Just over a month ago, the United States was gripped by the prospect of an approaching federal budget cut called the “sequester”. This constituted a very small trim of the federal budget during the current fiscal year, after which the budget would resume its normal upward trajectory in future years. In the last days of February, President Obama and other Democrats warned us about the consequences if the sequester was allowed to take place, warnings in which words like “disaster”, “devastating”, and “catastrophe” appeared often. Members of this very message board chimed in with explanations of why the sequester was “stupid” and “harmful”, would “hurt so much”, &c… &c… Some even went so far as to suggest that the Republicans were pushing the sequester because they deliberately wanted to create a new economy recession.
Thirty-four days later, I’ve somehow managed to survive the catastrophe, emerge unscathed from the disaster, escape the harm and stupidity and hurt. In fact I can’t name a single thing in my life that has changed as a result of the sequester. Obviously it can’t be the case that Obama and others mislead the American people about what would occur post-sequester. I’m assuming that the rampant devastation must have swallowed up most of the rest of the United States while missing my little corner of it. So is there anyone else out there who managed to avoid the airplanes that fell from the sky when the FAA cut its staff, wasn’t wiped out by the diseased meat that entered our supermarkets when food inspectors were furloughed, didn’t get trampled by hoards of the newly unemployed after the Republicans’ planned recession set it, and was not otherwise harmed by the sequester? Or am I the only one?
I know a number of people who work for the federal government or the various institutions that feed off it. None have suffered unduly from the sequester as far as I know. All continue to bring in a higher salary than I get from my private-sector job.
A quick search at a government website shows us that there doesn’t appear to be any shortage of government offices that are currently hiring, and salaries are not exactly low.
ITR champion, did you go to the World Series next year? Opening day was this week, so did you have fun at the thing that didn’t happen yet?
You probably haven’t figured out that most agencies haven’t actually implemented the cuts yet. Aside from eliminations of work travel and stopping new hires, virtually all of the actual cuts haven’t actually begun yet. FAA control towers shut down over the next month or so. DOD civilians begin furloughs in June. It’s not clear whether Border Patrol agents are going to be furloughed yet, the agency is still working that out.
So, no, I have neither been impacted by sequestration (well, actually a little, but it ain’t bad) nor have I received my Thanksgiving turkey yet. Stupid Pilgrims…
You searched for Senior Executive Service jobs. Of course the salaries aren’t low. Want me to show you a ton of listings for corporate executives that get paid far more?
Washington County Head Start will offer 10,000 fewer meals to needy families and lose 30,000 hours of educational and family development services.
4800 residents in Sacramento losing housing
175 workers losing their jobs at the US Army’s garrison, Rock Island Arsenal
1000 people losing out on food, because Murray, UT is closing one of their five food pantries
50 people laid off from Duke Clinical Research
26 laid off from Northrup Gruman’s Lawton, OK center
1600 people who would have found work now won’t in Saranac Lake, NY
20 employees forced to relocate, furloughed, or fired when a rehabilitation center in Alaska closes, and that’s not counting the patients who will no longer receive treatment.
11, possibly as many as 30, teachers laid off in Sioux City, IO
280 workers furloughed from the Hancock Field Air National Guard
15% of the workers at a missile test site in the Marshall Islands
100 children dropped from the Bethlehem Head Start program
19 people who might have found work at the Rio Grande Valley Head Start now won’t
84,000 school children facing shorter school weeks at military base schools, and teachers facing furlough
As many as 182 students dropped from Cincinnati Head Start
31 college students at NC Chapel Hill won’t have work study jobs
Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas will lose $2,000,000 in funding
As many as 50,000 healthcare jobs in Texas could disappear. Mine might be one of them.
33 students at the University of Tennessee won’t be getting their scholarships
168 people laid off from Ft. Lee in the next two months
Ironton, MO’s Head Start program will cut three weeks from its calendar
1,000 children in AZ will lose childcare because state funds have been cut
California stands to lose $180 million in medical and science research
Tellico Services in Knoxville, TN, is laying off 85 workers.
Laramie, WY Head Start is losing $36,700 in funding. They haven’t decided if they’ll cut staff or students
2600 employees of Southern California military bases may be furloughed
99,0000 people in Lancaster, PA will have their unemployment cut by 10$. Another 2,700 may lose it entirely
Hampton City Schools is laying off 193 staff members
Montana may have to return over $1 to the USDA
300 fewer people in Huntsville, AL will get housing vouchers
Unemployment in the state of UT will be cut by more than 12%
USDA is no longer reporting milk production, leaving dairy farmers with no idea how to price their milk. Instability for a crucial part of the food supply.
350 teachers will be laid off in North Carolina.
USS Thatch, Rentz, and Jefferson City have had their April deployments canceled.
Lewiston, ID is losing their airport
Mid-Florida Head Start employees are giving up their employer-side retirement fund contributions
Kalamazoo, MI’s, Housing Services’ Lease/Purchase Program gets no funding this year at all.
700 families in New Orleans had their Section 8 housing vouchers recalled.
6000 in ID have had their unemployment cut by more than 10%
Sacramento’s schools are losing $2.6 million in Special Ed funding
San Juan Unified School District in CA is losing $800,000 in Special Ed funding and more than $900,000 in funding for poor students
the Housing Authority in San Benito, TX, is losing 88% of its funding
Ann Arbor, MI, will serve 11,000 fewer meals to the impoverished elderly in its town
371 temp workers at the Anniston Army Depot no longer have jobs
31 families in Sherman, TX will lose their housing vouchers
These are stories that the Huffington Post collected in just a few hours. The longer you look and the more people you ask, the more small, medium, and large losses are going to show up.
Under sequester, everything is being cut from 5 to 10 percent. Unfortunately, “everything” doesn’t include snarky right-wing criticism of Obama. That goes up by 15% under the sequester. And then if the sequester is done away with later this year, the potshots increase another 11% on top of that.
We did this in another thread, but there are almost 150 airport control towers that will be closing. Some of them are suing over it. How much money will these lawsuits save?
I’m being furloughed 11 days. Just this week in my department the contractors laid off 8 people out of around 50. The other people are worried that there may be more cuts coming.
The sequester hasn’t really started yet, I don’t know of any agency that has started their furloughs yet since it’s required that 30-45 days are given before any furloughs are started.
It’s still unknown what kinds of things will be hit just in my department. In my department there is talk of the possibility of not printing every chart on time. We’ve never missed a chart printing that I know of.
The required minimum notification for federal employee furloughs is 30 calendar days. Federal contractors have no rights and can be laid off immediately.
As has been stated upthread, including details from phouka, sequestration is only just starting. Many federal agencies are doing what they can to absorb the cuts to reduce the public impact. However, not every cut can be absorbed internally, and a numbers of cuts are deliberately set to impact the public to make a point.
A boat filling with water rides lower and its maneuverability becomes more diminished. So at what point do you realize the hole in the hull was a bad idea? Maybe the former captain of the Costa Concordia can advise you of his decision process.