Just wanted to add my perspective as a 27-yr veteran of the fed gov’t with one of the biggest agencies. Our office has been told next to nothing about what might happen and how it might affect us.
That’s pretty understandable, because it is not at all uncommon for various “deadlines” to loom such that we’re not sure whether or not the doors will open tomorrow. Nearly every time some BS last minute deal occurs, rendering all the preparation and worry unnecessary. Of course in the process there has been however much downtime from people talking about what might happen, making unneeded plans, etc.
Last time the sequester was looming (was that in December?) I think they said worst case scenario would have folk furloughed 10 (or was it 20?) days. Honestly, it seems most folk intentionally turn a blind eye to this kind of bullshit. Otherwise, you can drive yourself crazy, trying to make sense of how you are regularly told to do more with less. And sure, there are some goldbricks around, but in general, the vast majority of folk I see are putting in a pretty full day’s work.
I’ve always been a top producer in every job I’ve held. And the simple fact is I don’t see myself cranking up my effort to make up for any 10-20 days for which I’m not getting paid. And if the top producers aren’t planning on stepping it up, I’d suggest there is little chance the more average workers will step up. If you want me to reduce the quality of my product to crank out more, I’d be happy to.
I’m all for reducing spending. But it would be nice if politicians and the public would acknowledge that you can’t keep cutting spending while providing/receiving the same services. And I can’t figure out how it works that each person gets to continue enjoying all of the public services they personally appreciate and value, with cuts only going to the programs and services OTHER FOLK benefit from.
And I’m fine with cutting all manner of programs and staff - from the military to social security and back again. But then don’t go whining about those folk being unemployed and not spending the $ they aren’t earning. And staff is a minute fraction of my Agency’s budget.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve got a good gig - as do many many gov’t employees.
But as stupid as this process looks from outside the government, my experience is that it looks just as stuipid, unnecessary, and undesireable from within. Meanwhile, the vast majority of government employees I encounter are just trying to do their jobs. I don’t think either the Dems or Repubs have shown any willingness to make any real spending reforms, or to even provide reliable commentary on the need or desirability of such reforms.