Suffer the Little Children

I was wrong.  I 'misunderestimated' the devastating impacts of the Sequestration on other Americans.   
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I honestly never KNEW it could get this bad. 
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WashingtonTimes.com reports:  The White House announced Tuesday that it was canceling all public tours of the president’s home because of the sequester spending cuts.
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“Due to staffing reductions resulting from sequestration, we regret to inform you that White House Tours will be canceled effective Saturday, March 9, 2013 until further notice. Unfortunately, we will not be able to reschedule affected tours,” the White House said in an email.
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...
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As President Obama was returning from visiting wounded veterans at Walter Reed Medical Center, a reporter shouted a question about the decision to cancel the tours as Mr. Obama was walking from Marine One to the Oval Office.. 
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He simply smiled and waved. 
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Yes, the President of the United States has now declared 'The People's House' off limits to, We the People.
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Well, that'll show US!
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In response (according to WhiteHouseDossier.com):  Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas) introduced an amendment to the fast-moving continuing resolution spending bill that would bar funding for President Obama’s golf outings until the White House reopens for public tours.
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Gohmert, who announced his amendment from the floor of the House, said Americans, whether Republicans or Democrats, will be greatly disappointed to come to Washington and not be able to get their tours of the White House. Many tours are planned well in advance.
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The amendment states:
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None of the funds made available by a division of this act may be used to transport the president to or from a golf course until public tours of the White House resume.

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Gohmert cited an estimate by Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, that 341 federal employees could have avoided being furloughed had Obama not traveled to Florida for a three-day golf extravaganza.

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In a 'sort of related' story...  As of this afternoon, White House Spokesman Jay Carney has still NOT been able to explain why the Department of Homeland Security placed an order for $50 MILLION in new TSA agent uniforms (at a cost of approximately $1,000 per TSA employee), days before the Sequester kicked in.
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Maybe the $50 MILLION is for a LOT more of those surgical gloves?

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I wonder if perhaps a better tact would have been for TSA agents to forgo their new 'duds' and allocate a portion of this $50 MILLION towards the volunteers who host these tours of the White House? 
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But wait, don't volunteers normally work for FREE? 
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Even if they work 'on the cheap', I've got to figure that it'll cost something less than $50 MILLION to run groups of kids through a building their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents have contributed to for all of their lives, right?  I mean, it's not like we have to hire temporary security guards to watch the kids, I'm assuming that there is a LOT of security running around at the White House. 
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In 2010 WE funded over $310 MILLION in upgrades to the White House - I'd like to see how my money was spent.  If nothing else, I'd to get in an take a fork or something while my tour guide isn't paying attention.
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This Administration has been 'forking me' for a while, it's about time I 'forked them' for a change.   
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As lunch is officially over...  "Poke me with a fork - I'm done."
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