Nanker Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 This can't be true, We are suffering under austerity......everyone says so. . Of course they've been forced to downgrade, you twit. Otherwise, he'd have stayed here! They too are suffering. Get with the program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdnlng Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 This can't be true, We are suffering under austerity......everyone says so. As little joe would say those are "Big f-in hotel bills". Why can't they stay at American embassies ? Security already in place ....I'm sure that they are fancy too. . . Because they don't have 136 extra rooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Man Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 (edited) More "sequestration" follies from the Obama administration; What’s really behind those FAA tower closures? Sequestration chatter isn’t going away any time soon, and one of the expected headlines is making the rounds again this week. Air traffic control towers at nearly 150 airports across the nation are going to sit empty, forcing pilots to figure out safe landing procedures by a combination of the seats of their pants and furiously cracking open fortune cookies. In other words, you’re all going to die. The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday told 149 regional airports across the country it would begin closing their air traffic control towers in April, but said it would spare another 40 towers that had been on the chopping block. The agency said the cuts are necessary to help meet $637 million in forced spending cuts. The tower closures will begin April 7 and will be phased in over four weeks, FAA Chief Operating Officer David Grizzle said in a memo obtained by CNN. They need to cut $637M out of their budget, but how big is that budget? And how big of a percentage would you need to slash before you just start shutting down towers? Doug Mataconis thinks there might be a little more to see here than just red and black numbers on a balance sheet. Could it be… politics? The FAA claims that it cannot cut $600 million from its $58 billion without impacting air traffic control. Honestly, though, I can’t believe that this is true. It seems more likely to me that the Administration is phasing in cuts that are designed to have the most public impact in order to win a political battle. Take a fine tooth comb to that budget, guys, before you start risking public safety. I’m not doubting that for a moment, but somehow I think there’s yet another layer to this onion. It’s not just the number of towers being shut down, but which specific ones. And more to the point… who works there. When you scan down the list of closures, these are all towers which are managed and staffed by private contractors. Not one of them is staffed up by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association union. That’s something of a remarkable coincidence, isn’t it? Maybe not. No FAA air-traffic facilities will be shut down for at least a year, Doug Church, spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association union, said in an e-mailed statement. The FAA’s union contract requires that controllers get at least a year’s notice before a facility is closed, Church said. The agency Feb. 22 issued a list of 49 FAA towers that were subject to closing in addition to the private towers. The union workers will be forced to take off one day without pay every two weeks, which spreads the pain around a little but their jobs and their towers aren’t going away. And leave it to public sector unions to find a way to wring a silver (or green) lining out of any dark cloud. Assume there is some sort of public outcry this year after a couple of regional jets clip wings on the runways of some municipal airports. At that point, Washington gets the excuse they need to staff at least some of the towers back up. Will they go back to the private contractors, or will the unions move in with their “much more efficient” practices? Edited March 24, 2013 by B-Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Man Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Another day...........another Sequestration question. Sequester Joe Biden. “Vice President Biden’s hotel bill in Paris — the Drudge Report headlines it at $585,000.50 for a night at the Intercontinental, not including the ride in from the airport — is prompting the futureofcapitalism.com to wonder why Amtrak’s most famous passenger failed to stay at the sprawling palace that serves as the residence of the American ambassador in the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré....... A good question, to which we’d add our own: What was Mr. Biden, whose only constitutional duty is to serve in the Senate as its president, doing in Paris in the first place?” Good Question.......... . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Another day...........another Sequestration question. Sequester Joe Biden. “Vice President Biden’s hotel bill in Paris — the Drudge Report headlines it at $585,000.50 for a night at the Intercontinental, not including the ride in from the airport — is prompting the futureofcapitalism.com to wonder why Amtrak’s most famous passenger failed to stay at the sprawling palace that serves as the residence of the American ambassador in the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré....... A good question, to which we’d add our own: What was Mr. Biden, whose only constitutional duty is to serve in the Senate as its president, doing in Paris in the first place?” Good Question.......... . Barack and Joe. Making it hurt for everyone but themselves. Did you see the Biden quote this weekend that the problem with the GOP is that there's no leadership? At first I spit coffee while laughing, but then I realized, if anyone would know what no leadership looks like, it's Obama's right-hand man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCinBuffalo Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Not gonna read the thread, top L words that immediately come to mind: Labia? (first thing I thought of) Lesbians? Lasciviousness? Lust? Laughs? Lectures? Ludicrous? (thread...I hope not, I haven't read it yet) Lilliputians? (now this is just getting weird, and so, I am done) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Not gonna read the thread, top L words that immediately come to mind: Labia? (first thing I thought of) Lesbians? Lasciviousness? Lust? Laughs? Lectures? Ludicrous? (thread...I hope not, I haven't read it yet) Lilliputians? (now this is just getting weird, and so, I am done) First thing I thought was "Lanolin." And I find that really disturbing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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