But, but the Republicans kept telling Sean Hannity on their appearances on his radio show that the entire Sequester was a "joke." It was all about White House Easter Egg rolls, right?
Except, they had to cave on meat inspections, because it could not live with the political fallout of an e-coli or salmonella outbreak being blamed on them.
The Justice Dept was just handed hundreds of millions in reprogrammed funds this very week, and the next day Justice announced they will have zero furloughs for this year.
Holder says no furloughs at Justice Department this fiscal year
Do you want to know why? Despite Rep Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Holder getting into a shouting match the day before during the Committee testimony, the Republicans knew that incidents like the Boston bombing investigation were on the front page, and investigators at Justice were being furloughed (and that included FBI agents).
So there is two "caves" for you. Is Obama exploiting the Sequester for political gain. Yes.
Did the Republicans mislead the public when they claimed the Sequester would have little or no effect (on ATC, jobs, the military, etc). Yes.
In fact, the Republicans did a complete 180 on the Sequester. During the fall campaign, they ran against it and told the truth. In January, they did a complete political flip flop and "embraced" it.
What is the next agency that will face a crisis?
I am betting the agency that took the greatest share of the Sequester cuts - the US military. It must absorb 50% of all the cuts, despite being only 17% of the budget.
Today, as I type this, 17 Air Force combat wings have become non-mission ready because of Sequestration.
The U.S. Air Force as you know it no longer exists: beginning today, 17 combat units grounded
The Army cannot train its Brigade Combat Teams going into Afghanistan, and training is down 80%.
The Marines have almost no funded flying hours for the rest of the fiscal year.
When we have the international equivalent of the Boston bombing on the world scene, the armchair warriors and American Idol watchers are in for a rude wake up call. Our military has been cut off at the knees.
But, Entitlement checks were completely exempt from Sequestration.
Congratulations, America.
