Debunking The Myth That Sequester Cuts Will Cause Flight Delays

Investor's Business Daily ^ | 02/25/2013 | IBD Staff

[IBD editorial writer]

Sequester: If you want to know how misleading the Obama administration is being about the effects of the sequester, look no further than Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's dark warnings about flight delays.

LaHood showed up at the daily White House press briefing Friday to claim the sequester — automatic spending cuts President Obama insisted on that are now scheduled to take effect in March — will "be very painful for the flying public."

Because of those cuts, he said, the department will have to furlough flight controllers, leading to "delays of up to 90 minutes during peak hours" at major airports.

It will also have to close more than 100 air traffic control towers, and preventive maintenance and runway repairs "might not be possible."

The horror!

But LaHood, taking his cues from Obama, is needlessly trying to panic the public.

Take the claim that cutting back on flight controllers will lead to massive delays.

Read More At IBD: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/022513-645682-obama-sequester-claims-are-phony.htm#ixzz2M0nsuL00 Follow us: @IBDinvestors on Twitter | InvestorsBusinessDaily on Facebook Sequester: If you want to know how misleading the Obama administration is being about the effects of the sequester, look no further than Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's dark warnings about flight delays.

LaHood showed up at the daily White House press briefing Friday to claim the sequester — automatic spending cuts President Obama insisted on that are now scheduled to take effect in March — will "be very painful for the flying public." [snip]

But LaHood, taking his cues from Obama, is needlessly trying to panic the public.

Take the claim that cutting back on flight controllers will lead to massive delays.

[jiggyboy]

Then there's the fact the administration has more flexibility in dealing with the sequester cuts than LaHood, or anyone else working for Obama, is willing to admit.

As the fact-checking site PolitiFact.com points out, "within the specific programs targeted for cuts, federal managers have a fair amount of discretion about what to reduce."

This should be the first and loudest thing any politician -- Republican or Democrat (ha!) -- says when interviewed about this nothing-burger of a sequester.

The biggest fear Obama and the Democrats have is that a way can be found to spend less, harmlessly and invisibly.

[luvbach1]

I wouldn’t be surprised if federal employees in critical areas will be directed by the administration, through 0bumble’s various department secretaries, to conduct deliberate slowdowns to emphasize the “draconian” nature of sequestration’s cuts to the increases in spending.

[Josa]

If they move any slower they will be going backwards.

[Iron Munro]

It’s not a myth.

The Obama administration will make absolutely sure that every one of their dire predictions comes true.

[ZULU]

The author of this piece is talking logic.

Obama is not about logic.

He’s about winning the Congress in the Mid Term so he can impliment an agenda of total uncontrolled opposition. Sure, most Republican Senators and the Speaker are lapdogs. But eveery once in a while they squeal. It would be much tidier not to have to deal with them at all.

So, you can be ASSURED, that REGARDLESS of the REAL impact of sequestration cuts, Obama will MAKE SURE that impacts are MANUFACTURED to have the MAXIMUM impact on the public and he, with the assistance of his minions in the Mainstream Media, will blame the GOP’s failures to give him the kind of budget he needs.

Its not about logic - its about manipulating the masses a la Marx and Lenin.

[plain talk]

Right. And if he does that he should be impeached. He wont of course.

[Pecos]

The president is cutting everything that actual taxpayers want, and keeping the fluffy useless expenditures that fill the coffers of his cronies. The pain is intentional.

[woodbutcher1963]

What the President and special interest groups are really afraid of is that the sequester happens and nobody notices.

It is 2% of the budjet. It is less than .005 of the national debt. It is lterally a drop in the bucket. If nothing happens, people will demand more. Hence the real problem.

[Brad from Tennessee]

[Instead of a government-run agency, a private nonprofit called Nav Canada now runs Canada's air traffic control, with user fees rather than federal funds covering the costs. Today, Nav Canada operates with 25% fewer workers than under the old government system, despite a 50% increase in traffic. . .And, unlike the FAA, which has been struggling for years to upgrade its woefully outdated equipment, Nav Canada has deployed state-of-the-art technology that it's now selling to other countries.]

Privatization is the key to shrinking bloated, inefficient government. Bill Clinton, a Democrat, turned to privatization when forced by public opinion to pursue smaller government.

From the Heartland Institute website:

“Ironically, there was more real privatization during the Clinton administration than during Reagan's terms. Under Clinton, the federal government sold off the Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserves ($3.6 billion), the U.S. Enrichment Corporation ($3.1 billion), and many billions of dollars’ worth of electromagnetic spectrum, as well as the competitive contracting of more than a hundred airport control towers and numerous military base functions. . .Still, it may well be the case that Reagan's Privatization Commission paved the way for the subsequent efforts by Clinton and Gore, having made privatization ideas respectable enough to be considered by Gore's National Performance Review and the White House's National Economic Council and Office of Management & Budget.”

http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2004/08/01/ronald-reagan-and-privatization-revolution

[23 Everest]

Rush Limbaugh said yesterday the layoff amount to nothing more than the Federal workers a four day week instead of a 5 day week. They can stagger which days off each of them have. So in the end, no big deal.

[kidd]

Obama needs to cut $83 billion out of a $4 trillion budget.

Divide those numbers by a billion and apply it to your situation.

Could you find a way to save $83 on a $4000 purchase?

For example, on a 10-night vacation to Bermuda with your spouse, perhaps one night order a pizza instead of going out to eat.

If you are repaving your 15-foot by 75-foot driveway, make it 14-feet-and-9-inches by 75-feet.

This is not painful.

[huldah1776]

“The Obama administration will make absolutely sure that every one of their dire predictions comes true.”

My first thought. Create mayhem or at least make the sheople think it is happening. MSM could put out stories and who would know it wasn’t true?

[DoodleDawg]

Even if the sequester contributed to flight delays, how could you tell? It’s not like the airlines run on time to begin with.

[Hulka]

They won’t have to be directed, they are all federal UNION employees. Not working is a way of life for them.