The Wrongologist

What’s
Wrong Today:

The
Wrongologist didn’t think yesterday’s market research on air traffic delays
would change anything and while correlation is not causality, Roll Call reported
that, last night, before leaving town for a week-long recess, the Senate passed
a bill that allows transfers of funding from airport projects to offset the cost
of keeping all air traffic controllers working and airplanes flying near to schedule.

The agreement
came together after most senators had already made plans to leave town. They passed
the bill with no debate and no objections.

Today, the
House also passed the bill. The House approval was 361-41. Lawmakers then
headed for the exits (and airports) for their week-long spring recess.

White
House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama would sign the bill.

Another stunning show of bipartisanship by
Congress!
We need to remember this the next time one of these morally and intellectually
bankrupt pols says they can’t possibly vote on an issue because they need more
time to study the matter.

The FAA fix was sold
as an effort to ensure that sequestration does not interfere with
“essential” government services.

When lawmakers say
“essential,” they apparently mean “essential to people like
me.”

This shows which problems
Washington takes seriously. The FAA problem is bad for the entire economy, but
it particularly hurts people who fly a lot and they tend to be affluent.

Members of Congress
themselves also happen to fly a lot. As
a result, we’ve gone from problem onset to legislative solution in about five
days.

Meanwhile
sequestration is forcing an 11%
reduction in benefits to approximately 1.8 million long-term unemployed
Americans. It has also caused state and local housing agencies to stop issuing
Section 8 housing vouchers to families on waiting lists. Congress has not
rushed to fix those problems.

The core of the
Republicans’ long-term fiscal plan is to sharply reduce programs that aid the
poor. Last year’s House budget proposal cut
$800 billion from Medicaid over 10 years, on top of a repeal of the
Medicaid expansion and the rest of the Affordable Care Act, and it cut a
further $800 billion from income security programs such as food stamps.

Piecemeal Sequestration
fixes offer an alternative way for Republicans to achieve their goal: Break the
government and then see who has the clout to get the programs they care about
fixed. Republicans wanted budget cuts focused on programs for the poor; with
the FAA fix, the affluent are off the hook, and Sequestration achieves that
goal.

In coming months, as the
Sequestration continues to unfold, defense contractors and military communities
will be next to seek relief from Washington. These are powerful lobbies and the
Obama administration must tie any piecemeal solution for them to one that solves
overall budgetary issues, like help for the poor and the unemployed.

Who
do you think is hurt by cutting school breakfasts or Section 8 housing
subsidies, and who do you think is helped by fixing the FAA controllers issue?
Class warfare much?

As
a piece of strategy and political theater, Mr.
Obama should veto this bill: Then let the Senate override his veto, but when
he vetoes it he should call upon Congress to work for the people and fix the Sequestration,
which is the real issue.

But, he will not.

Here you
see the Republican strategy in action: Cut government! Cut government! Cut
government! Wait, don’t cut that: I’m using that.

You only
need to know one thing to understand politics: Follow the money.