Fed Budget Cuts

In reply to fast_eddie_72:

I don't normally get that excited about peach pie, but that looks stellar.

fast_eddie_72 wrote:

Wrong flavor. Right vessel.

pecan pie, can't get enough of that when it's around me.

Oh man, pecan pie is cheating. I mean, yeah, you put that much butter and sugar and pecans in one dish and it's going to be awesome, but you'd figure there's some sort of international convention against doing that to your body.

But man is it good...

poopshovel wrote: Oh, so political threads are cool again? My bad OP. With the U.S. $16,000,000,000,000 in debt, if the federal government can't afford a 2% across the board cut, we really are berkeleyed. After all, if you get a paycheck, you started having 2% more yanked out of your pocket for FICA this year, RIGHT? If the administration wanted "calculated, targeted, specific" cuts, they've had 5 years to do it. This is the deal they agreed to. Eye-opener: I heard some chick from the Kennesaw Battlefield park freaking out on the radio because they were going to see an EIGHTY THREE THOUSAND dollar cut in Federal funds. Ummmm. I've been to this park. There's a visitor center, some trails, a field that needs mowin' every month or so, and a couple gates. The budget (IIRC) was almost TWO MILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY. Methinks they can afford to trim a little fat. EDIT: Here's the article. They supposedly had 2 million visitors last year(?) Which I find hard to believe, but hell, charge $5 a head and pull in 10 FREAKIN MILLION A YEAR! I have to pay $4 every time we go to Carter's lake. Seems totally fair to me! Hell, dress a guy in a Mouse costume and add a couple roller coasters, and charge $40 a head! Put it this way: Put me in charge, and I'll make it a profitable place for a fraction of the cost. http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/sequestration-cuts-deepest-ga-military-schools-par/nWYrM/

Mitchell wrote: I don't understand why the national museums don't charge admission. It's a cool gesture and all to offer free admission, but with how expensive everything else in DC is, the trip doesn't magically become affordable from saving a few bucks on admission. $10/ticket would have brought in $300 Million for the Smithsonian system in 2012.

nonononononononono ... you're both wrong .. you're not taking into consideration all the min. wage people you'd have to hire to collect the admission fee, and all the $100k per yr ( yeah I know ... underpaid) supervisors you'd have to hire, and all the lawyers you'd have to hire ( why? because all gument sites has to has lawing ) then all the directors pay upgrades because now they had people to ignore... I mean direct .... pretty soon the income from the museums and parks are outstripped by their upkeep .... and now they need even more allocations

ransom wrote: Oh man, pecan pie is cheating. I mean, yeah, you put that much butter and sugar and pecans in one dish and it's going to be awesome, but you'd figure there's some sort of international convention against doing that to your body. But man is it good...

Yeah, it's amazing what a ton of butter and sugar can do to about anything. Hum. Wonder what would happen if you put bacon on it...

I like Peach m'self, Pecan can be to crusty and sweet. Warren has a good take on it. Kinda like an old wise Owl.

fast_eddie_72 wrote:

ransom wrote: Oh man, pecan pie is cheating. I mean, yeah, you put that much butter and sugar and pecans in one dish and it's going to be awesome, but you'd figure there's some sort of international convention against doing that to your body. But man is it good...

Yeah, it's amazing what a ton of butter and sugar can do to about anything. Hum. Wonder what would happen if you put bacon on it...

My mom makes peas with bacon and pecans in it... Pretty awesome way to eat peas.

Mitchell wrote: I don't understand why the national museums don't charge admission.

They do. From every single tax paying American. Admission price, mandatory. Visitation, optional.

I buy the magazine too - because it's awesome. So I pay even more.

That's what I am getting at -- Why not replace some of that income with admission? Or, at least allow foreign tourists to foot some of the bill.

The Feds arent the smartest bunch. The most popular park is the Smokies and they promised the original grantors that there would never be an admissions fee. They also granted the Indians sovereign status for the reservations which is why they can have casinos and high interest loan sharking on the reservations. We can all cite to other situations.
As far as I am concerned the Feds can see what it is like to have to pinch a few pennies too during these economic times.

they are looking at "cutting" a small fraction of a small percentage of the overall budget..

it would have the same effect on the government as it would have on you if you have $1000 in your pocket and someone takes a penny away from you.

but of course they will tune it so that the cuts go to the most visible programs- the military (oh, noes!! al kayda is gonna win!!!!) law enforcement, and welfare...

The illegals...who "aren't criminals" release, and the Bob Woodward thing are facepalmingly funny. Hey, have you heard the sky is falling? 2 weeks of campaigning on Air Force One, instead of sitting down at a desk in the oval office and getting E36 M3 done.

