White House Rescinds $4.9 Billion in 2013 Spending Cuts

[NeoConsSuck]

Source: Bloomberg.com

The Obama administration is canceling $4.9 billion of the $85 billion in automatic U.S. spending cuts that took effect March 1, a move that restores some funds for defense and diplomacy, according to a White House official.

The decision came after the administration determined that, under rules governing the automatic reductions, it had cut too much from some budgetary accounts for the current fiscal year, said the official, who asked not to be identified.

About $3.7 billion will be restored to the Pentagon’s budget with another $700 million going to the State Department, said the official. The remainder would be dispersed across a number of programs at other agencies.

<snip>
Democrats have said the automatic budget cuts would throw 70,000 children off the Head Start program, eliminate four million meals for seniors, take 600,000 people off a nutrition program for mothers and young children, and mean 125,000 fewer vouchers to help poor families pay for rental housing.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-04/white-house-rescinds-4-9-billion-in-u-s-spending-cuts-for-2013.html

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Scorecard: Restored money to the FAA so the 1% and politicians wouldn't be inconvenienced at airports. Now we restore money to the Pentagon.

"Same as it ever was"

[DJ13]

1. Meals On Wheels?

Nope, let the old starve, we need weapons!

[gussmith]

2. Afghanistan

I'm still burning to learn that money is slipped covertly to Karzai by the CIA. This is unconscionable when we have so many needs in the U.S. for scarce dollars. I am not opposed to some reparations for damaging Afghanistan but we need the money to be budgeted, dispensed by a known federal contracting agency, accounted for and have a finalization date of payment complete. No paying the potentate, pay a reputable billing system.

[madrchsod]

7. ever watch "charlie wilson's war"?

if you have`t you should.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472062/

this is the woman who got the whole dam us government covertly involved in the afghanistan-russian war.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1571233/How-Joanne-Herring-won-Charlie-Wilsons-War.html

there is a tv program where charlie described what he did and how he did it. joanne herring was quite the woman.

[MotherPetrie]

3. So only the poor and needy end up getting squeezed

Almost like it was planned that way.

[madfloridian]

24. Speaks to the kind of nation we are becoming.

It's sad.

[madrchsod]

4. my how christian of him.....

feed and clothe those who have nothing? nah give the money to help kill for peace.

yup..."same as it ever was"



























..

[DerekG]

58. Methinks Obama fell asleep during Rev. Wright's sermons

n/t

[zeemike]

5. Was there ever any doubt that the Pentagon would get the money?

Let's get real, they rule us not the other way around...you get them pissed at you and you got real problems...old people and the poor not so much.

[GoneFishin]

6. I saw numerous DU posters who predicted/saw this coming,

That is, defense would get some relief from the sequester cuts.

[Newest Reality]

8. Aha!

Yup!

Sneakiest austerity game ever.

[Skittles]

9. chances it will actually benefit WE THE PEOPLE?

[L0oniX]

51. Don't worry ...the Pentagon is protecting our elderly ...from getting older.

[Arctic Dave]

10. Yep, definately waited to his second term to show his true colors.

Fuck all of them.

[robinlynne]

12. !

[magellan]

11. Until every politician is tripping over themselves to get to the bottom of THIS boondoggle:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021878929

...and to recant THIS one:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022711551

...then I expect nothing more than the same disingenuous twaddle about "necessary spending cuts" and "shared sacrifice".

[Cha]

13. So, instead of just complaining on a message board..

Are ya flooding Congress with your own complaints?

After being flooded with complaints from constituents, Congress voted April 26 to give the FAA more flexibility in administering the cuts to its budget, a move that ended the need for air-traffic controller furloughs.

Democrats have said the automatic budget cuts would throw 70,000 children off the Head Start program, eliminate four million meals for seniors, take 600,000 people off a nutrition program for mothers and young children, and mean 125,000 fewer vouchers to help poor families pay for rental housing.

What if everyone who cared about this called their Reps? I know I have.. and lucky me.. I have ones who understand and who wish more would get active for those who can't fend for themselves.

[demwing]

14. they don't care

they didn't care yesterday, they won't care tomorrow.

It's time for real democracy in America - are we not the Democratic Party?

