Free Republic

The biggest underreported story out of Washington this year is that the federal budget is shrinking and much more than anyone in either party expected. Consider the numbers: According to the Congressional Budget Office, annual outlays peaked at $3.598 trillion in fiscal 2011. After President Obama's first two years in office, many in Washington expected that number to hit $4 trillion by 2014. Instead, spending fell to $3.537 trillion in fiscal 2012, and is on pace to fall below $3.45 trillion by the end of this fiscal year (Sept. 30). The $150 billion budget decline of 4% is the first...

Shelton Orders Shutdown of Space Fence By Mike Gruss | Aug. 6, 2013 A two-mile array that makes up a part of the U.S. Air Force Space Fence. Credit:Navy photo/SpaceNews artist's concept UPDATED 1:45 p.m. EDTWASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force is shutting down a key part of its network for tracking satellites and orbital debris, possibly as soon as Oct. 1, according to an Aug. 1 memo obtained by SpaceNews.Gen. William Shelton, commander of Air Force Space Command, “has directed that the Air Force Space Surveillance System be closed and all sites vacated” effective Oct. 1, the memo said. The...

Despite pledges by US President Barack Obama and key congressional leaders to shield the Israeli Iron Dome from sequestration cuts, Israel has offered to waive funding protection, reports Defense News, which says Israel has been “insisting it should bear its share of the burden.” “Our position is we must bear the burden that our American friends are bearing,” Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador in Washington, told the website in an interview to be published in an upcoming edition. Sources from both countries told the website that this is “a painful, yet pragmatic price for the goodwill to be generated among longtime...

The White House continues to bar average Americans from touring “The People House” but nevertheless lavishes spending on all sorts of special invitees – from diners at last week’s Iftar dinner breaking the Muslim fast to sports teams and foreign diplomats. Obama basketball 2Soon after the outcry over the cancellation of tours due to the sequester, the White House promised to see what could be done to allow some visits to resume. But nothing was done and no one can visit – unless President Obama finds you useful or amusing. Favored guest have poured in this month, even though Obama...

A protester denounces President Obama during a march near Cairo's Tahrir Square on July 7. Bitter rivals in Egypt tend to be united in opposition to the U.S. government, which has been a leading aid donor to the country for decades.Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images To figure out which countries dislike the U.S., one quick way is to simply look at which ones are getting the largest dollops of U.S. aid.This wasn't the focus of a recent survey by the Pew Research Center. But it did emerge when Pew spoke to people in 39 countries about the U.S. and China, asking...

JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. — The audience gasped in surprise and gave a few low whistles as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delivered the news that furloughs, which have forced a 20 percent pay cut on most of the military’s civilian workforce, probably will continue next year, and it might get worse. “Those are the facts of life,” Hagel told about 300 Defense Department employees, most of them middle-aged civilians, last week at an Air Force reception hall on a military base in Charleston. Future layoffs also are possible for the department’s civilian workforce of more than 800,000 employees, Hagel...

It’s been four months since the world came to an end — by which I mean, the budgetary “sequester” that cut federal spending across the board went into effect. Remember the sequester? It was going to be a nightmare, a horror show, the worst thing that ever happened. People would die in the streets, our defenses would be mangled, the elderly would starve, the poor would be evicted. After all, 47% of Americans receive some form of government assistance, subsidy or benefit. Wouldn’t across-the-board cuts in federal spending end up hurting a large number of them? Wouldn’t the pain lead...

The Obama Administration is misleading Congress and the American people when it asserts that it plans to maintain a strong national defense. On February 13, 2012, President Barack Obama unveiled his fiscal year (FY) 2013 defense budget request.[1] The request comes on the heels of the January 5, 2012, release of a new strategic guidance outlining the nation’s defense policy.[2] The numbers in the budget submission reveal that the nation’s defense is the Administration’s lowest budget priority among the major responsibilities of the federal government. The budget submission also reveals that the Administration has proposed defense funding levels that are...

Gross domestic product 2012, PPP (millions of Ranking Economy international dollars) 1 United States 15,684,800 2 China 12,470,982 3 India 4,793,414 4 Japan 4,490,681 5 Russian Federation 3,380,071 6 Germany 3,307,873 7 Brazil 2,365,779 8 France 2,354,874 9 United Kingdom 2,264,751 10 Mexico 2,015,281

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. — The U.S. Forest Service is starting demolition work on one of the earliest mining communities on the west side of the Continental Divide. The Lincoln Townsite is an abandoned mining community east of Breckenridge in White River National Forest. The 1860s community was never platted or incorporated, but it existed through four minor booms and busts over the course of 50 years.

