Free Republic

Senate lawmakers voted Wednesday to prevent the Obama administration from making painful sequester-tied cuts to military tuition assistance as well as meat and poultry inspectors. The votes, which came in the form of amendments to a spending bill, marked the first by Congress aimed at easing the impact of the sequester. A number of lawmakers have complained the administration is making the automatic budget cuts more painful than they need to be with its budget decisions. The first amendment approved by the Senate Wednesday was pushed by Sens. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and Kay Hagan, D-N.C., and would restore tuition assistance...

Suspension of military tuition assistance; Obama’s budget cut retaliation up-close and personal This week the Air Force joined with the Army and Marines in cutting tuition assistance due to “sweeping” federal budget cuts. When faced with a budget crisis—whether real or imagined like Obama’s sequestration—too many politicians will threaten first responders before they cut their own bloated, nonproductive programs. The Armed forces is one of the few constitutionally mandated functions that exists today. Of course, Obama plans to make budget cuts personal so he and Organizing for America can manufacture sob stories making any opposition to his massive spending programs...