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Subscribe to RSSDepartment of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano warns that the U.S. can't maintain the same level of security with sequester cuts – House Majority Leader Eric Cantor later dismissed her warning as rhetoric.
With less than five days to go before the so-called sequester forces across-the-board federal budget cuts, members of the president’s cabinet warned how cuts to their departments would affect Americans’ everyday lives.
Monday’s distress signals from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano came a day after two other cabinet leaders admonished Congress for some of the most high-profile consequences of the sequester, like cuts to education and air traffic control.
Salazar warned that the department would not be able to hire the seasonal workers needed to maintain national parks through the peak summer tourism season, meaning some favorite destinations might be off-limits.
“The public should be prepared for reduced hours and services not only in national parks but across all of the facilities which are managed by the Department of the Interior,” he said in a conference call with reporters. He added, “This will include reduced hours of operation for visitor centers, shorter seasons and closing of campgrounds, hiking trails and other recreational areas."
Like Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Friday, Napolitano appeared in the White House Briefing Room, where she responded to the question of whether the country would be "less safe after the sequester."
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood discusses how the looming spending cuts will affect air travel.
"I don't think we can maintain the same level of security at all places around the country with sequester as without sequester," she said.
She stressed that cuts to her department would mean longer airport delays. “If you're traveling by air, you're going to have to start getting to the airport earlier. And if you're trying to make a connecting flight, you're going to have to make your arrangements to give you greater time with which to do that."
The former Arizona governor also warned of furloughed border protection officers, which would “affect our ability to keep out illegal migrants” and the government’s diminished ability to respond to national emergencies.
“Threats from terrorism and the need to respond and recover from natural disasters do not diminish because of budget cuts,” she said.
LaHood and Education Secretary Arne Duncan were dispatched to the Sunday talk shows to criticize Congress for the cuts scheduled to hit their departments.
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If these cuts are going to be catastrophic then there is really nothing left to discuss. Game over.
When did we become a nation of wussies? What prudent individual would think that we can't handle such a minuscule cut, especially after we raised taxes on the rich, remember that? They are playing people like fiddles.
RIP GOP
RIP GOP and good riddance TP.
Let me Get my horse-face on TV when America finally gets a break from my lame....oops, I mean Barack
She was brutal......only Barbara Bush looked worse
So she upstaged one of the best actors in the world....just to get her horse-face on TV
Sad man....how arrogant and insecure they both are........sad man
sorry it hurts you that a fatherless man could become President only in America
Payne he wasn't fatherless.
His father passed on in 1982 due to over drinking he was there in Kenya for quit a while.
That would make Obama about 20 to 21 at that time.
Far from fatherless.
Payne:....she doesn't get ENOUGH face-time ?
You think The ACADEMY asked her to give out Best Picture ?
OMG...the self-aggrandizement is choking me.....
that was the height of arrogance last night....
I spoke with at least 40 professional entertainment friends today...TV people, radio, etc, and they were all appalled at the sheer "look at me" moment that this woman displayed, and they are Democrats saying "Sad Man...Sad"
Moochelle.....that was the end horse-face...sad man
you think she just showed up...they have this stuff plan you dumb azz.they ask her..they sure in the hell did not call Bush
oh and looks is not what i see as beautifull in a woman...its her love that i see for many...that makes one shine
trouble peed in the pool, it seems. everybody got out.
If I didn't have him on Ignore since last summer, I'd probably know why.
then go back on ignore you pedophile...saw your record....you need to go back in your hole
If the automatic budget cuts are as bad as President Obama is claiming; why wasn't this dealt with earlier?
"Self-induced crisis"?
Stay tuned, in four weeks President Obama will sell us the virtues of raising the debt ceiling.
Nice to have a President,who can read write and sound intelligent.
"yeah......"Mr. Honorary Degree" from Harvard
If this President really.....REALLY understood what Americans black/white/rich/poor/ were going through....
he would limit his frivolous flying/vacationing....he would institute gas rationing (bringing DOWN the price by $.80/gallon OVERNIGHT
And he would STOP campaigning....and lead for a change.
This man is no President....
He is pres.and you republicons suck a$$
Hillary 2016
EVERY one of the entertainment professionals I talked to today said this was a sheer arrogant play
$17 Trillion Dollars in debt is not glamorous....somebody needs to tell that boy Barack
Bend over, there is more to come
38% Black Unemployment....wow....saw that today
that is bush's fault.....
ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!!!!
For,you repukes,there is a lot more to come,,,lmao
woof woof woof.....another dog and pony show from obama the ass.....obama is a born liar and lie he does......
Mvwaco
Go back to,your cack you,right wing fak tard
moi?
Folks....38% Black Unemployment....still gonna blame Bush for that ?
Are you ?
hey obama droolers blame bush for everything.....obama is an ass......
I read so many posts stating that Obama has tried to solve the problem and he has given ample warnings. First in 2011 Obama asked for, received and signed this into law. Now he wants out claiming it is all the fault of someone else. That is no surprise. What is a surprise is he turned down the power to have more leeway where the cuts could occur. He sends out members of his cabinet to say how much the cuts will affect the economy and Americans. This would be totally unnecessary if he used the power to shift where the cuts occur. Now to me this indicates he wants it to really hurt the American people. Just as a bully would want to hurt someone if he doesn't get his way. What an idiot we have for a president.
excellent....obama is a total ass.....
Moochelle should spend more time talking to Black Unwed Mothers....and less time announcing the Best Picture....agreed ?
that would be a waste of time...unfortunately........what would moochelle say to them???
Hey gopers,,all your moms got banged bye a tribe of kenyans,,,,,,hahahahahaha
Folks. This isn't that hard. Obama has added more debt, more deficits, more unemployment and more despair than any President in history including Bush. He's circumvented our laws to kill our own citizens but liberals say nothing. He got a $1 trillion dollar stimulus to build "roads and bridges" but squandered the money on special interests like Solyndra. He has demonized Republicans, conservatives and anyone who opposes him since he took office. He has enlisted the support of the media and anyone who will listen to him. He has lived like a King while telling us to "tighten our belts". He has transformed the office of the President into a partisan "bunker" filled with Socialist "believers". His "Justice Department" only cares about "Social Justice", not real justice and in the end he envisions an America "transformed" through bankruptcy into a citizenry worried about tomorrow instead of planning for life ahead. Obama hasn't given us "hope and change" he has given us despair which he "hopes" will be enough to "change" our country from the Republic we are to the Socialist nation he thinks we should become.