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Air Force says Sequester budget cuts prohibit military transport [Asheville, NC] A private aircraft climbed into a cloudless Good Friday sky, bound for the nation’s capital. Its mission: to fetch a local veteran back to spend his final days near his family.

White House to furlough 480 staffers By Amie Parnes - 04/01/13 02:44 PM ET The White House announced Monday that 480 staffers who work at the Office of Management and Budget have received furlough notices requiring that they take unpaid days off due to the sequester. White House press secretary Jay Carney made the announcement during a White House briefing on Monday, but he would not get into details about whether other members of the White House staff, including those who work closest to President Obama in the West Wing, received any notices. Carney told reporters that other notices could...

Press Secretary Jay Carney rebuffed critics who have suggested that President Obama and his family ought to be “sharing the pain” brought on by the federal budget sequester. “The whole point of the ‘pain’ is to help induce people to support the tax increases the President has requested,” Carney explained. “The President already is on-board with tax increases. He doesn’t need the added stimulus of pain to get on the right side of the issue.” As for the President’s family members who are currently in the midst of their fourth taxpayer-funded vacation trip since the start of the year, Carney...

Texas will pay to keep 13 local air traffic control towers that the Obama administration plans shut down in order to play politics with the sequester. Last week, the Obama administration announced it would close 149 air traffic control towers nationwide starting on April 7 to save $600 million. The Texas Department of Transportation said safety and Texas's economy, which relies on air travel, prompted the state to keep the air traffic control towers open. “Safety is the primary reason we felt a need to take immediate action for the air travelers and business aircraft that use these airports," Texas...

"This situation highlights the need to maintain our investments in our nation’s public health infrastructure. The outbreak was identified because of the strong leadership of state and federal public health officials and a robust PulseNet. Without adequate resources, we are asking those same officials to protect us with one hand tied behind their back. We should not let the deeply harmful, across-the-board cuts known as sequestration result in less funding for their work.”

Long time St. Louis Post Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan is advocating ending the practice of giving most veterans military honors at their funerals. His reason? Government can't afford it. Certainly, men and women killed in combat deserve full military honors. It's a way for the country to say, "We honor the memory of those who died in our service." These military honors - and the thought behind them - are intended to provide some solace for the families of the fallen. But what about the guy who spends a couple of years in the military and then gets on with...

This video image from an Internal Revenue Service video shows an IRS employee portraying Mr. Spock. William Shatner has made up his mind about the Star Trek parody video produced by the Internal Revenue Service. He tweeted: "So I watched that IRS video. I am appalled at the utter waste of US tax dollars." If you haven't been paying attention, the IRS released the video last week after CBS News filed a Freedom of Information Act Request. The video, which shows IRS employees boldly going "where no government employee has gone before," was supposed to be used for training purposes.It's...

Have they no shame! Another month, another lavish vacation for the Obama clan. No, I don’t begrudge the first family a little down time, but considering our current economic situation, their choice of venues is just plain tacky. Ads by Google Online CMBA from FIU $10,000 scholarships available. AACSB accredited. 100% Online. cmba.fiu.edu Say No to Obama's Amnesty Don't let Barack Obama give amnesty to illegals. Sign petition! Townhall.com/No-Amnesty Obama won the 2008 election, not because he was the most qualified, but because the populous largely believed he cared about them. It was the same in 2012. Despite a dismal...

Working for the federal government used to mean a trade-off -- lower salaries, in exchange for higher job security. Today, that trade-off is gone as federal workers often make good money with little risk of being fired. Though numbers are hard to come by in the mammoth 2.4 million-employee federal workforce, an analysis by USA Today found the federal government fired only one half of one percent of its workers in fiscal year 2011. That's about five times smaller than in the private sector. If Congress and the Executive Branch are loath to confront the bloat in government, there may...

