Will the Government shut down on the 27th of March?

[garbon]

Will the sequester cause DC real estate prices to plummet?

I really think it's happening. A 2-bedroom townhouse's asking price I have been monitoring fell $15,000 in the past 10 days:

http://www.remax.com/realestatehomesforsale/13821claretct-chantilly-va-20151-gid400027424991.html

I'd guess it is more likely that they realized they wouldn't be able to get that price in this economy. Their initial ask was up 80% from what they purchased it at in '01. Also, they saw the one offer they had fall through before this drop.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13821-Claret-Ct-Chantilly-VA-20151/51786483_zpid/

[garbon]

http://news.yahoo.com/spending-cuts-due-ground-navys-blue-angels-flying-122828653.html

Blue Angels pilot Dave Tickle said he is focused on practicing maneuvers for an upcoming show in California instead of worrying about how federal spending cuts will threaten performances this year by the U.S. Navy's renowned flight demonstration squadron.

With $85 billion in automatic cuts due to take effect on Friday, millions of fans across the country will likely miss out on the precision flying team's thrilling shows this year.

Blue Angels shows scheduled in more than two dozen cities between April and September are expected to be canceled as part of the cuts, said the team's spokeswoman, Lieutenant Katie Kelly. Some shows featuring the Blue Angels already have been called off in the face of budget uncertainties.

The grounding would be a sentimental loss for fans but not as serious as other reductions to defense spending, which President Barack Obama said could threaten Navy readiness. The Defense Department said the cuts would slash ship and aircraft maintenance, curtail training and result in 22 days' unpaid leave for most of the Pentagon's 800,000 civilian employees.

Programs such as the Blue Angels would take a back seat to "making sure ships are seaworthy and planes are airworthy for the war fighters who are operating overseas," said Lieutenant John Supple, spokesman for the Chief of Naval Air Training in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The news has saddened longtime fans, disappointed city leaders and sparked an online petition to the White House to save the Blue Angels' season. About 1,200 people had signed as of Thursday.

"They're an American icon, and they really resonate in a military town," said Ashton Hayward, mayor of Pensacola, Florida, home to the naval air station where the Blue Angels are based.

Pensacola's Blue Angels beach show each July pumps an additional $2.5 million into the local economy, according to a 2012 study.

"People plan their annual family trips around the shows and the impact on business is phenomenal," Hayward said. "If the Blue Angels end, it's going to be a sad, sad day for not just us, but for millions of people all over the country."

SHOWS CALLED OFF

Air shows scheduled for May at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, and for June in Indianapolis, already have been canceled, organizers and U.S. Air Force officials announced in recent weeks.

The Air Force said its Thunderbirds exhibition flying team also is expected to be grounded if the so-called sequestration cuts happen.

The budget cuts will affect cities from Seattle to North Kingstown, Rhode Island, where the Rhode Island National Guard Air Show draws thousands of visitors to the small town each year.

The city's Quonset Air Base closed in the 1970s, but a sense of military pride still runs deep. Losing the Blue Angels would deal a huge blow for the show in late June, said Elizabeth Dolan, North Kingstown's town council president.

"Everybody looks forward to when they come," she said. "They fly right up over my house, and it's amazing and emotional to watch."
The Blue Angels program began in 1946 and costs about $40 million a year. Cancelling the bulk of the performing season would save about $28 million, according to Navy officials.

Because of the timing of the cuts, the Angels will still perform in March at the El Centro Air Show in southern California and the Southernmost Air Spectacular show in Key West, Florida.

The 130-person team, which includes seven pilots, consists of members who have served in high-level tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Should the budget cuts go into effect, the team would be reassigned until there is enough money for them to take to the skies again, Supple said.

Tickle, a 32-year-old from Birmingham, Alabama, said he was inspired to become an expert naval pilot after watching Blue Angels performances during family vacations to Pensacola when he was a child. He is now a lieutenant commander in the Navy and the Blue Angels' lead solo pilot.

"I remember looking up at these shining blue and gold precision aircraft and thinking, 'I want to do that.' It gave me a feeling of amazement and pride," he said.

This would be great news! Noisy ass planes!

[derspiess]

More backtracking.  Our quasi-socialist president admitted today the sequester won't be an apocalypse

[PDH]

Until he recommends that the government own the means of production I can't say he is a very good socialist.

[Sheilbh]

Until he recommends that the government own the means of production I can't say he is a very good socialist.

Here's to hoping

[Phillip V]

Will the sequester cause DC real estate prices to plummet?

I really think it's happening. A 2-bedroom townhouse's asking price I have been monitoring fell $15,000 in the past 10 days:

http://www.remax.com/realestatehomesforsale/13821claretct-chantilly-va-20151-gid400027424991.html

I'd guess it is more likely that they realized they wouldn't be able to get that price in this economy. Their initial ask was up 80% from what they purchased it at in '01. Also, they saw the one offer they had fall through before this drop.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13821-Claret-Ct-Chantilly-VA-20151/51786483_zpid/

Well hopefully more offers fall thought for all these properties.

Some economists predict that Virginia will enter a recession due to this sequester: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/us/politics/virginias-feast-on-us-funds-nears-an-end.html

[Razgovory]

More backtracking.  Our quasi-socialist president admitted today the sequester won't be an apocalypse

When are you guys going to drop the whole socialism thing?

[Phillip V]

More backtracking.  Our quasi-socialist president admitted today the sequester won't be an apocalypse

When are you guys going to drop the whole socialism thing?

When is Obama going to drop the whole socialism thing?

[derspiess]

More backtracking.  Our quasi-socialist president admitted today the sequester won't be an apocalypse

When are you guys going to drop the whole socialism thing?

When it stops eliciting a response from you types

[Razgovory]

I'm just concerned about you.  Delusions are sort of my bag, not yours.

[Admiral Yi]

The objection to the label socialist rests on one of two arguments. 

The first is that there is some sort of litmus test for socialism, such as a preference for state ownership of all the means of production, that Obama does not meet.  The problem with this one is we see in practice that there are all sorts of self-described socialists around the world who do not meet this test either. 

The second is that since everyone believes in the socialization of at least a few public goods, such as national defense, police protection, and perhaps social spending on retirees, that while technically true, it's meaningless to single out Obama since we are all socialists.  The problem with this argument is that it ignores the possibility of a difference of degree. 

The honest objection to the applying the term socialism to Obama and his policies is not that it is inaccurate but rather that it carries a negative connotation in the US.

[Razgovory]

So then when the GOP formally asked the Democratic party to change it's name to the "Democratic Socialist Party" it should have offered to change it's own name to the "Republican Socialist Party" as well?

[Admiral Yi]

So then when the GOP formally asked the Democratic party to change it's name to the "Democratic Socialist Party" it should have offered to change it's own name to the "Republican Socialist Party" as well?

The problem with this argument is that it ignores the possibility of a difference of degree.

[Razgovory]

Yeah, so should they have offered to change their name as well?  After all they certainly to a socialist to a degree.

[Admiral Yi]

Yeah, so should they have offered to change their name as well?  After all they certainly to a socialist to a degree.

The problem with this argument is that it ignores the possibility of a difference of degree.