We have a Republic, and it isn't good enough. Representatives can be too easily bought, they are the bottle neck of Democracy. Maybe this country does need a revolution--a Democratic Revolution.

[Cha]

15. Yes, they Do Care. I will not buy your

defeatist attitude.

[demwing]

18. That's fine - I'm not selling their lack of care

anymore than the man who says "It is dark" is trying to sell the night.

[rhett o rick]

22. If they "cared" we wouldnt have to sell them on helping those most vulnerable. It's obvious.

They only care about the 1%.

[leftyohiolib]

28. 90% wanted background checks and all the calling didnt doa damn thing

they didn't restore faa due to calls that was their excuse for helping themselves

[Lordquinton]

19. Just a bit of balance to the FAA issue

Many will remember the last time we forced the flight controllers to be compromised, there were lots of plane crashes, it is a very real and valid safety concern.

However, starving children and seniors are also real and valid concerns too. Fortunately this isn't a zero sum game, and there is more than enough to go around, if they would be willing to actually do their jobs and make sure their people are taken care of.

[Cha]

20. Exactly, Lordquinton, it was not only passengers that were delayed that

needed to be addressed. More importantly were the Safety Issues.

[magellan]

38. What about the issue of food safety due to FDA cuts

...and the threat to seniors now going without the only meal they could rely on each day?

[magellan]

39. Dupe delete

[caseymoz]

34. They know how we feel

We have called; they are ignoring us. Then they are making sure we blame ourselves as you just did by not reporting any of it.

Let's get this straight; it's when people with money call that Congress moves. They look at our zip codes.

Not only are they ignoring our calls, they taking measures to make sure we don't get to vote.

You seem to think this "class war" is metaphorical. No, it's real, and there's one side doing the fighting and the other doing the losing.

[Lifelong Protester]

54. Wrote RoJo and Ron Kind

I may only be able to sit here at a keyboard, but I will use it to do what I can.

Kind will listen. RoJo doesn't give a fig. But I intend to let him know how I feel anyway. They need to feel the blow-back.

[Safetykitten]

16. Hey...it's not like we did not see this coming. Right? *Crickets*

[Poll_Blind]

17. Shit. nt

PB

[AnotherMcIntosh]

21. Chessmaster

[caseymoz]

23. No not, because cuts to the poor will be permanent.

What do you want to bet that the sequester was a trick to cut funds for the 99 percent all along? Repubs now have no reason to vote to return funding to pre-sequester level. They've gotten what they wanted: cuts without raising taxes.

And if I were to be charitable, I'd say President Obama has totally lost his shirt in this game, and has handed them ours, too. If I weren't to be charitable, I'd say he was in on the deception all along.

Not the same as it ever was. Things just got considerably worse.

[Unknown Beatle]

25. Wait a minute!

Do you mean that the Obama administration can cancel cuts that took effect on March 1 but did nothing that could help the poor and elderly? Well fuck me! Whodathunkit?

Left and right are blending into "Let's fuck 'em all."

Reminds me of a joke I heard in the movie "Colors".

A bull and his son, a little bull, are standing at the top of a hill looking at some cows grazing below in a field. The little bull tells his dad, "Lets run down there and fuck some cows!" The dad bull responds, "Son, let's just take our time and walk down there and fuck them all."

Well, the politicians are taking their time but eventually they're going to fuck us all. They started when reagan was elected.

[Igel]

40. Only some.

The ones that they now say they shouldn't have made.

They were told to cut a certain percentage. They cut too much. Now they'r "uncutting" what they should never have cut.

It's their way of saying, "Oops. Let's just undo the mistake."

The reason for not putting it that way is it meant at least some of the required cuts imposed by Congress that they said were so draconian and brutal were, well, not required and not imposed by Congress.

Quite different from "more flexibility" to shift money between budget accounts--which is what a lot of people assumed the FAA (and other agencies) already had. There were proposals to give that kind of flexibility to other agencies or to the Executive as a whole to manage cuts within any budget category. Lots of people didn't want that because it would shift political blame and accountability in the wrong direction. The less flexibility they had (or in a few cases said they had), the more the blame for the cuts fell on Congress. Part of this is actual policy. Part of this is just political point scoring.