Just how dangerous is it to your health to shack up with a Mexican hooker? That’s the question at the heart of a five-year, $3,029,663 study by researchers at the University of California San Diego funded by the National Institutes of Health. The five-year study is taking the first-ever look at the love lives – and sexually transmitted diseases – of 200 prostitutas mexicanas and their “non-commercial” male partners. Based on previous research, UCSD scientists have been able to determine conclusively that the “non-commercial male partners” of Mexican prostitutes are very likely to pick up and spread their partners’ sexually-transmitted...

The U.S. government posted an unexpectedly large budget surplus in June, a further sign of the rapid improvement in public finances that has taken the heat off Congress to find savings and raise the nation's borrowing limit. Rising tax revenue, public spending cuts and big payments to the Treasury from government-backed mortgage companies helped the government take in $117 billion more last month than it paid out, the U.S. Treasury said on Thursday. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a surplus of $39.5 billion. June's surplus was the largest on record for that month. While the government is still $510...

The Russian Navy will receive 36 warships in 2013, an unprecedented number in Russia’s history, Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Vice Admiral Alexander Fedotenkov said on Sunday, July 7, according to RIA Novosti. “During this year, 36 combat ships, fast attack crafts and support vessels will join the Russian Navy. This has never happened before,” Fedotenkov said at the International Maritime Defense Show in St. Petersburg. Russian Navy warships are now performing missions in all areas of the World Ocean, with over 60 combat ships currently at sea, he said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia cannot afford to keep raising state spending, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, but it must find the money to fulfill the social commitments he made on his return to the Kremlin last year. Putin, in an annual presentation of the government's three-year budget plan, said that "the possibility of constantly and quickly raising state spending has been exhausted." The 60-year-old leader won a third presidential term last year with the help of aggressive pre-election spending hikes. But a slowing economy and falling prices for oil - Russia's main export earner - are now squeezing the...

Furloughs for Department of Defense civilians begin Monday [7 July 2013], a move that amounts to a 20 percent cut in pay for hundreds of thousands of defense workers over the next three months and will disrupt operations at installations around the country, Pentagon officials warn.

A day without pay, the first of 11 through September, comes next week for more than 650,000 people who hold civilian jobs with the Defense Department. Officials worry that the Pentagon will be hit even harder by layoffs in 2014 if automatic budget cuts continue as planned. Roughly 85 percent of the department’s nearly 900,000 civilians around the world will be furloughed one day each week over the next three months, according to the latest statistics provided by the Pentagon. But while defense officials were able to shift money around to limit the furloughs this year, thousands of civilian, military...

Canceled fireworks displays at U.S. military bases are being blamed on sequester-related budget cuts just days after President Barack Obama pledged $7 billion in taxpayer money to fund energy initiatives in Africa...

Our President can embark upon $100 Million African Adventures but cannot make sure our military men and women can celebrate Independence Day in style. This is beyond disrespectful to these young men and women who have served so admirably. Fourth of July fireworks festivities have been cancelled at the following bases: Camp Lejeune Fort Bragg Shaw Air Force Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst They say it’s money. They say it’s the sequester. I say it’s bull ****. I am very tired of reading stories about our military being asked to make sacrifices and being victims of disrespect from this administration. I...

Jay DeFrank, vice president of Pratt and Whitney, urged for continued military innovation Tuesday morning at the Brookings Institution. DeFrank, among other distinguished panelists, answered questions on the effects of sequestration on the Department of Defense. Mackenzie Eaglen, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, went on to point out that this is the first time in DoD’s history that they currently do not have a fighter aircraft in development. “If we’re not innovating, we will have gap,” DeFrank said. His remarks were meant to highlight the potential pitfalls of a military that becomes stagnant and relies on dated technology...

Democratic Rep. Michael H. Michaud’s Thursday announcement that he is exploring a run for governor in Maine could spark crowded primaries for his competitive 2nd District. Michaud has won that district with comfortable margins for six terms, but his seat could be competitive if he launches a gubernatorial bid. President Barack Obama won it with 53 percent last year. “This obviously becomes a nationally targeted race if Michaud runs for governor,” said Erik Potholm, a Republican consultant who has worked extensively in Maine politics. “For Republicans, it’s a tremendous opportunity to pick up a new seat, because the … rural...

