Hail Armageddon
The Obama administration has every incentive to make the sky fall, lest we suffer that terrible calamity — cuts the nation survives. Are they threatening to pare back consultants, conferences, travel and other nonessential fluff? Hardly. It shall be air-traffic control. Meat inspection. Weather forecasting.
A 2011 Government Accountability Office report gave a sampling of the vastness of what could be cut, consolidated and rationalized in Washington: 44 overlapping job training programs, 18 for nutrition assistance, 82 (!) on teacher quality, 56 dealing with financial literacy, more than 20 for homelessness, etc. Total annual cost: $100 billion-$200 billion, about two to five times the entire domestic sequester.
Are these on the chopping block? No sir. It’s firemen first. That’s the phrase coined in 1976 by legendary Washington Monthly editor Charlie Peters to describe the way government functionaries beat back budget cuts. Dare suggest a nick in the city budget, and the mayor immediately shuts down the firehouse. The DMV back office, stacked with nepotistic incompetents, remains intact. Shrink it and no one would notice. Sell the firetruck — the people scream and the city council falls silent about any future cuts.
After all, the sequester is just one-half of 1 percent of GDP. It amounts to 1.4 cents on the dollar of nondefense spending, 2 cents overall.
The only reason sequestration will cause a shut down of government services will because Barack Obama and his administration choose to do so. Keep that in mind if you discover that lines at the airport have suddenly grow to hours.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The Obama administration has every incentive to make the sky fall, lest we suffer that terrible calamity — cuts the nation survives. Are they threatening to pare back consultants, conferences, travel and other nonessential fluff? Hardly. It shall be air-traffic control. Meat inspection. Weather forecasting.
A 2011 Government Accountability Office report gave a sampling of the vastness of what could be cut, consolidated and rationalized in Washington: 44 overlapping job training programs, 18 for nutrition assistance, 82 (!) on teacher quality, 56 dealing with financial literacy, more than 20 for homelessness, etc. Total annual cost: $100 billion-$200 billion, about two to five times the entire domestic sequester.
Are these on the chopping block? No sir. It’s firemen first. That’s the phrase coined in 1976 by legendary Washington Monthly editor Charlie Peters to describe the way government functionaries beat back budget cuts. Dare suggest a nick in the city budget, and the mayor immediately shuts down the firehouse. The DMV back office, stacked with nepotistic incompetents, remains intact. Shrink it and no one would notice. Sell the firetruck — the people scream and the city council falls silent about any future cuts.
After all, the sequester is just one-half of 1 percent of GDP. It amounts to 1.4 cents on the dollar of nondefense spending, 2 cents overall.
The only reason sequestration will cause a shut down of government services will because Barack Obama and his administration choose to do so. Keep that in mind if you discover that lines at the airport have suddenly grow to hours.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
In reality when you are confronted with cutting costs by 2% you take account of what you can
do without and you make your adjustments.
In Washington a “cut” means that you are willing to only spend 15 Billion dollars more this year.
Then I read the paper this morning and I see that Dennis Rodman is hanging out with Kim Jung
Un, there is a cop on trial in N.Y. for planning to kid nap, cook and eat women, the Japanese are
living in “coffin” apartments, the vice president suggests women getting shot guns and just
shooting through doors when threatened, government officials flying around on 60 million
dollar jets, a mother is selling the naming rights to her baby, the U.S. government purposely
allows 2000 plus high powered weapon sales to Mexican drug cartels, I could go on and on, this
is reality. If you wrote it up for a movie script you would be shown the door because it would be
too unbelievable.
I must admit that when I saw Dennis Rodman’s picture this morning sitting and laughing with
KJ Un I laughed out loud but upon thinking about it I can see him actually doing some good
having a relationship with his new friend. He is now the go to guy when trying to convince
Un to not set off a nuclear war. Who would have thunk it?
Armageddon? What comes after Armageddon?
And if I were to have to choose
Another point you and I have some agreement, Bob. Lets face it, we are used to this. Here in New York, we traditionally would have the “blue flu” whenever the policeman’s contract was debated. Their way of saying see what happens when you cut our budgets. So I am fearful of what you suggest. Let see…I will be as angry as you if it happens.
I’m tired of excuses, from both parties. Both signed off on the sequester, and it is their job to make it work.
JGL,
I really really really appreciate your comments on my website. I just have one very minor nitpick. Why do you continually insert line spaces in your comments. It makes it very hard to read what you write. The way you type your text it is almost as if you are treating the computer like an old-fashioned typewriter, whereby when you get close to the right margin you hit the enter key to start a new line. This is completely unnecessary, and creates formating problems that makes it hard to read what you write.
Computers will automatically wrap you around to the next line. When you get to the right margin just keep typing. Let the computer do the work.
It is an edit and organization technique, I have to constantly reread what I write and the space makes it easier for me.
Thank you for the feed back, I will take your advice.