That E36 M3 rhymed! 3rd term campaign slogan!

Has anyone ever tried...

BACON PIE?!

EastCoastMojo wrote: Has anyone ever tried... BACON PIE?!

You have to write a manifesto and settle your affairs before you can eat bacon pie. And even then... There has to be an orchestral crescendo when you swallow the first bite.

whenry wrote: The Feds arent the smartest bunch. The most popular park is the Smokies and they promised the original grantors that there would never be an admissions fee. They also granted the Indians sovereign status for the reservations which is why they can have casinos and high interest loan sharking on the reservations. We can all cite to other situations. As far as I am concerned the Feds can see what it is like to have to pinch a few pennies too during these economic times.

they won't be the ones that have to pinch pennies .... the "feds" that are "responsible" for all this won't feel any pinch .... there's a saying ... "E36 M3 flows downhill" that's appropriate here.... bottom of the barrel employes and the recipients of the programs will be the ones that feel the pinch

poopshovel wrote: 9 posts and already begging for the banhammer? Bold move.

I don't think it's that big of an issue. It's just a political question.

wbjones wrote:

whenry wrote: The Feds arent the smartest bunch. The most popular park is the Smokies and they promised the original grantors that there would never be an admissions fee. They also granted the Indians sovereign status for the reservations which is why they can have casinos and high interest loan sharking on the reservations. We can all cite to other situations. As far as I am concerned the Feds can see what it is like to have to pinch a few pennies too during these economic times.

they won't be the ones that have to pinch pennies .... the "feds" that are "responsible" for all this won't feel any pinch .... there's a saying ... "E36 M3 flows downhill" that's appropriate here.... bottom of the barrel employes and the recipients of the programs will be the ones that feel the pinch

In fact... Near as I can tell you screw with their budgets and they are going to run around screwing stuff up on purpose, intentionally not doing their jobs simply to have their way with your checkbook. They are currently throwing a temper tantrum hopin we bite..

People in Federal Management positions don't gauge their success on how much they get done... They base it on how many people they have 'below' them and how big their budget is...

Oh...

And in nine days my wife was scheduled to attend a National Institute of Corrections training class...

Get a load of this...

Due to the pending sequestration and associated automatic spending cuts anticipated throughout the federal government, the National Institute of Corrections has been required to immediately suspend all training programs and activities involving travel for the next thirty (30) days. This includes any and all training activity that involves travel of staff and/or technical resource providers, regardless of the funding stream (e.g., cooperative agreements, technical assistance letters, etc).

As a result of this mandate, all training programs scheduled between March 1, 2013 and March 31, 2013 have been canceled

Seriously... They already have the Hotel, Airline, Caterer, Teaching materials, all of it reserved and ready to go.... I know for a fact they have non refundable deposits which will be lost (still trying to figure how much in this case).

She has a trip scheduled in a few months... Same people.... They don't expect that one to be effected...

Now... my Mother in law is coming to town... I was going to go with my wife... All these arrangements have been made... Ect...

Granted.. These types of things would be the type of thing I would cut... But what they are trying to do is piss people off on purpose... This department BY MANDATE is trying to make ALL of the cuts they need to make OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR happen inside one month.... utter nonsense...

Although... If they can't run their departments efficiently in the first place... I shouldn't surprise me they can't trim a small amount out of their budget with any amount of sense either...

Here in SC, there's something called the Budget and Control Board.http://www.bcb.sc.gov/BCB/BCB-index.phtm It was created many years ago as a way for legislators to have something to point at if their pet projects got axed or cut. It works like this: legislator introduces some fancy something or other, constituents love him/her for it. Legislator knows up front the B&CB will never appropriate the money for said pet project. Sure enough, they don't and legislator gets to take all the credit but none of the blame.

The B&CB guys got tired of being the whipping boy for the legislators, so they got a rule passed that when a budget cut is necessary it is done across the board, same percentage for each and every state agency. That way they can point to this rule and say 'we are only following the requirements of state law'.

That way no one has to make a hard decision and take the blame. Which means they can get reelected. Typical political bullE36 M3.

What is this I keep hearing about Seaquest? Here's my favorite Seaquester:

I mean, who better to run a giant submarine than the guy who killed the largest great white ever seen?

In reply to EastCoastMojo:

Couldn't you just load up a quiche with a lot of bacon to get there?

slefain wrote: What is this I keep hearing about Seaquest? Here's my favorite Seaquester: I mean, who better to run a giant submarine than the guy who killed the largest great white ever seen?

IIRC, the joke at the time was that he finally got the bigger boat he wanted..

Quiche ain't no pie.

In reply to Hokie69:

You wouldn't happen to be a VA Tech alum, would ya?