This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
On Closing the White House
So the White House is closing its doors to the public today. Budget cuts related to the sequester are the blame.
The WH tours are closed after a decision by the Secret Service that it could not afford to maintain security. The savings for shuttering the WH comes to a measly $2m over the next seven months. I'm thinking this is a bullshit move by Obama; he's trying to get the public hostile toward Republicans. If the visitors to D.C. who are disappointed in not being able to visit the WH actually knew the facts, they would be mad at Obama, not the Republicans.
The Secret Service budget for 2013 is $1.67b. The $2m savings from closing the WH comes to 0.12% of the budget for the Secret Service, it's equal to 0.00005% of total spending. Closing the WH is a dumb way to save some money. Some other places where the $2m could have been absorbed:
Information Technology Portfolio - $200m
Transformation Initiative - $50m
Oregon and California Grant Lands - $113m
Payments to States in Lieu of Coal Fee Receipts - $128m
Lower Colorado River Basin Development Fund - $254m
Upper Colorado River Basin Fund - $92m
Surveys, Investigations, and Research - $1,075m
Operation of the National Park System - $3,000m
Mineral Leasing and Associated Payments - $2,144m
Salaries and Expenses, United States Attorneys - $1,972m
Capital and Debt Service Grants to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation - $958m
Grants for Specified Energy Property in Lieu of Tax Credits, Recovery Act - $3,671m
Foreign Military Financing Program - $6,344m
Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund - $850m
Assistance for Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia - $631m
Commodity Futures Trading Commission - $206m
Corporation for Public Broadcasting - $445m
Tennessee Valley Authority Fund - $445m
If you don't find anything on that list (there are thousands of other line items to choose from) consider saving the money to keep the WH open from these big accounts:
Military Procurement - $100B (50,000 Xs the cost of keeping the WH open
Military R&D - $87B (43,500 Xs the cost of keeping the WH open
The problem with the sequester is that it is a meataxe approach to cutting. It's a dumb way to go about the process. The Secret Service is facing cut backs, it will be forced to pare back $84m of expenses. But to have those cuts centered around the public access to the White House is just for show.
All of D.C. is going to look dumb before this is over. Obama might get the award for deliberately mismanaging the process. Let's hope so.
»
- advertisements -
> I don't know what else they did down there though
Each other.
This is simple...we create a new program which is responsible for determining which programs to cut. Then we use the extra money left over from the cut programs to fund it. That way, our GDP doesn't go down and the hard working Federal employees won't have to go through the pain of austerity.
I know you are kidding, but it is not a bad idea with the understanding up front that the new program is a temporary job. If I offered you a 100k for one year of work to "cut the fat," how much damage do you think you could do? I put "cut the fat" in quotes because you and I both know it's nearly all fat.
hmm..a program who's existence/integrity is dependent upon it's ability to SAVE money. wow what a concept!
Let's start from the other end.
What kind of dipshit wants to visit Obamas house?
I went a few years ago, stood in line @ 4AM to get tickets.
'People's House" my ass. Wasn't alowed to touch anything except the floor, and
couldn't take any pictures, so they could sell me expensive post cards at the end.
This week on Cribs...Debt Bro.
Good question, WB. One may as well visit the Furherbunker or the Reich Chancellery. If one wants to visit the true seat of power, just go the the Marriner Eccles Building.
However, if one wants to learn about history, skip DC and go to Philladelphia or Concord and Lexington. Fuck the WH. The Brits had the right idea....torch DC.
Maggots, leeches, bloodsuckers, fleas, mites, ticks, cockroaches, beatles, SEALs looking for payback, the candyman, jaded fairies, nymphs and perverts, the spectrum of psychopaths and morons, people seeking to collect on promises and favors, the sheriff and process servers.
Take back one Saddam for the Hebrew God whose arc this is.
Down? I'm just quoting a famous line by a carpenter from judeo-american propaganda.
I could have just written dupe. Suck it, stupid childmen.
Actually, the White House tour is pretty cool. Obviously, you won't see Obama and family on it, but I liked the Blue Room and Red Room with the enormous portraits of Dolly Madison and such.
Didn't bloomberg ban dolly Madisons
Actually, we caught Moochelle coming out of the shower.
I'm still in therapy over that.
But now your kids can identify a black heifer from the road while you are driving.
Shut up you guys...I'll bet her daddy loves her.
Of course, he is dead.
DO NOT DIS THE WOOKIE!
ROTFL!!!
from the "rear" end?
Angry dipshits?
I'm going with entitled dipshits.
Jamie, Lloyd, Angelo, Vikram, or one of the many aptonymic Dicks?
don't forget Jeff
Obama could, oh, I don't know....take one less vacation? Do you think? Would the strain of only taking vacation 2/3rds of his time in office be too much for him to bear? If not, that 1 less vacation should cover the 2M the SS needs to save PLUS, there has to be positive impacts to some other budgets that have to be cut...
Think of how much extra fuel it takes the AF1 to get Michelle's big lard ass off the ground. Would save a few million in fuel costs alone if you leave her at home.
Bams would much rather leave Mooch home now that Reggie Love is back...
Is Love a catcher or a pitcher?
also, due to the budget, we're going to have to go ahead and close the internet.
Bruce, are you forgetting that we do things 10X worse these days than days in the past. The moment you add that in, all the numbers add correctly and yes, are spent overseas.
Agreed that cancelling WH tours (Which incidentally are conducted by VOLUNTEERS) is the act of a petulant child who can't get his own way. The problem is that the MSM will never portray it as such. It's tragic that this type of "Leadership" has been allowed to take hold in a once great Nation. But then, "In a democracy (And also a Constitutional Republic) you get the Government you deserve".
Sadly true, the MSM appeals to the "low information voter" which now is a high percentage of the electorate. And the establishment opposition has been impotent in fighting back. It will take one big ugly reset to restore sanity in this former Republic.
Petulance? How about that emporer BO is tired of having his slaves parading and gawking through his castle.
Petulant child throwing a temper tantrum describes it about right...that or he thinks he actually owns it.
You mean like Andrew Jackson? :p
lol...you mean this WH?
http://www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/images/presidenthouse3.htm
C'mon...you know I meant the party at the real WH that got "a little out of hand".
"We don't need no water..."
Closing it to the public has little effect. I say close it to "elected officials". The less they are there the better off we are. Let Ocomarade rent a hotel room. While we are at it, lets close Congress too.
Why pretend it was ever really "open to the public" in the first place. You had to write your congresscritter to even be invited for a tour.
Boris is once invite on tour of Kremlin. Tour end in gulag.
Boris is holder of winning ticket!
One way.
I wonder if it's closed to sleepovers for large donors. Naw, can't have that.
Boris is once sleepover in basement of Kremlin. Wake up and is find rat chewing on ankle.
Big rat or small dog. Very dark and Boris is cannot tell, but swift kick to snout is solve problem.