O fortuna

Only two days left before the apocalypse:
And when the Republicans opened the seventh seal of the sequester, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black and the stars fell unto the Earth; and our nation's ability to forecast severe weather, such as drought events, hurricanes and tornados, was seriously undermined.  Lo, and the children were not vaccinated, and all the beasts starved in the zoos, and the planes were grounded. 
Or so President Obama and his Cabinet prophets have been preaching ahead of the automatic budget cuts due to begin Friday.  The bit about the weather is a real quote from the White House budget director. 
But if any of these cataclysms do come to pass, then they will be mostly Mr. Obama's own creation.  The truth is that the sequester already gives the White House the legal flexibility to avoid doom, if a 5% cut to programs that have increased more than 17% on average over the Obama Presidency counts as doom.
. . . 
Before furloughing park rangers, maybe start with the 10% of the 75,000 Department of the Interior employees who are conserving the wilderness of Washington, D.C.  Before slashing cancer research, stop funding the $130-million-a-year National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine that studies herbs and yoga.  Cut after-school funding only after consolidating the 105 federal programs meant to encourage kids to take math and science classes.

6 comments:

MikeD said...

Yet that will absolutely NOT happen, Tex. If it happens they WILL intentionally cut the most vital of services, precisely because they want people thinking that any cuts to the Federal budget will be catastrophic. I realized this fact this morning on the drive to work. The press is completely incurious as to the claims of massive catastrophes that will befall us if we dare let government spending grow at a slightly slower rate than last year. In fact, they gleefully pass on these predictions of doom with no statements to the contrary.

If fact, I think that if this strategy pays off, we can look forward to a press unwilling to portray any cuts whatsoever to the federal budget as nothing short of trying to dismantle society altogether.

Anonymous said...

I loved the part about Meals-on-Wheels will diiiieeeeeeee if the sequester comes to pass. I guess the only thing left is for someone to declare that millions of cute kittens will drown if the Rs don't let them have money.

I am waiting for someone to threaten to hold their breath until they turn blue and die if the [insert party or group here] doesn't pass tax increases.

LittleRed1

Anonymous said...

The business of Government IS Government.
Any benefit to the public is purely accidental.
And the original core missions of the government, are the most ignored.

E Hines said...

Just to add to the disingenuosity of Obama's doom and gloom, the cuts don't have to start on Friday (cynically, Obama has agreed to receive Boehnor and McConnell (along with Pelosi and Reid) in the White House to talk about the sequester on Friday). They're only required to be complete by the end of September.

Phil Gramm also has some thoughts on the present, and a past, sequester in the WSJ.

Eric Hines

DL Sly said...

Tex, you ignorant slut!
This isn't about cutting the deficit. This is all about the beatdown of the American people; for you can't control people who still have a will of their own.
Afterall, it takes a village to transform a country...for the children.
0>;~}

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