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President Barack Obama ordered the start of $85 billion in government spending cuts, beginning a potentially decade-long wave of belt-tightening that risks curbing U.S. economic growth this year. The White House released the order tonight, the deadline set by a law passed two years ago to avoid a debt default, and the Office of Management and Budget sent Congress a detailed list of program cuts. The reductions’ impact will become clear over the next several weeks, as agencies inform affected government contractors and notify employees about furloughs, most of which wouldn’t begin until some time in April. “What’s important to...

March 1, 2013 Obama signs order for "sequester" budget cuts Matt Spetainick (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday signed an order that starts putting into effect across-the-board budget cuts known as the "sequester" after he and congressional leaders failed to find an alternative budget plan. The White House released a copy of Obama's directive entitled "Sequestration Order for Fiscal Year 2013." Government agencies will now begin to hack a total of $85 billion from their budgets between Saturday and October 1.

Today is the day when, if one listens to Obama whose idea it was in the first place, an unprecedented $85 billion spending cuts will be sequestered, unleashing famine, pestilence, the apocalypse and grizzly bears (as all park rangers will be dead from starvation). Which is why we applaud the administration's desire to preempt this tragic for the nation outcome, by issuing, in one day alone: February 28, $80 billion in Treasury's sending debt to (obviously) what is a new all time high $16,687,289,180,215.37. In other words, the entire apocalyptic impact of the sequester for 2013 was offset by one...

A few weeks ago, Ann Coulter announced that she was bored of American politics and was spending her days watching Turner Classic Movies. I confess that, when it comes to Beltway melodrama, I too am fighting vainly the old ennui, and minded to plump up the pillows and settle back with a bucket of bonbons and a beribboned Shih-tzu for an all-night Norma Shearer marathon. At least, unlike Washington, there’s a chance you may catch something you haven’t already seen a hundred times before. For example, I’ve a yen to see Roberta (RKO, 1935), in which Irene Dunne sings: Yesterdays...

Beam me up, Yoda: Obama flubs 'Star Trek' term By DARLENE SUPERVILLE WASHINGTON (AP) — He's not a dictator and won't entertain the idea of a "Jedi mind-meld" with opponents. There's no "secret formula or special sauce" he can slip foes to make them see things his way. And not to worry, he says, the situation may look dire but won't be an "apocalypse." So who was the guy in a suit and tie who showed up Friday in the White House briefing room, mixing metaphors and references to "Star Wars" and "Star Trek"? "I am not a dictator. I'm...

PRESIDENT OBAMA: "I am not a dictator"

President Barack Obama, seeking to illustrate Friday that he has done all he can to avert sequester cuts, invoked a few memorable analogies. First there was one from the movie "Star Wars" -- although he mixed up his space dramas a bit. ~~SNIP~~ the fact that they don't take it, means that I should somehow do a Jedi mindmeld with these folks and convince them to do what's right,

Obama: Republicans 'Paint Horns on My Head' Daniel Halper March 1, 2013 12:37 PM President Barack Obama suggested today he'd be able to negotiation with the opposition better if they didn't "paint horns on [his] head": "I recognize that Speaker Boehner has got challenges in his caucus," said Obama. "I recognize that it's very hard for Republican leaders to be perceived as making concessions to me. You know, sometimes I reflect, is there something else I can do to make these guys -- I am not talking about the leaders now, but maybe some of the House Republican caucus members...

WASHINGTON — The screeching you hear in Washington is the sound of politicians slamming their mouths into reverse as they back away from their previous positions on the misnamed "budget sequester." For weeks now, we have been told that an $85 billion reduction in the rate of increase in federal spending — a 2.4 percent cut — will have devastating consequences for our nation. According to administration spokesmen and supporters, the sequestration means reduced agricultural inspections and the prospect of tainted food, cuts in childhood immunizations and more ill kids, long delays at airport security checkpoints, air traffic disruptions and...

We had an abundance of housing reports released this past week that were all positive. From my vantage point the improving market is steady but slow, however you could be mistaken if only reading the headlines from the liberal press. Pending home sales hit nearly three year high. New Home sales rise almost 16%. Home prices rise 6.8%. Existing home sales edge higher, inventory at 13 year low. All headlines from the press the preceding week. Yes pending home sales reached a level not seen since the tax credits from the Stimulus were about to expire in April of 2010....

-snip- For most of their lives, federal workers in Mantua say, having “United States Treasury” atop their paycheck meant security, pride and a sense of mission. Things change: Now it means having to defend yourself against arguments, from strangers and even from your own relatives, that you’re an overpaid and underworked leech.

At midnight tonight, a bevy of steep spending cuts will hit the federal government unless Congress and the White House agree to an alternative deficit-cutting proposal. Although the national media has been relentlessly focused on this deadline, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it will only affect New York City if the so-called “sequestration” continues for a significant length of time.

He continued, "So, ultimately, if Mitch McConnell or John Boehner say that we need to go to catch a plane, I can't have Secret Service block the door way, right?" The comment was in response to a reporter's question.

Here we go again. And again. And again. ... For in Washington, every day is Groundhog Day. And now, once again, the country is speeding toward the dreaded ... Fiscal Cliff! Not to mention Catastrophe, Chaos and Collapse. Or maybe Stalemate, Train Wreck, Dysfunction or whatever your favorite clich may be. So quick, get the scare headlines back in type. The Great Tax vs. Spend Debate is on again, if it ever went away. With each side blaming the Coming and Constant Crisis on the other. . . But wait, haven't we seen this movie before? Like in 2011, 2012...

And with that, he's done. 3m ago The president is hereby using the power of his office to advance his legislative agenda. He's spoken for 40 minutes to the press, an unusually long time in an administration when the president taking any questions at all has come to seem unusual. Obama's statement this morning is, let's talk about it. I've got nothing to hide. The more we talk about it the more my advantage grows.

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner ruled out tax increases as a way to address the nation's deficit after talks with President Barack Obama on budget cuts set to take effect later on Friday. "The discussion about revenue, in my view is over. It's about taking on the spending problem," Boehner said

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