that will take folk friday, march 1. the administration amping up the pressure by releasing state by state details what those cuts would mean. in virginia, loss of $146 million in army based operational funding. in california, an $87.6 million cutting in primary and secondary schools. texas, 2.2 million less in assistance for the unemployed. biggest concern for many governors is the effect on the economy. you know, lot of us feel as though the economy is starting to come back and right at the time where we would like to see it accelerate, this could really put a lamb on the brakes. very fact that we have a sequester represents some kind of major failure in governance. also today, members of the president s cabinet are firing back against criticism from republicans. the white house is using scare tactics and overhyping the impact of the sequester. what do you make of secretary lahood, a republican blaming
good morning and welcome to early start. i m ali velshi. zoraida is off today. i like these hours. i m eating a hot dog this morning. i love that about you, ali velshi. i m ashleigh banfield. it is 5:01. it s the holiday but this fourth of july is less about celebration and more about patience for many americans. and in some cases, even survival. because for six days now there have been many of your fellow countrymen with no power in this extraordinary heat wave. at least 20 people have now died since thursday when deadly storms slammed the east, slammed the midwest. and about 1.2 million people are still waiting to get their power back, to get a fan on, to get the ac back. this is right across the country. here are the states without power today. power companies are repairing damaged transmitters as fast as they can, but customers still could be waiting until the weekend. still until the weekend until they can get that electricity back. and all of this, while those u
here. everybody is getting all upset about big money in politics, big money in the presidential campaign, and meanwhile the government, the government can drop taxpayer dollars on promoting the signature initiative of this administration in a politicized environment, and everyone thinks, oh, this is just what government does. i mean, it s martha: i mean, i think that if anything, you know, it sort of should spark people to ask that question about all of these agencies. i mean, we have a list of what they spend on these public service announcements, and it is unbelievable. i mean, is this a correct expenditure for any administration and, of course, every one of them s going to use the money to promote the things they think will help, they ll say that will help the public and also help them get reelected, but the defense department spent $473 million in 2011 on expenditures on advertising ro motion, health and human services, $87.6 million. you know, this is a small percentage of the m