Here's a suggestion for the White House, which is getting a lot of blowback for canceling all White House tours due to the sequester: Consider cutting back the tours instead of canceling them. Does it really need to take, as the White House told the AP, 37 Secret Service agents to staff the tours? Maybe it would be possible to open fewer rooms to tours and use fewer agents ... or only allow tours three days a week.
One idea for cost savings that could be put toward saving the tours: Consider cutting back on the White House Easter Egg Roll. The Easter Egg Roll has snowballed to the point that this year, a whopping 35,000 guests will attend on Easter Monday to play on sports courts, attend cooking demonstrations, compete in games, listen to stories, meet famous athletes, and watch performers sing and dance on stages. I don't want to take away a great White House tradition, but perhaps it could be scaled back a bit, just as the tours could be, and both could survive intact.
[See a collection of political cartoons on sequestration and the fiscal cliff.]
The White House belongs to the people of the United States, and every citizen should have access to it. On the White House website, Michelle Obama says this:
This is really what the White House is all about. It's the 'People's House.' It's a place that is steeped in history, but it's also a place where everyone should feel welcome. And that's why my husband and I have made it our mission to open up the house to as many people as we can.
[Check out our editorial cartoons on President Obama.]
The White House is one of the most important symbols of our democracy. The Obamas need to keep the White House open to the American people.
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