So the FAA got the flexibility to shift monies around. It's not at all clear that this would help most social programs.

[Le Taz Hot]

41. The "left" has nothing to do with this.

We're talking the right (Democrats) and the Far right (Republicans). There are all of 3 "lefties" in the whole of Washington and they're not anywhere near this.

[Half-Century Man]

26. If we are so desperate to cut back.....

How about we stop paying Congressional salaries and benefits (all medical, travel, and retirement) until such time as the an economic compromise can be worked out. Or until a special ballot can be prepared, one which would put to national vote the issues of which programs to cut, and who's taxes are at a correct level.

[cantbeserious]

27. Obama's Hope And Change Is A Distant Memory - His Legacy - Compromise And Contrition For The 1%

eom

[DCBob]

29. Why is everyone so freaked out?? This sounds like just an accounting issue.

[leftyohiolib]

30. could you explain please or is it in the full article

[DCBob]

31. its clearly in the article..

"The decision came after the administration determined that, under rules governing the automatic reductions, it had cut too much from some budgetary accounts for the current fiscal year, said the official, who asked not to be identified."

"The change was made after the White House Office of Management and Budget completed recalculations based on legislation to fund government operations for the rest of fiscal 2013 that was signed by President Barack Obama on March 26."

[Le Taz Hot]

42. Interesting that Recalculaton were only

applicable to the Pentagon budget and not Meals on Wheels or Head Start.

[BlueCaliDem]

52. He's the Commander in Chief of our Military. Congress is where you

should direct your gripes about cuts to Meals on Wheels, education, and other civilian programs. Let's try to keep things in perspective, shall we? Once again I find myself having to remind passionate Liberals - the President is NOT a dictator or king, he doesn't have a magic wand, and it's not his job to make Congress behave. It's ours. Congress, not the Executive Branch, is the most powerful branch of the three in our government especially when it comes to civilian issues.

[Heywood J]

57. It's called the bully pulpit for a reason.

[leftyohiolib]

44. thanks for taking the time to respond ... what they said sounds like tap-dancing to me-

cut too much no numbers just too much AND from anonymous sources. just sounds like b.s. - like saying they had to restore faa funds b/c they got a flood of calls to their offices\. ya know what else they cut "too much" out of? the social programs so the rush to restore them must be coming in any time now

[mother earth]

32. Bipartisanship Of, By & For the Military-Industrial-Complex, in this we trust. nt

[Ruby the Liberal]

33. I wish this surprised me. Now watch it become permanent.

1% isn't inconvenienced, MIC gets to keep on keeping on, and roads, bridges, parks all fall into disarray while children are out of school and on the streets, elderly aren't getting their meals and medical care and the unemployed just have to 'bootstrap' up.

Well played, white house.

[MannyGoldstein]

35. No shit? Seriously?

I'm shocked. Shocked.

[L0oniX]

50. I'm shocked like a electified hooded suspect in a foriegn hidden military torture room.

[Doctor_J]

36. anyone with a brain knew the Pentagon would get their money back

While head start and meals on wheels would get stiffed. Obama has become a disgrace.

[jsr]

37. So predictable

And disgusting.

Yeah, Hope and Change.

[santamargarita]

43. Nothing for the poor people!

[leftyohiolib]

45. turns out he WAS playing 3d chess - on us

[Rosa Luxemburg]

46. Why not $3.7 billion to the needy not to the Pentagon?

seems the wrong way round.

[bvar22]

47. Everybody calm down!

After President Obama gets re-elected in 2012,
and he doesn't have to worry about the Media or the Republicans,
we will get to see the REAL Obama.

[L0oniX]

49. Yea LMAO ...but then ...it's really not funny ...is it.

[L0oniX]

48. Selective austerity for the rich ...congressional MIC stock holders.

[think]

53. So military hard ons are bipartisan

go figure...

[Demeter]

55. WTF?

This insanity and cynical slapping the poor around has got to stop.

[stuffmatters]

56. Immoral and just plain sickening

[Sunlei]

59. good, I don't want these budgets to be etched in stone. let them adjust within the 'rules' .