Sequester Grounds Blue Angels 341
SchrodingerZ writes "The Blue Angels squadron, known for their intricate and death-defying aerial demonstrations, has canceled all scheduled air shows for the rest of the year. The United States Navy, which controls the Blue Angels, has reported that the grounding comes from the massive rollbacks in spending, due to the 85 billion dollar sequestration given by the federal government. In a statement from the office of the Commander Naval Air Forces in San Diego, the Navy said, 'Recognizing budget realities, current Defense policy states that outreach events can only be supported with local assets at no cost to the governmen.' Currently, the cost of an air show is above $100,000. This story came just a week after the announcement by the Air Force that their Thunderbird shows will also be canceled."
Re:Washington monument gambit, again. (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually, while the federal government as a whole is only slowing the rate of increase, the defense department specifically does have real cuts.
Of course your point is still correct-- the blue angels are being targetted to make it publicly visible.
Re:Washington monument gambit, again. (Score:2, Interesting)
The defense department should be cut back, too. It needs to be cut way back.
In spirit I share your sacrafice! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:good. (Score:1, Interesting)
As far as healthcare, illegal aliens give birth to about 340,000 children nation wide each year, imposing tremendous medical costs on hospitals. Several hospitals, including ones in Stockton, CA and Dallas, TX, report as many as 70% of their deliveries are to non-residents. Similarly, since the parents of infant citizens still qualify for welfare in order to protect the child, the Center for Immigration studies estimates nearly $2 billion dollars goes to illegal aliens annually, in the form of food stamps and free lunches.
Over 29% of all education dollars get spent on teaching anchor babies, including over $1 billion dollars teaching English as a second language, according to FAIR. Similarly, several affected states offer Spanish translation services in many public arenas, at an additional cost to the taxpayers. All told, FAIR estimates that as much as $100 billion tax dollars get spent on illegal aliens annually -- this is just in education.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michealene-cristini-risley/the-14th_b_1343158.html
Re:good. (Score:0, Interesting)
I'd imagine they are atleast exceptionally cheap workers who wont mind crappy working conditions
with crappy quality, crappy safety standards, crappy cleanliness, crappy health, and crappy understanding of what managers and customers want. They work cheap, but that's only good for people who don't seem to care for the long term.
Re:good. (Score:4, Interesting)
And why hasn't NASCAR been paying for those military flyovers for every race [which also were just cancelled]? Or is it 'payment in kind' by mentioning the military as part of the starting ceremony?
Re:good. (Score:2, Interesting)
Considering the exposure they get, $100K a show is very cheap as advertising rates go.
Advertising is good when you're trying to expand a business.
Right now the military needs to do the opposite.
They'll be flying drones soon anyway so all the training/recruitment can be done via Xbox.
Re:good. (Score:4, Interesting)
A lot of chicano (no, that's not slang, look it up) groups idolize Caesar Chavez. Most don't know though that he hated illegal immigrants, badly. I don't know if this is because he didn't like how they worked, or if it was because they competed with his labor model.
Also, unrelated but interesting, the more activist chicanos idolize Che Guevara, who very vocally hated Mexicans in general.
Re:good. (Score:2, Interesting)
Shutdown White House Tours - Check
Yet, none of these sequester cuts seem to keep the Obama White House from partying like there is no tomorrow. The one last night [whitehousedossier.com] was an all star blow out.
I wonder how much that one cost the tax payers?