Sequesterization?

[Gaspar]

I can't believe this is what it took, but some amazing things are coming out of Sequestermegeddon.

1. People are really talking about meaningful cuts and government waste.

2. The masses are beginning to realize that life on earth does not really end when politicians claim it will.

3. President Obama has begun to attempt a relationship with members of congress, taking them to lunch and hashing out differences.  If only he had engaged them more like this over the past 4 years, perhaps we would be in a very different place.  I think perhaps with this approach, he may also present his first intelligible budget proposal in the next few months.

4. The American people are starting to realize that there is a stark disconnect in priorities between themselves and their elected officials.

[Townsend]

4. The American people are starting to realize that there is a stark disconnect in priorities between themselves and their elected officials.

Just the slow ones.

[JCnOwasso]

I can't believe this is what it took, but some amazing things are coming out of Sequestermegeddon.

1. People are really talking about meaningful cuts and government waste.

2. The masses are beginning to realize that life on earth does not really end when politicians claim it will.

3. President Obama has begun to attempt a relationship with members of congress, taking them to lunch and hashing out differences.  If only he had engaged them more like this over the past 4 years, perhaps we would be in a very different place.  I think perhaps with this approach, he may also present his first intelligible budget proposal in the next few months.

4. The American people are starting to realize that there is a stark disconnect in priorities between themselves and their elected officials.

Stuff like this isn't going to happen until you have a situation like one we are in.  We, the royal "we", have pretty much hit rock bottom.  As much as I hate the "tea party", I agree with them standing up for what they believe.  However, there needs to be a point when you begin to actually negotiate rather than just saying "no".  Let's try a metaphor... We have a glass and it must be filled with liquid so that we can be properly hydrated.  You want to get a smaller glass without taking anything into consideration, but someone else wants to go back to the tap to fill it up more, without taking anything into consideration.  The glass is almost half way full, and if we compromised, we could get a slightly smaller glass and a little bit more liquid from the tap.  We see how close we are to filling it, rinse and repeat until we have enough to fill the glass and have made the least amount of impact to both sides.    

[Gaspar]

If you fail consistently, it is probably a good idea to change your tactics.

I have no doubt that this new Reagan approach in engaging your opposition to seek common ground rather than campaigning to the public will produce the more mature and reasonable results he needs.  Up to this point he has reminded me of a child, who when he dosen't get his way, complains to others about how unfair, mean, and wrong other people are.

Perhaps he has come to the end of the blame game?. . . or it could be that he is just tired of all the travel.  Either way, what he is doing represents real leadership, and he should be commended and praised for that.

[Red Arrow]

If you fail consistently, it is probably a good idea to change your tactics.

Look out for the end run.

[JCnOwasso]

If you fail consistently, it is probably a good idea to change your tactics.

I have no doubt that this new Reagan approach in engaging your opposition to seek common ground rather than campaigning to the public will produce the more mature and reasonable results he needs.  Up to this point he has reminded me of a child, who when he dosen't get his way, complains to others about how unfair, mean, and wrong other people are.

Perhaps he has come to the end of the blame game?. . . or it could be that he is just tired of all the travel.  Either way, what he is doing represents real leadership, and he should be commended and praised for that.

It isn't just the president, but I understand what you are saying.  I really believe they realized that they have been in a no win situation and it is time suck it up and get it done.  The president was re-elected and there isn't much you can do about it now.  End of blame game?  I wish, but I doubt it.  From either side.  Reduction in the pointless bickering that the American people are getting tired of?  Absolutely, or at least I can hope.    

[Gaspar]

Look out for the end run.

Well, I considered that, but that would really make him look childish.  I can't see a scenario where he could win by playing yet another game.

[Townsend]

Popular stipend stripped for many U.S. military service members

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/popular-stipend-stripped-u-military-members-112819475.html

John Harrison was halfway to a bachelor's degree but financially strapped when Marine recruiters began calling him in 2007.

His wife, Amanda Harrison, recalls their pitches: "Hey, there's all these different ways to finish your degree and you don't have to go into a lot of debt to do it."

That was perhaps true until last week, when the Marines told Sgt. Harrison, 26, that his college tuition would no longer be paid.

"I was furious," Amanda said. "So many of us cannot afford to pay out-of-pocket for our service members to go to school."

The Army, Air Force and Coast Guard followed suit by also suspending tuition assistance to tens of thousands of active-duty troops. A Navy spokesman told Yahoo News on Wednesday that possible changes to its tuition program would be announced by the end of the week.

The plans reimburse service members $250 per semester hour, up to $4,500 a year, for off-duty college tuition.

The military immediately blamed $85 billion in sequestration spending cuts that went into effect March 1.


"Targeted cuts in benefits help preserve the essential programs that support the health, welfare, and mission readiness on our Marines and Sailors," the Marines' Shawn Conlon said in an email to Yahoo News.

"The Army understands the impact of this decision and will re-evaluate the decision if the budgetary situation improves," callers to the Army's education hotline now hear.

