Congressman James Lankford issued the following statement after Defense Secretary Hagel announced that the Department would be moving forward with employee furloughs. Secretary Hagel announced that 11-day employee furloughs will begin July 8 and end at the completion of the fiscal year on September 30, 2013.
“I am disappointed that Secretary Hagel and his administrators were unable to find places to make cuts that do not harm workers,” Lankford said.
“The Defense Department is extremely adept at being prepared, meeting deadlines and implementing fall-back plans, so I am puzzled as to why the Department found it unavoidable to cut workers instead of waste. Other agencies like FAA, TSA and DHS have found ways—or sought congressional affirmation that they have the flexibility—to make cuts to wasteful administrative costs, not employees with families to support. Congress gave the Department greater funding flexibility through the continuing resolution we passed in March, and my colleagues in the House stand ready to assist the Department, if need be. I will continue to seek clarity about the federal employment situation going forward for our federal employees in the Fifth District,” concluded Lankford.
It would be great if we could shut down a significant number of our overseas bases – we have in the ballpark of 900 of them – and bring home a large number of our deployed personnel. Time to stop nation building and playing empire without bringing home the spoils. The Wilsonian inspired interventionism is bankrupting our nation, coupled with the entitlement state we got from FDR and LBJ.
It seems to me we might need a few more troops on the border with Mexico and a few less on the streets of Boston as well.
We are borrowing our way into oblivion while supporting a police state and worldwide military presence with borrowed money and/or fiat from thin air. I would like to see a much, much harder line taken on all of this spending.
The purpose of our government is to protect our lives, our liberties, and our property – not employ thousands and thousands of people and attempt to make the world “safe for democracy” or protect us from ourselves. The biggest thing we should all fear these days IS the government.
I’ve asked this before and got no answer – if congress could fix the FAA sequestration budget, why can’t do the same to the other departments?D432