The United States borders are about to become “25 percent less secure” as a result of budget cuts due to automatic spending cuts triggered by the sequester, Fox News reports. Agents will no longer work a full 10-hour shift, meaning that the borders could be open and unattended during shift changes, according to Fox. … Some agents told the network that the government actually has the funds to pay them, although the government denies the allegation. …

Technically, I don’t own it. My name’s not on the deed, but it belongs to me. It belongs to me as much it belongs to President Obama. It also belongs to every American… or it’s supposed to. It’s called The People’s House. I urge you not to take my word for it. Take the First Lady’s words, as found on the Official White House web site.

A spokesman for the Roanoke County company said the 70 job losses have nothing to do with sequestration. About 70 hourly employees at the ITT Exelis night vision facility in Roanoke County learned Friday that their jobs will end as of April 7. Tim White, a company spokesman, said ITT Exelis is responding to the realities of the defense industry market. He said the job losses have nothing to do with sequestration — the automatic, across-the-board federal spending cuts that took effect this month. “It’s a difficult time,” White said. He said ITT Exelis night vision increased employment in recent years...

In the first three months of the year, members of the first family have been on three vacations, averaging a vacation a month. And now it's being reported that the first daughters are on a spring break vacation in the Bahamas.

A GOP attempt to make a modest change to the budget in order to overturn the Administration’s decision to use the sequester as an excuse to shut down tourist access to the White House was shot down in the Democrat -controlled Senate by a 54-45 vote. “Every sector of our society must bear its share of the pain caused by the sequester’s budget cuts,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev). “Wrecking vacations and disrupting school field trips helps convey the importance of maintaining the full measure of spending the President wants.” As it turns out, though, not every sector...

It’s spring break, and President Obama’s daughters are off on yet another vacation. While the U.S. economy could use a little help, according to Breitbart News, the Obama girls are spending their time – and taxpayers’ dime – in the Bahamas. The girls’ visit to the Atlantis resort was not publicly announced, but Breitbart says its sources have confirmed the information, verified also through sightings posted on social media:

Rank and file told to conserve as Big Sis buys by the billion At least one branch of the U.S. military is scrimping and saving every bullet it can while the Department of Homeland Security is on a bullet-buying spree. Marine Corps Commandant James F. Amos blames sequester budget cuts for causing the Corps to have to scrimp and save every bullet. In a video to Marines, he says, “I ask you to save every round, every gallon of gas, that you take every single aspect, or opportunity, in training to get the most bang for the buck.” “This is...

In its continuing bid to make the automatic sequester cuts as painful to the public as possible, Obama's Pentagon has announced that it is suspending its aerial acrobatic flying teams, like the Air Force's Thunderbirds and the Navy's Blue Angels. With the decision, the Obama Administration is continuing the fiction that the last dollar government spends is on services most valued by the public. Each branch of the military operates its own aerobatic team. The Navy and Marines have the Blue Angels. The Air Force has the Thunderbirds. The Army has a parachute team called the Golden Knights. These teams...

Matt Boyle reported earlier today that Sasha and Malia are spending the 2013 sequester season in the Bahamas. This is will be the third luxury vacation for the Obama offspring in the last month. Over Presidents weekend, Michelle took the daughters to Aspen.

Sasha and Malia Obama are quietly vacationing at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, Breitbart News has learned. A source tipped Breitbart News off to the First Daughters’ spring vacation, which was not publicly announced or reported. Breitbart subsequently confirmed President Barack Obama’s daughters’ trip with other sources. Both the White House and the Atlantis resort declined to confirm the report or comment, but another guest provided a photograph of Sasha and Malia at the resort. Social media, including Twitter and Facebook, have also carried reports of the First Daughters' presence at Atlantis. One person who is...

Vice President Biden has been flying home to Wilmington, Delaware most weekends at enormous expense to taxpayers, even though he has an exclusive government-provided residence in Washington. Biden himself acknowledged the flights during recent remarks to the National Association of Attorneys General, noting that the sequester would force him to temporarily alter his expensive habit and use the train instead. According to reports, Biden generally uses Air Force Two to get to Wilmington. The cost of flying Air Force Two, a military version of the Boeing 757-200, amounts to about $8,800 per hour, according to the most recent federal data.