These are hollow words to Amanda, whose husband wants to be an intelligence analyst.

"I couldn't sit by and let this happen," said Amanda, 25.

She launched a petition on Change.org asking the U.S. Congress, military and other federal leaders to "Please honor your promise and restore funding to the military tuition assistance program."

The movement has collected more than 10,000 signatures in a week, making it one of the site's fastest-growing campaigns. Strangers have contacted Amanda to express their support.

"My son is in the Marine Corps and his desire is to go to college and get a degree in criminal justice when he gets out," Barbara Wing of Nebraska wrote on the petition site. "He is serving this country for less money than he could earn otherwise and honestly, this was one of the reasons that he enlisted, to have help with college."


The Army, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard are encouraging service members not to be deterred. They have made counselors available to discuss other education programs and funding.

"No tuition assistance: no problem," a news article published by the Marines, left Amanda annoyed.

"Budget cuts are going to hurt everybody, but to say it's not a problem is trying to bury your head in the sand," she said.

The article suggested financial aid and GI Bills, but Amanda said training schedules and deployments prevent many soldiers from maintaining required course loads to keep some loans deferred.

The education cuts come at a time when joblessness among veterans is at 9.4 percent, nearly 2 percentage points higher than the rest of the country.

Amanda fears this dilemma will worsen if her husband and his fellow service members can't finish their degrees.

"This is the first time that a lot of these young men and woman have had the opportunity to go to college," she said. "I can't even describe how important this is."

[JCnOwasso]

Popular stipend stripped for many U.S. military service members

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/popular-stipend-stripped-u-military-members-112819475.html

I know this sucks, but as long as they make the GI Bill usable while on active duty, this should negate the whole thing.

[Townsend]

Sequester to Affect Emergency Unemployment Benefits

http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/sequester-affect-emergency-unemployment-benefits

Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation is the latest casualty of the sequester.

Oklahomans receiving these benefits, which are awarded after a person has exhausted regular state unemployment insurance benefits, will soon see them cut.

The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission's John Carpenter says the EUC benefits will be cut by 10.7 percent.

The cuts will go into effect March 31, and will affect all current and future beneficiaries.

He says about 5,500 Oklahomans currently receive the EUC benefits.

"The number is low right now because this program's been going on for a while and also because the economy has just been improving," Carpenter said.

The program began in July of 2008. Last year, the second and third tiers of the EUC benefits were eliminated, and the maximum number of weeks a person could receive them was reduced.

Currently, eligible claimants can receive EUC benefits for a maximum of 14 weeks.

"Some of these people are able to find jobs and move off the benefits or exhaust the benefits," Carpenter said.

Still, he called the cuts to EUC "not helpful."

Administrative funding to the OESC will also be reduced, though Carpenter says that shouldn't cause furloughs or layoffs at the agency itself.

Additionally, "This is not going to affect anyone receiving the regular state unemployment benefits," Carpenter stressed. "The money that pays the extended federal benefits actually comes from the federal government; it doesn't come from the trust fund that Oklahoma uses to pay its unemployment benefits."

You can visit the OESC's website to calculate your reduction in benefits.

[Townsend]

I'm guessing there will be something called an "Inhofe".

AIR TRAFFIC TOWER CLOSURES WILL STRIP SAFETY NET

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/air-traffic-tower-closures-will-strip-safety-net

HICAGO (AP) — The planned shutdown of up to 238 air traffic control towers across the country under federal budget cuts will strip away an extra layer of safety during takeoffs and landings, leaving pilots to manage the most critical stages of flight on their own.

The towers slated to close are at smaller airports with lighter traffic, and all pilots are trained to land without help by communicating among themselves on a common radio frequency. But airport directors and pilots say there is little doubt the removal of that second pair of eyes on the ground increases risk and will slow the progress that has made the U.S. air system the safest in the world.

It's not just private pilots in small planes who stand to be affected. Many of the airports in question are serviced by major airlines, and the cuts could also leave towers unmanned during overnight hours at some big-city airports such as Chicago's Midway and General Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee. The plans have prompted airlines to review whether the changes might pose problems for commercial service that could mean canceling or rescheduling flights.

Without the help of controllers, risk "goes up exponentially," said Mark Hanna, director of the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield, Ill., which could see its tower close.

As part of the spending cuts that went into effect this month, the Federal Aviation Administration is being forced to trim $637 million for the rest of the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. The agency said it had no choice but to subject most of its 47,000 employees, including tower controllers, to periodic furloughs.

Representatives of the FAA declined to discuss the effect of the cuts with The Associated Press. In two recent speeches and testimony before Congress, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta stressed that safety remained the agency's top priority. But many in the aviation sector are frustrated that the political brinkmanship in Washington has affected such a sensitive area of aviation.

