
@This one: that’s called showing an example, your stupidity is showing again. Do you deny that the Senate is a big factor in this problem, by NOT passing a budget? Do you deny that Obama is doing his best to hurt his detractors? Do you deny that the sequester was born in Obama’s camp in the first place? And since he hatched the plan, he owns it, as do you for supporting him so blindly.
Obama WANTED us to hurt.
That’s why he wanted the FAA to cut Air Traffic Controllers hours.
He also ended the Blue Angels flights.
BUT Obama also wants to go green no matter what the cost.
Thus where we CAN but jet fuel for $4/gal., we NOW buy GREEN jet fuel for $59/gal!
Money to BURN!
Nan G
jet fuel will get us to blow up our car and us inside,
too strong for cars
oops is that a new OBAMA AGENDA TO GET RID OF US?
bye
Scott in Oklahoma
hey, how are you doing, I’m crying looking at it,
it’s unbelieveble,
you must be out looking to help,
I’m sure of it,
take care SIR, I’m praying for you and all the PEOPLE, get back if you can tell us
that you are okay, bye
TallGRASS
hope you are okay , thinking of you and hoping you are doing good,
this I’m looking at at FOX is terrible total devastation by NATURE
keep safe,
we haven’t heard from you a long time,
try to tell us that you are okay, I ask GOD to help you all,
keep in touch,
best to you.
@ilovebeeswarzone: We’re okay ‘Bees, 60 miles south and west of Moore… very sad situation, I’ll probably head up there tomorrow to pitch in with the cleanup or whatever else I can do.
Thanks for askin’!
Scott in Oklahoma
geez you are close
thank you for coming.
glad you are okay more TORNADO coming,
take care,