Reign of Pain Round Up

Democratic and Media (but I commit redundancy) attempts to portray the sequestration as the worst thing since the black death continued unabated.  However, they still have lot of money to spend, with only a 2% decrease in the rate of spending (not an actual cut), and it would be shame to have actual United States Citizens benefit from it, so...
 

Food Stamps for Mexican Illegals Survive Obama Sequester

Salmonella outbreaks. E. coli outbreaks. Millions of dollars in economic losses.

These are among the scenarios the Obama administration warned about last month as it claimed the sequester would force the U.S. Department of Agriculture to furlough meat inspectors.

But while the administration prepares to take that step, it continues to pursue a “partnership” with the Mexican government to “raise awareness” about food stamps among immigrants from that country. When a top Senate Republican proposed cutting off funds for that program last week — in the form of an amendment to a budget resolution — Democrats on the Budget Committee shot it down.

However, about those food inspectors...

Meanwhile, the USDA continues to press forward with plans to furlough meat inspectors, describing it as a necessity of the sequester — though the department has eased off a bit on warnings that this could lead to more foodborne illness, since all meat and poultry will still have to be inspected.

Cook that chicken thoroughly for the next few months.  Or stick to tacos.

Meanwhile, a few episodes of Reign of Pain ago, we saw that while the White House had cancelled citizen tours of the White House as a result of the sequestration, they had said that the traditional White House Easter Egg Roll would continue (after all, it gets the White House Occupants some good photos with celebrities and children.  It seems the White House is warning that continued budget wars, in this case a potential government shut down if budget deal cannot be met, may threaten the Obama's rendezvous with the Easter Spring Break Bunny:

The White House's ceremonial side is busy sprucing up the joint for the annual Easter Egg Roll, which is penciled in for Monday, April 1. Only now, the White House is warning that it might have to cancel the springtime celebration, and despite the scheduling, that's no joke.

The reason? Federal stubbornness, what else? As if the $85 billion sequestration that went into effect on March 1 wasn't enough, Congress and the White House's official side are plummeting toward another budget deadline on March 27, when the current continuing resolution under which the government is currently operating is due to expire. If the clock strikes midnight and there's no new agreement in place, nonessential government operations will begin to shutdown. And as much as it might be a longstanding tradition, inviting a bunch of kids over to roll some wooden eggs on the lawn while celebrating this year's theme—"Be Healthy, Be Active, Be You!" aka exercise—is not an essential government function.

The worst example of the the reign of pain today, however, has to go to Harry Reid, who insinuated that the crash of a jet which killed 7 Marines in Nevada today was somehow linked to cut backs in maintenance which might be caused by the sequestration:

 HARRY REID: As I indicated, it was quite a big explosion. We'll follow this news very closely. I will do whatever I can going forward to support the United States military and the families of the fallen Marines.

Mr. President, it's very important we continue training our military, so important. But one of the things in sequester is we cut back in training and maintenance. That's the way sequester was written.

 As Ace said, if he stooped any lower, he'd be a foot taller.

And now, a word or two from Bill Whittle, who summarizes it all better than I dare...