Border Patrol Shifted $7M From Border Fence To Salaries

Border Patrol Shifted $7M From Border Fence To Salaries Jeryl Bier The Weekly Standard March 13, 2014

As sequestration bore down in February 2013, the threat of furloughs for thousands of government workers was a common refrain from those warning of the dire effects of the across the board budget cuts. Janet Napolitano, then-head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), told Rep. Bennie Thompson in a letter that sequestration could force her department to idle law enforcement personnel for up to 14 days. As it turned out, DHS did not furlough any personnel, but rather relied on cuts to other areas and shifting funds from other budgets to cover salaries. For instance, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shifted $7 million from its border security fencing account to salaries and expenses.

The details are spelled out in a new wide-ranging report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on how 23 different agencies and their various departments handled sequestration. The CBP's actions were explained as follows: DHS reported that 7 of its 15 components planned up to 22 furlough days for employees in 2013. For example, in February 2013, DHS's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) notified employees of the possibility of 14 furlough days, but ultimately required no furlough days. According to agency officials, CBP was able to avert furloughs in part because the agency transferred $7 million from its Border Security Fencing Infrastructure and Technology accounts to its Salaries and Expenses account and reprogrammed at least $69 million between various PPAs within the Salaries and Expenses account.

DHS was not alone in avoiding furloughs. Of the 23 agencies reviewed in the GAO report, only seven ended up utilizing furloughs to achieve the needed cuts, affecting about 770,000 employees from 1 to 7 days. The Department of Defense (DOD) reported the lion's share of the furloughs, accounting for 88 percent, or $1.2 billion, of the dollars saved by the federal government via furloughs. Of the

774,366 workers impacted by furloughs, 82 percent worked for the DOD. Overall, furloughing employees was one of the least utilized means of achieving the cuts required by sequestration. The report detailed the more common methods: "19 agencies reported curtailing hiring; 16 reported rescoping or delaying contracts or grants for core mission activities; 19 reported reducing employee training; and 20 reported reducing employee travel."

The GAO produced an infographic as part of its report, which includes this summary of the primary methods that agencies used to cut the $80.5 billion that was ultimately required:

The GAO recommended that agencies publish the criteria used to determine how sequestration was implemented and how exemptions were determined, and also how the principles used to make decisions in 2013 could be applied to future sequestrations should the occasion arise.

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Americans Sick And Tired Of Wars For The Global Elite Kurt Nimmo Infowars.com March 13, 2014

Establishment apologists step up to dismiss George Washington’s warning A poll released earlier this week reveals Americans are following the advice of George Washington and Ron Paul that the United States should mind its own business and avoid getting involved in the Ukraine crisis. “The poll reflects a war-weary American public that is still very reticent to get involved in international conflicts,” reports The Washington Post. “The American people were similarly opposed to military intervention in Syria last year, despite President Obama calling for the use of force and seeking congressional approval for action.”

56 percent of respondents to a Pew Research poll said the United States government and military should “not get too involved in the situation,” while 8 percent said the U.S. should consider “military options.” 29 percent said the Obama administration needs to take a “firm stand” against Russia’s supposed incursion into Ukraine.

On Wednesday it was reported Ukraine had conducted a surveillance flight over its border with Russia under the 1992 Open Skies treaty. The flight confirmed Russia has not amassed its military on the border. The coup government in Kyiv claims Russia moved 220,000 troops, 1,800 tanks and 400 helicopters on its eastern border.

Arizona Republican Senator John McCain told Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC last week he did “not see a military option” in Ukraine “and it’s tragic.” He said the United States has not attacked Russia due to Obama’s “feckless” foreign policy and because the administration has “been near delusional in thinking that the Cold War was over.”

Despite McCain’s reproof, Secretary of State John Kerry said earlier this month the administration would be open to using the military against Russia in Ukraine. “The hope of the U.S. and everybody in the world is not to see this escalate into a military confrontation,” he said.

David Brooks, writing for The New York Times on Monday, lamented the war weariness of the

American people. He characterized it as Americans believing “that the U.S. should be less engaged in world affairs” and no longer interested in helping “solve the world’s problems.” Always the establishment apologist, Brooks said Americans “have lost faith in the idea that American political and military institutions can do much to shape the world. American opinion is marked by an amazing sense of limitation — that there are severe restrictions on what political and military efforts can do.”

Brooks did not provide specific examples how “political and military efforts” shaped Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. In Libya, for instance, political chaos following the invasion by the United States and NATO in 2011 has paralyzed the country and may result in its break up. Brooks did not bother to mention the niggling fact the participation of the United States in the military effort resulted in an estimated 30,000 dead people. Iraq also faces disintegration along political, ethnic and religious lines.

“Brooks uses the words ‘should be less engaged’ instead of ‘mind its own business’ which is the language that Pew used. But hey, it’s David Brooks. His job is to make government stench come off as potpourri,” writes Chris Rossini.

George W. Bush characterized millions of Americans opposed to the invasion of Iraq as little more than a “focus group” and the Obama administration, despite pledges to the contrary and withered olive branches, has continued the Bush neocon agenda more or less uninterrupted as the script appearing on Obama’s teleprompter demands. McCain and Kerry may talk about militarily confronting a nuclear super power over minor issues in Russia’s backyard, but military action is becoming increasingly circumscribed for the establishment as Americans voice their distaste for endless war.

Russia Could Face 'Costs' Over Ukraine VIDEO BELOW http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKeP0KenQ8o All Wars Are Bankers' Wars VIDEO BELOW http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hfEBupAeo4

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