Wednesday, March 6, 2013

MISTER HONEST INFORMS YOU AGAIN

In the news conference in which President BO (the amateur president) announced that he and Congress did not reach an agreement to avoid the sequester cuts, he said:

"[A]ll the folks who are cleaning the floors at the Capitol -- now that Congress has left, somebody is going to be vacuuming and cleaning those floors and throwing out the garbage -- they're going to have less pay," Mr. Obama said. "The janitors, the security guards, they just got a pay cut, and they've got to figure out how to manage that. That's real."


Carlos Elias, the superintendent of the U.S. Capitol building and the Capitol Visitors Center, states categorically, "The pay and benefits of EACH of our employees WILL NOT be impacted." 
Luckily, we CAN believe everything else President BO (the amateur president) says...can't we?

10 comments:

Xavier Onassis said...

Jo Joe - If received a furlough notice requiring you to take regular, unpaid days off resulting in you bringing home less money each pay period, would you think that your pay had been cut?

Or would you somehow spin that into "Oh no. I'm still getting paid the same, I just make less money now."

Joe said...

"Oh no. I'm still getting paid the same, I just make less money now."

Guess you didn't read the part about "Carlos Elias, the superintendent of the U.S. Capitol building and the Capitol Visitors Center, quickly emailed employees to say 'This is NOT TRUE,' adding that 'The pay and benefits of EACH of our employees WILL NOT be impacted.'"

Or how about: "Carney said it is a "fact" that "there will be negative effects on our air traffic because of the reductions in FAA man hours, air traffic controllers in particular. And efforts to muddy that fact by, you know, singling out a certain statement...we can do that."

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters that major airports had seen lines ballooning to 150-200 percent their normal size.

(CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57572703/obama-administration-struggles-to-illustrate-pain-from-sequester/)

In fact, no air traffic controller jobs will be impacted...none.

See? The cleaning folks at the US Capitol building will NOT be furloughed or have their pay cut.

So what the president said about them was true?

The air traffic controllers will not be furloughed or have their pay cut.

So what the president said about them was true?

Please explain that.

Joe said...

XO: With sequestration looming, Napolitano authorized the purchase of $50 million in new uniforms for TSA.

https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=451fa835036b45f2120ba8154e6e47f3&tab=core&_cview=1

Gotta cut corners somewhere. But not with TSA, even though they were held out as a prime example of sequestraphobia.

Craig said...

The air traffic controllers will not be furloughed or have their pay cut.

Do you even read the articles you link to? This is from that CBS report,

Most Americans are not directly affected by these cuts, however, which is why the administration has sought to put the focus on issues like air travel that have a broader reach. But while officials expect increases in delays as overtime is reduced, hiring is frozen and air traffic controllers are furloughed due to the sequester, the impact will be gradual.

They have to give a 30 day notice to employees who will be furloughed so the impact isn't immediate. Contrary to what you stated, air traffic controllers will be furloughed. Your own sources contradict you.

As for the janitors, overtime is eliminated. I,m sure a few of them counted on overtime to make ends meet.

Xavier Onassis said...

"FAA says 173 air traffic control towers will close on April 7"

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/05/travel/air-traffic-towers-closing/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Xavier Onassis said...

First furlough notices go out

http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/05/news/economy/furlough-notices-sequester/

Fredd said...

Hey Joe:

What about the White House tour getting kaibashed? And the outgoing message on its answering machine blames the shutdown of the White House tour on lack of funds due to sequestration cuts.

Funny thing, however, is that this White House tour has always been managed by VOLUNTEERS.

This whole regime is nothing but a sack of lying garbage.

Joe said...

Craig: "Following through on President Obama's biggest sequester doomsday scenarios, the FAA has announced it will shut down 173 air traffic control towers due to forced budget cuts. The towers will be at small and medium-sized airports that don't necessarily need their own towers, and will only affect "contract towers" (such as Robinson Aviation (RVA), Inc.) that are staffed with contract workers, not FAA employees.

"So while the cuts won't mean any canceled flights, closed airports, or government layoffs, they will place an added burden on FAA's actual employees, at will put some people out of work, at least temporarily. This despite the fact that he organization that oversees the towers, the Contract Tower Association, claims they provide the same level of safety as FAA towers, but at a lower cost.

"Long airport lines and threats of stranded travelers, was one of the president's go-to examples for how the sequestration would affect the average American. That threat was considered "sky is falling" hype (no pun intended) by some, but just like every other agency the FAA does have to cut back somewhere. The first round of tower closings will take effect April 7, unless some sort of budget miracle arrives to save the day."

Of the 173, none are government operated facilities. "Closing them" in government terms, means the Feds will no longer pay directly for them. However, in most cases, the local airport authority, the state or the county will pick up the tab during sequester, at least for a period of time.

Charlotte County, to the north of where I live, will take over paying the employees at Charlotte County Airport.

With over 2,000 towers in operation in the US, there will be almost no impact of sequester in the end.

Update: Charlotte County Airport has been removed from the sequester list.

Joe said...

Fredd: "Garbage" is the right word. These people have persisted in misrepresentation and people like XO have persisted in falling for it.

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

X.O.
Those contract towers do NOT have FAA employees. They are city or county owned facilities which operate under FAA rules. Most became that way years ago when the FAA determined that traffic did not warrant staffing them, yet the local community still wanted a tower. Many of these hired retired ATC. The towers are still subsidized by the FAA, but if the FAA pulls the money they can still be run by the locals if the locals deem the towers to be necessary. The majority of contract towers are NOT necessary, and there are uncontrolled airports with more traffic.