WASHINGTON — The Fourth of July won't have a patriotic boom in the sky over some military bases because budget cuts and furloughed workers also mean furloughed fireworks. Independence Day celebrations have been canceled at the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base and at the Army's Fort Bragg, both in North Carolina. The annual July Fourth celebration also has been scrapped at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Ga. The reason is money — namely the lack of it.

I try to ignore the stupidity that seems to rush in waves from our, so-called, government, but the following email from my daughter has really set me off. Yesterday, she told me that my son-in-law, (along with every other soldier and Marine in Afghanistan), was working in 125 degree heat. Now this morning I get this report: "Just got an email from_____. He said they just received communications saying in an effort to cut costs, they want them to turn their thermostats in their living areas up to 77 when they are there and 81 when they aren't. Are you...

The US is going to destroy about $7 billion worth of military equipment in Afghanistan because it would cost too much money to ship it home or because the gear wouldn't be of much use anymore, reports the Washington Post. That includes about 2,000 hulking MRAPs—mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles that cost $1 million apiece. The excess equipment is being turned into scrap metal.

The funniest thing about the Democrats’ ridiculous “sequester theater,” in which they pretended that increasing government spending by 6 percent instead of 8 percent would leave America in ruins, is that they didn’t waste any effort on maintaining the pretense. Even while they were trying to scare us with the alleged horrors of austerity, the government was throwing big money into various frivolities. Once the sequester drama was over, the champagne corks popped, and the caviar resumed flowing, with breathtaking speed. So, even as the President gears up for a $100 million junket to Africa (hastily cancelling a big Tanzanian...

The International Monetary Fund on Friday urged the United States to repeal sweeping federal budget cuts that will be a severe drag on economic growth this year. "The deficit reduction in 2013 has been excessively rapid and ill-designed," the IMF said. "These cuts should be replaced with a back-loaded mix of entitlement savings and new revenues, along the lines of the (U.S.) administration's budget proposal." The IMF warned the sequester cuts to education, science and infrastructure spending could reduce U.S. potential growth in the medium-term. Economists believe the expiration of payroll tax cuts and the increase in taxes on richer...

You may have heard that White House tours were cut due to across-the-board federal spending cuts known as the sequester. Or that Congress made sure to minimize disruptions to air travel. Or perhaps you know someone being furloughed as a result of the cuts. But did you know a major fight is being waged over sequester cuts to some cancer drugs? After Congress failed to pass a budget this spring, a 2 percent cut to Medicare chemotherapy drug reimbursements went into effect April 1 as part of the across-the-board federal spending cuts designed to save $85.4 billion this year. Many...

Recovery: Liberals are apoplectic about "austerity," claiming that draconian spending cuts are killing jobs and economic growth. But it's President Obama's tax hikes, not spending restraint, that are hurting growth prospects. Everywhere you turn these days, liberals are bemoaning the harm caused by "austerity." The left-wing Center for American Progress claims spending cuts will cost 2 million jobs over the next seven years. The Brookings Institution says they've already cost 2 million. [snip] But researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco looked at the data and came to a completely different conclusion.

**SNIP** According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, sequestration will slash $2 billion from housing assistance and community development programs funded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Blacks received 43 percent of housing vouchers to supplement housing costs. Whites received 36 percent of housing vouchers. Without the vouchers, these families would see those costs skyrocket. Other families will lose counseling services that help distressed homeowners navigate foreclosure proceedings. **SNIP** “Due to sequestration, 337,000 victims of domestic violence, child sexual abuse, adult sexual assault, and other crimes will lose critical support and services they receive through the...

The White House sought to pressure House Republicans into a budget conference with the Senate on Monday, warning President Obama would veto any 2014 spending bills based on the House GOP budget. In Statements of Administration Policy, the White House said Obama would veto all spending bills unless they pass Congress "in the context of an overall budget framework that supports our recovery and enables sufficient investments in education, infrastructure, innovation and national security for our economy to compete in the future." That language suggests the administration, like congressional Democrats, wants to use the conference to turn off the automatic...

In addition to leaving Inspector General posts at key agencies vacant, a March 5 report from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform claims the Obama administration has ignored 16,906 recommendations from 73 agency OIG’s that could potentially save taxpayers $67 billion per year. “This report chronicles $67 billion in unimplemented reforms that non-partisan Inspectors General have identified,” said Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R–CA). “President Obama should listen to the recommendations of his Administration’s own Inspector Generals and work with Congress to implement common sense spending cuts that target wasteful and poorly performing programs instead of settling for the...