Jim Montman, manager of the Santa Fe Municipal Airport, which is on the list for tower closures, said the absence of controllers raises the risk of midair collisions "or some sort of incident where somebody lands on the wrong runway. ... That critical link is gone."

Hundreds of small airports around the country routinely operate without controllers, using procedures in place since the earliest days of aviation. Pilots are trained to watch for other aircraft and announce their position over the radio during approaches, landings and takeoffs.

But past crashes, however rare, have exposed weaknesses in that system.

On Nov. 19, 1996, a 19-seat United Express flight landing in Quincy, Ill., collided with another twin-engine turboprop that was taking off. They slammed into each other at the intersection of two runways, killing all 14 people aboard the two planes.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded the probable cause was a failure of the pilots in the outbound flight to monitor the radio frequency for air traffic and to properly scan for other planes.

"If a tower was there, it's highly likely that that accident would have been prevented," said Hanna, who became director of the Quincy airport about two years after the crash and before moving to the job in Springfield.

The air traffic control facilities that could be closed were chosen because they are at airports with fewer than 150,000 flight operations per year. They are located in nearly every state.

The first round of closures is expected to target 173 of those towers that are run by third-party contractors, rather than FAA staff. That process could start early next month.

Those airports had until Wednesday to put forward arguments for why their towers should stay open, but the bar is high and few are thought to be likely to escape the cuts. A final decision on the list is set for Monday.

The airports can choose to pick up the cost to keep their towers open, but few are expected to be able to afford that.

Beyond the airfields, some mayors are concerned about the impact on tourism if tower closures lead to the loss of passenger service. And there are worries of other effects, including whether medical helicopter pilots might stop using airports without tower controllers.

Rep. Aaron Schock, an Illinois Republican whose district includes the Springfield airport, said the FAA's operational budget has grown about 40 percent over the past decade and there's no reason it can't operate safely under the automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration.

"Any action by the Obama administration that does jeopardize safety is more evidence that the White House is implementing the sequester in ways to only score political points," Schock said.

Robert Poole, an aviation expert at the Reason Foundation think tank, said the effect could be minimal for some small airports that have been overdeveloped as a result of politicians bringing money home from Washington.

In addition to round-the-clock tower closures, overnight shifts could be eliminated at 72 control facilities, including at much larger airports such as Midway, which sees an average of 50 flights daily between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., nearly all of them passenger flights operated by carriers that include Southwest and Delta.

That raises the possibility that full-size jetliners could be landing there without any help from controllers.

Airlines have yet to say whether they will continue offering service to airports that lose tower staff.

"It's premature to discuss flight cancellations, as the earliest any furloughs would occur is April 7," said Katie Connell, spokeswoman for the industry group Airlines for America. "We are working with the FAA to minimize any impact to passengers and shippers."

Chicago pilot Robert McKenzie, who has a commercial license but primarily flies a small Cessna, has a lot of experience landing at smaller airports without control towers.

Doing so involves a lot more concentration, he said. Pilots have to watch for other aircraft, take note of weather conditions, look for debris on runways and make calls over the radio — all while operating their own plane.

Pilots have a very good track record of doing that safely. "But it never hurts to have somebody else out there helping you watch," McKenzie said. "It's a nice safety net to have."

McKenzie, a lawyer specializing in aviation matters, says the loss of towers is of concern to the Illinois Pilots Association, where he sits on the board of directors.

Most troubling, he said, would be the loss of towers at airports such as Springfield and Santa Fe, which are used by a mix of small private planes and larger passenger aircraft that often converge on airfields at different speeds and using different procedures. Controllers keep those planes safely separated and sequenced for landings.

Tower controllers also play a big role in keeping aircraft from taxiing across active runways, something that has been a key FAA focus for years.

"When you're at an uncontrolled field, avoiding that problem is entirely dependent on other pilots not making mistakes," McKenzie said. "There's nobody there as a backup."

[Teatownclown]

I'm guessing there will be something called an "Inhofe".

AIR TRAFFIC TOWER CLOSURES WILL STRIP SAFETY NET

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/air-traffic-tower-closures-will-strip-safety-net

[Conan71]

I'm guessing there will be something called an "Inhofe".

AIR TRAFFIC TOWER CLOSURES WILL STRIP SAFETY NET

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/air-traffic-tower-closures-will-strip-safety-net

Let me summarize the article:  "It's really not that big of a deal unless you are about to lose your job with the FAA."

No doubt government cuts hurt, but looking at how much debt we've piled up, we've simply been putting off the inevitable for a long time.

[Townsend]

Let me summarize the article: 

Summarizations will defer per your thoughts on politics at the time you read the article.  That will always happen.

It was actually my chance to make fun of Inhofe.

[Conan71]

Summarizations will defer per your thoughts on politics at the time you read the article.  That will always happen.

It was actually my chance to make fun of Inhofe.

Actually, I'm surprised Inhofe didn't come out saying cuts to FAA were off limits.  Everyone is a conservative until you start cutting things which interest them or keep them in power.