WH: Fixing Air Traffic 'A One-Off Case'

For the past week, the White House has attempted to hurt the American public by creating unnecessarily negative results stemming from the sequestration deal originally designed by President Obama. The most prominent negative result was the furloughing of air traffic controllers, delaying flights across the country, and generating enormous unrest. On Thursday, the Congress voted to rectify that problem by granting the FAA the flexibility to shift funding to restore air traffic to its normal patterns.

But the fact that such a large problem had such a simple solution has now flustered the White House, which insists that all cuts are equally problematic. “This is a one-off case, if you will,” blustered White House press secretary Jay Carney on Friday. “The sequester itself cannot be finessed. It is having negative consequences around the country.” As to funding for the FAA, he said, “The fact is it’s a drop in the bucket, it’s a Band-aid over – I think it’s kind of a gross metaphor – but a big wound. The fact is this is a small amount of funding compared to the overall sequester. It’s $253 million.”

That is true. It is also true that not all problems are created equal, and that the White House wants to place itself in position to argue that forced cuts create tremendous everyday evils. That isn’t true. A bit of discretion goes a long way – and that’s why the Democrats are fighting discretion when it comes to sequestration.

Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the New York Times bestseller “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).