The sequester cuts have grounded the Thunderbirds and other U.S. military flight demonstration teams, but it hasn’t stopped Air Force Academy graduates from getting their own ceremonial flyover. With the help of donations, nine World War II era planes, flown by pilots from the Texas Flying Legends Museum and the National Museum of World War II Aviation, performed at the U.S. Air Force Class of 2013 commencement ceremony in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Wednesday.

Yup, 11 Mondays of furlough starting 8 July until the end of the fiscal. We had a briefing today from our GO (Major General, USA) and FY14 & 15 is not looking good. Reduction in force (RIF) looks probable for both the active and civilian Army force. Myself - being associated , active duty (Navy), contractor or civilian with the military since I was 17, it is very depressing. I am the first to admit that there are areas of personnel waste to trim, but we are at the point of "gutting" our defense. IMOHO This may be worse then...

The budget cuts known as sequestration were supposed to wreak havoc, forcing the shrinking of critical workforces including airport security officers and food inspectors. But since sequestration kicked in March 4, the government has posted openings for 4,300 federal job titles to hire some 10,300 people. The median position has a salary topping out at $76,000, and one-fourth of positions pay $113,000 or more, according to an analysis by The Washington Times of federal job listings. Altogether, the jobs will pay up to $792 million per year. Including job postings that have been open since before sequestration, the government is...

The “World Famous Rocketeers” were flying high two months ago. The Air Force fighter squadron had returned safely with its F-15E Strike Eagles and aircraft crews from a six-month Middle East deployment, and in March the entire wing passed a readiness evaluation with an unusually high rating. That was then. In April, the Air Force ordered the Rocketeers — more formally, the 336th Fighter Squadron — to stop flying because of the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration. Now, the squadron’s two dozen F-15s are parked underneath canopies on the flight line, with red covers over their gaping afterburners to...

The day after a four-lane interstate bridge in Washington state collapsed, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is using the incident to blame Republicans for the "dangerous consequences" of the sequestration spending cuts that started in March. "For 62 days, the American people have waited for House Republicans to move forward with the budget process and replace the devastating sequester cuts that are slashing into our country's safety net, national security, and public infrastructure," Pelosi's office said in a press release. "Yesterday, an Interstate 5 bridge north of Seattle collapsed after an oversized truck hit the structure. Thankfully, no one...

WASHINGTON, May 23 (UPI) -- The Internal Revenue Service and three other U.S. government agencies will be closed Friday as employees take a forced unpaid holiday due to spending cuts. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Office of Management and Budget are also set to be closed due to furloughs, CNN Money reported. The one-day shutdown of the IRS, at a time when many people want to know when to expect their tax refund checks, is likely to have the most noticeable impact, CNN said. snip IRS offices and hotlines will...

The Obamas announced today that they will be hosting another “Performance at the White House” event on May 28 to honor American singer and songwriter Carole King: As part of their “In Performance at the White House” series, the President and First Lady will host a concert in the East Room honoring singer-songwriter Carole King, who will be awarded the 2013 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. President Obama will present the award as he did when the Library of Congress honored Stevie Wonder (2009), Sir Paul McCartney (2010), and the songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal...

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama urged Congress on Thursday to fund upgrades to US embassy security around the world, as a way of truly honouring the memory of four Americans killed in Benghazi. Obama made the call in his latest bid to regain the initiative after Republicans accused his administration of covering up details of the September 11 attack to safeguard his re-election hopes last year. The president said he was committed to improving security at US posts abroad as recommended by a State Department review board set up to probe the attack on the US mission in the eastern Libyan...

SIERRA VISTA — Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has ordered the furlough of Defense Department civilians to begin in early July. Today, Hagel directed 11 furlough days for civil service employees which is half of what was initially anticipated.

How long ago is seems now.Bob Woodward complained in February about heavy handed administration treatment after Woodward reported that Obama was untruthful about who came up with the idea of the Sequester:http://www.youtube.com/embed/FdfHEdeCC0QThe reaction from the left media in particular was savagery, belittling Woodward, making is seem as if the words used by the White House “you will regret� were blown out of proportion by a self-aggrandizing Woodward: Wow, looks like Woodward is going the full David Mamet/Judy Miller combo.This is gonna be fun to watch— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) February 28, 2013 Kevin Drum at Mother Jones exclaimed, Seriously, WTF Is...

