Editor’s Note – As the ‘sequester’ deadline approaches, the public is exposed to just how our government works – that is, if they are paying attention. The measly amount that is set to be cut is being blown out of proportion by the President – this by the man who was for the ‘sequester’ before he was against it, even though his administration invented this version.

He blames the House of Representatives for the lack of negotiation because the Republicans control that body, but at last look, they were the only ones ever doing anything as is demonstrated by Speaker Boehner’s remarks today. But that still has not prevented the President, through his DHS Secretary to release illegal immigrants from prison using the ‘sequester’ as the excuse. From Business Insider:

House Speaker John Boehner got a bit unplugged during his weekly press conference today, pointedly telling the Senate to “get off their ass and do something” to find a way to avert the sequester. Boehner pushed a familiar refrain during a nearly 10-minute press conference: The House has twice passed legislation to replace the sequester’s spending cuts. Now, the Senate must act. “We should not have to move a third bill before the Senate gets off their ass and begins to do something,” Boehner said.  “The House has done its job,” Boehner added.

The across-the-board cuts of the sequester are set to begin kicking in at the end of this week. Boehner and other Republicans are locked in a battle with President Barack Obama and Democrats over how to avert those cuts. Obama is set to take his message to Newport News, Va., today to warn about the cutsThe bills passed by the House expired with the end of last Congress. But Boehner said that wasn’t an excuse for the Senate. “It’s time for the Senate to act. We’ve acted,” Boehner said, in a pointed tone. He said that if the Senate acts, the House would be prepared to act “quickly.”

Remember, the ‘sequester’ only reduces the rate of growth on the non-existent budget that was ballooned by TARP and ‘stimulus packages’ – next up – the ‘continuing resolution’ in place of any budget. As the right is demagogued incessantly, and the ‘optics’ focus on them by the MSM, ‘we the people’ get poorer by the second.

Why is the Senate not held accountable? Four plus years – no budgets, wonderful leadership. Scared now?

Illegal immigrants set free from detention centers as sequester approaches

By Stephen Dinan – The Washington Times

The sequester is officially still three days away, but the Obama administration already is making the first cuts, with officials confirming that the Homeland Security Department has begun to release what it deems low-priority illegal immigrants from detention.

The move is proving controversial. Immigrant-rights groups say it shows the administration was detaining folks it never should have gone after in the first place, while Republicans questioned the decision-making.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that runs the detention facilities, said in a statement that the “current fiscal climate” has forced it to do a review of spending, and part of that is taking a look at who is being detained.

“As a result of this review, a number of detained aliens have been released around the country and placed on an appropriate, more cost-effective form of supervised release,” ICE said in a statement.

While being released from detention, the illegal immigrants are usually still subject to supervision — either by electronic device or by being required to check in with ICE by phone or in person.

The move first was reported by The Huffington Post on Monday.

The sequesters are $85 billion in spending cuts this year, followed by equivalent cuts for the rest of this decade. They were set in motion by the 2011 debt deal and will require across-the-board cuts to all government spending save for entitlements such as Social Security.

The cuts take effect on Friday, and all sides on Capitol Hill say they want to avert them — though they cannot agree on how to do so.

The Obama administration, which wants to see the cuts replaced in large part by new tax increases, has warned that the sequesters will hurt national security.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Monday told reporters at the White House that she would be forced to furlough Border Patrol agents, pulling them from their rounds along the U.S.-Mexico border.

She also hinted at the decision to release illegal immigrants, saying she would not be able to maintain the full slate of 34,000 detention beds mandated by Congress.

“How am I supposed to pay for those? There’s only so much I can do,” she said.

United We Dream, an immigrant-rights group, said the releases show the administration has been keeping folks detained who never should have been there.

“Low-priority individuals — people who pose absolutely no risk or danger to society, but rather are upstanding members of their communities and families — should not have been locked up to begin with,” said Carolina Canizales, coordinator of United We Dream’s End Our Pain program.