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United: We'll fly Air Force to play Navy for free
United Airlines has made a free-flight offer it hopes could prevent a big-time college football game from falling victim to the U.S. government shutdown. (www.usatoday.com) More...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
It would be foolishly short sighted to forego the game revenue (including TV) because of some temporary unavailable funding.
There is no excuse to not play a game that brings with it piles of money. United's offer is just icing on the cake.
Heads should roll if the game is cancelled. The people should demand the head of the Secretary of Defense and above, if they choose a foolish decision that looses them lots of money (by not showing up at the game) in order to stick it to the people. The people should stick it right back.
There is no excuse to not play a game that brings with it piles of money. United's offer is just icing on the cake.
Heads should roll if the game is cancelled. The people should demand the head of the Secretary of Defense and above, if they choose a foolish decision that looses them lots of money (by not showing up at the game) in order to stick it to the people. The people should stick it right back.
That's a perfect way to describe the entire shutdown: foolishly short sighted. The shutdowns in the 90's were hugely expensive for the government, and this one will be too.
What's happening right now is that Congress is making a foolish decision that costs all of us lots of money, just to make a political point that the vast majority of Americans (including a majority of those opposed to the Affordable Care Act) agree is NOT worth shutting the government over. I'd like nothing better than to see the people stick it back to them at the ballot box.
But in another way, I think the game should be cancelled. This is the same issue as Congress voting to allow the FAA, and only the FAA, flexibility during the sequester. By making the more visible problems go away, without fixing the whole thing, other, less visible, but just as important programs go unfunded for longer. If Congress still had to put up with the security lines and flight delays we saw in the first days of the sequester, don't you think they might be a little more motivated to end it? Congress, and by extension the American people, needs to eat its own dog food.
What's more important, a football game, or a Head Start program? The national parks, or the National Security Agency? Meals on Wheels, or the food service workers at military bases? The Department of State, or the Department of Homeland Security? The point is that you can't choose. It's all important, and it all needs to happen.
If we start applying band-aid fixes to just the problems that are most visible and annoying, that will just delay the public anger needed to get the whole thing going again, which needs to happen not now, not yesterday, but last Monday night.
What's happening right now is that Congress is making a foolish decision that costs all of us lots of money, just to make a political point that the vast majority of Americans (including a majority of those opposed to the Affordable Care Act) agree is NOT worth shutting the government over. I'd like nothing better than to see the people stick it back to them at the ballot box.
But in another way, I think the game should be cancelled. This is the same issue as Congress voting to allow the FAA, and only the FAA, flexibility during the sequester. By making the more visible problems go away, without fixing the whole thing, other, less visible, but just as important programs go unfunded for longer. If Congress still had to put up with the security lines and flight delays we saw in the first days of the sequester, don't you think they might be a little more motivated to end it? Congress, and by extension the American people, needs to eat its own dog food.
What's more important, a football game, or a Head Start program? The national parks, or the National Security Agency? Meals on Wheels, or the food service workers at military bases? The Department of State, or the Department of Homeland Security? The point is that you can't choose. It's all important, and it all needs to happen.
If we start applying band-aid fixes to just the problems that are most visible and annoying, that will just delay the public anger needed to get the whole thing going again, which needs to happen not now, not yesterday, but last Monday night.
The scarey part is that there are people that think all of the programs listed above have relevance...for example, evaluation of the Head Start Program over many years indicates it has virtually no value beyond babysitting service. The Federal government needs to be downsized in a major way and to stop throwing our money at useless programs.
If nothing else, this current situation demonstrates the need to repeal the 17th Amendment and restore the structure of government to that which the framers designed. As this will never come out of Congress, then a conference of State Legislatures will need to restore the Republic.
If nothing else, this current situation demonstrates the need to repeal the 17th Amendment and restore the structure of government to that which the framers designed. As this will never come out of Congress, then a conference of State Legislatures will need to restore the Republic.
The more they fight and slow the government down the better chance we have of actually seeing some positive change. As they say "no pain, no gain".
It's actually a very useful exercise which highlights which things are essential and which a waste of the tax payer's money.
While I wish both sides had more motivation to negotiate in advance to avoid the shutdown. It is the responsibility of Congress to fund or not the programs of the government. If the Congress calls the President to negotiate, he shouldn't act line he's above it all.
Sadly, it seems that with each successive shutdown, it becomes clearer that there are vast beaureucracies
While I wish both sides had more motivation to negotiate in advance to avoid the shutdown. It is the responsibility of Congress to fund or not the programs of the government. If the Congress calls the President to negotiate, he shouldn't act line he's above it all.
Sadly, it seems that with each successive shutdown, it becomes clearer that there are vast beaureucracies
of limited value.
WHY WASTE GOOD DOGFOOD
Government shutdown is a joke. I went to a NASA web page and it said "sorry website is closed due to government shutdown".... There was no need to shut it down, its not like it hakes work to just leave it up there and not make changes or updates.
I hope they don't increase the budget - they cant spend more than we pay in taxes anymore, this is crazy!
I hope they don't increase the budget - they cant spend more than we pay in taxes anymore, this is crazy!
This is the vindictive nature of this administration. It's actually causing the government to spend more money while bullying the Republicans rather than negotiating with them. They wouldn't be doing this at all if we were closer to an election date.
Like fencing off the WWII monuments to the vets, this is just another game.