Defense Department civilians to go on unpaid leave for 11 days Photo 10:29am EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will announce on Tuesday that most of the Defense Department's 800,000 civilian employees will be placed on unpaid leave for 11 days, as the military scrambles to comply with budget cutting targets by the end of September. Hagel will announce the decision at a town hall meeting with Defense Department employees scheduled for 2:30 p.m. EDT (1630 GMT). The furlough is shorter than the earlier estimates of 14 days issued in March and 22 days in February, but...

With furloughs looming, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter this week paid tribute to the job done by the Pentagon's civilian work force while warning that there soon would be fewer of them doing it. In a series of appearances that fell during Public Service Recognition Week, Carter said the department had yet to come to a decision on how many furlough days to impose to meet the budget-cutting demands of the Congressional sequester process in the current fiscal year. Carter called the across-the-board sequester cuts "stupid," and said they would result in the loss of five to six percent of...

The 149 air traffic control towers that were slated to close this summer because of the federal sequestration will remain open until at least September, federal officials said Friday. The Federal Aviation Administration said legislation approved by Congress last month lets it transfer funds from other accounts to keep the towers open until the end of the fiscal year.

The Obama administration announced Thursday a plan to help uninsured Americans find coverage under the new health care law by offering $150 million to community health centers. Top health officials said these centers frequently serve people who stand to gain the most from the Affordable Care Act, which is seeking to insure millions more Americans through government subsidies and an expansion of the Medicaid program.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., May 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army has given the first development contracts for renewable energy technologies under a $7 billion initiative. Five companies were awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity awards in geothermal technologies. The U.S. companies are: Constellation NewEnergy Inc., ECC Renewables LLC, Enel Green Power North America Inc., LTC Federal LLC and Siemens Government Technologies Inc. The multiple award task orders were issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, Ala., working with the Army Energy Initiatives Task Force. "Announcement of awards for the remaining technologies -- solar, wind and biomass -- are anticipated...

We have had a tax increase implemented. Now, with the additional revenues (taxes) added onto what we were previously taking in each year ($2.3-2.4 trillion dollars), we will still be able to make the interest payment (about $425 billion annally or $35 billion per month) on the federal debt outstanding... And thus we cannot default. After that, we use the remaining tax dollars to pay for Social Security, then Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment benefits, food stamps and a very large portion of our military budget. So... why do we need to borrow another $1 trillion plus in May?

Defense Department leaders spent months warning Congress that military readiness would begin to erode if sequestration went into effect on March 1. The Navy and Marine Corps are telling lawmakers that it's now happening and that things will only get worse from here. Across government, agencies say the impact of sequestration will be somewhat insidious. But in the case of DoD's two sea services, they're already feeling it, officials told the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness. "Due to reduced training and maintenance, almost all of our non-deployed ships and aviation squadrons are soon going to be less than fully...

Two months after the sequester slashed spending across the federal government, the latest jobs report shows the economy is still adding jobs and unemployment is going down. When asked aboard Air Force One Friday if that indicates the economy can withstand the cuts or if it is too soon to tell, White House press secretary Jay Carney maintained the cuts are harming the economy, despite the jobs numbers. "You know, what we know as a general principle going forward, is that every time we get data, no matter what it says, we will know that it would have been better...

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recently warned that sequestration would cause “suspension of important activities, curtailed training, and could result in furloughs of civilian personnel” but the spending cuts haven’t killed the green fuels program, as the Pentagon has continued purchasing renewable fuel at $59 per gallon. “In March, Gevo entered into a contract with the Defense Logistics Agency to supply the U.S. Army with 3,650 gallons of renewable jet fuel to be delivered by the second quarter of 2013,” Gevo announced this week in its first quarter financial report. “This initial order may be increased by 12,500 gallons. All shipments...

Bracing for “significant impacts” to funding for public outreach programs next year, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory decided to cancel its hugely popular open house in June. The cost savings? Roughly $400,000 for the two-day event. The figure is a comparatively slim sum for an agency that deals with budgets into the billions, but comes as NASA faces pressure to cut costs where it can amid the across-the-board federal spending reductions known as sequestration. It was that downward pressure that JPL cited when it announced last week that the open house scheduled for June 8 and 9 would be canceled to...