According to Veteran Journal, sequestration is a charade that was not supposed to happen:
” Designed by Congress as a measure so drastic that it would never be allowed to happen, the sequestration of funds in the government that went into effect on the first of March has gone into effect and now each political side is trying to spin its effects in a storm of bravado and inaction that could possibly last until mid-term elections next year.
While Texans are treated to the farce of Congressional Democrats whining about their staff being “priced out” of a good meal at the House cafeteria , have to deal with the charade of the Sugarland & Conroe air traffic control tower closures (shock, could it be politics!), and are embarrassed by the 55 other shameful fear-mongering campaign tactics publicized, there’s been little mention of a new website www.openthebooks.com, where you can search United States government spending. Thank you Pajamas Media!
I have to give inspirational credit to Texas Congressional Democrats Eddie Bernice Johnson, Pete Gallegos and Gene Green for sending this letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner. In it, these disgraceful politicians (remember, the sequester was designed by them and was not supposed to happen) used the loss of military contributions to Texas economic activity to justify their fear-mongering. Not one honest word of the deceptive measure Congress perpetrated on us was highlighted in the Houston Chronicle article written about this disingenuous & faux-outrage letter to Boehner and Eric Cantor.
So I was motivated to search the web for sites focused on transparency in public spending.
The result? www.openthebooks.com
A search of Federal salaries for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Texas for the year 2011 seemed a good place to start. Over 500 Federal Department of Veterans Affairs employees in Texas were paid a salary over $200,000 each in the year 2011. The rough total? Approximately $130,676,000. And don’t forget benefits are not included.
Congress allowed the MI tax deduction to expire resulting in VA borrowers losing their mortgage insurance tax deduction of over $5350 while VA bureaucrats live large. The Pentagon does away with Tuition Assistance programs for active duty military members while over 4600 job openings were posted on USAJobs.gov. And Texas Congressmen have the nerve to send a faux-outrage letter to the Speaker and Majority Leader.
Disgraceful.
UPDATE: While writing this post, I found a Washington Times article dated March 21st reporting the restoration of the Tuition Assistance program. The restored funding was in the Pentagon CR passed by the Senate on Wednesday & passed by the House last Thursday. Let me get this straight. Congress created the environment allowing the MI tax deduction and TAP to expire. Then this same Congress facilitated a public outcry enabling these same elected officials to appear to come to the rescue of our military? Absolutely appalling.