Sequestration - needed cuts for the Federal Budget
zul32:
This is sort of a bitter-sweet situation. On one side, we're spending way too much money overall, and in some areas there really is a lot of waste. However, on the other side of it there are a lot of hard-working employees (myself included) that is earning our pay working for Uncle Sam, but come next month are going to be getting furloughs (unpaid leave) one day a week until the end of September. Overall, this is a good thing. But for those of us in our department, it's really going to hurt a lot of us.
If you look at the numbers - they say 'oh, it's just a 10% annual cut with the furloughs'. However, what they're not looking at is the immediate impact. One day a week without pay is really a 20% cut in pay! Personally, I'd rather have a permanent 10% cut in pay rather than be furloughed one day a week, but that's not negotiable.
What's also bad, is that this sequestration - sends cuts across the board rather than letting senior managment decide where to 'trim the fat' and save the money that way. Perhaps the furloughs could have been avoided, but it's going to take a vote up on Capital Hill for that to happen. And, I'm just not seeing that happening anytime soon in the near future.
This leads to even more speculation... suppose 3-4 months goes by and the furloughs are in place and then what about the next physical year? That starts October 1st... Are they going to continue with more furloughs? They haven't even addressed that at all.
Finally, even though it appears wall street is not hurt the average Joe out there is still recovering slowly from the old Housing market crash/recession we've been going through. Compile that on top of all these Federal employees that now won't be going out to dinner, the movies, buying their mocha lattes, buying new HDTV's, cars, etc this year..... well now the retail industry will be saying 'hey we're not getting as much business now... we'd better not hire any more new employees this year'. So, as you can see it's a pretty big economic domino-effect as well.
:(
[worms]
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BitburgAggie_7377:
Let's first get clear on what exactly the sequestration cuts.
It does not reduce the amount the government is allowed to spend compared to last year. What it does is reduce the scheduled INCREASE in the budget by 2% per year (since this fiscal year is half over, we're talking a reduction of 1% of the planned increase in spending). If we were talking family budgets, it would be as though your company had informed you that it plans to increase your salary by $100 per year for the next 10 years and then comes to you after a couple of years and says 'because the economy is as bad as it is and we don't have nearly the money we thought we had, we are only going to be able to increase your pay by $98 per year. You're still looking at having $98 to spend next year that you didn't have to spend this year. There is no reason to make painful cuts in your household budget to accommodate that "lost" $2.
However, the administration is behaving like a spoiled child and has decided that it will make the process as painful as possible for as many people as possible by making real cut to existing programs rather than looking for waste and fraud that can be eliminate either in it's current programs or in it's future expenditures.
Keep in mind, we're not talking a 2% decrease in how much the government is permitted to spend. We are talking about reducing by 2% how much ADDITIONAL they can spend going forward.
You're getting played and unfortunately most people (including way too many elected officials) are responding exactly how the administration wants them to respond, never mind the fact that the House has passed and submitted several budgets that would have avoided sequestration to start with which Senator Reid has not permitted the Senate to even consider and vote on.
BA
Posted on: March 07, 2013, 02:40:22 PM " However, the administration is behaving like a spoiled child and has decided that it will make the process as painful as possible for as many people as possible by making real cut to existing programs rather than looking for waste and fraud that can be eliminate either in it's current programs or in it's future expenditures."
For instance, it is the administration that is choosing to furlough you one day a week rather than choosing NOT to hire new workers to fill currently empty nonessential positions. Both would result in cuts to personnel budget (which may or may not be mandated by sequester) but one choice maximizes the amount of pain and pressure on Congress (specifically the House of Representatives since is the body that the Administration and the media have tagged as the "bad guys") while the other choice causes little or no increased inefficiency or pain.
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zul32:
Oh yes, I'm well aware it's supposed to be cuts on 'future' increases. However, they're cutting the 'current' paid employees salaries right now. And, as you stated, it's hitting us directly. Which, is absolutely wrong.
On a positive side of the furloughs.... I get to go out and go m/d once a week! ;D
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BitburgAggie_7377:
Yeah, and I feel your pain, but it isn't Congress that is doing it to you. In fact, in some cases it has been shown that the administration deliberately targeted cuts in areas that Congress specifically excluded from being subject to sequestration cuts in the legislation that established sequestration. But then again, what do you expect from an Administration that has not prepared and submitted a budget to Congress for consideration in the 4 years it has been in office? No budget means they can make cuts just about anywhere they d*mn well please and the more it hurts the more likely it is that they will get the tax increases they want since they will have "proven" that budget cuts are too painful and only increased tax (excuse me, "investment") revenue can solve the financial ailments. They were given tax increases at the start of the year, now they insist sequestration must be replaced with a "Balanced approach" of 'targeted' budget cuts (they won't say what they think should be cut only what they insist can't be cut) together with "tax revenue increases" (but only on the "wealthiest", the definition of which continually expands....watch for it to soon encompass the top 47% of Americans) achieved "mostly by closing" loop-holes such as mortgage deductions. They could kill a couple of birds with one stone by taxing ammunition at the same level as cigarettes (arguing that both are "health" hazards). And let's not forget the move to replace gasoline tax with a mileage tax---that will hit you a lot harder than someone living in New York. (When the Feds start requiring black boxes in all vehicles in September 2014 that particular tax becomes a whole lot more feasible).
BA
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GoldDigger1950:
Quote:Posted by BitburgAggie_7377It does not reduce the amount the government is allowed to spend compared to last year. What it does is reduce the scheduled INCREASE in the budget by 2% per year
This is exactly right. There are no true REDUCTIONS at all. Your bosses are spewing the Obama line of cuts when they are actually reductions in the amount of increase. There is going to be the same amount of money available as last year with a 98% condinuatioin of an increase. In other words, you are going to get 2% less than your branch asked for. That can be dealt with in any way your bosses may decide. If they are Democrats, they're going to scare you by talking about furloughs. If they are republicans, they're going to tell you to hunger down and spend less of your budget by at LEAST 2% which will more than cover the smaller increase.
Stop worrying. All of this sequester hysteria is just "Chicken Little" Obama saying that the sky is falling.
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Homefire:
Sorta Cracks me me up with all this crap!
The Gooberment says there Broke but they can spend Major Money on stuff like this?
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BitburgAggie_7377:
Yeah, what the administration is doing to folks like Zul (and less directly to the rest of us) is very much like my wife saying that since your boss is only giving you a $98 raise this year instead of a $100 raise, rather than serving the same quality and quantity of meals that I've served for the past several years, I'm going to completely withhold 1 dinner a week from what I serve you (even when the cost of the food and preparing the food has not gone up appreciatively). Talk about heavy-handed black-mail. Even the organized crime tends to not be quite that blatant.
BA
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itjisfo:
I too work for the Federal Government and can only say this is going to SUCK !!!! I agree that there is ways to cut spending but not on the back of the employees..
I am a Electronics Technician for the U.S. Dept. Of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons Myself and my co workers work in the most hostile place on the planet!!!
It did not make national news but 2 federal officers where murdered last week !! We are at war everyday every minute every second we step foot behind the fence !! I don't feel cuts should come out of the workers, spending yes but employees no [devil]
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GoldDigger1950:
Quote:Posted by itjisfoI too work for the Federal Government and can only say this is going to SUCK !!!! I agree that there is ways to cut spending but not on the back of the employees..
I am a Electronics Technician for the U.S. Dept. Of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons Myself and my co workers work in the most hostile place on the planet!!!
There are no cuts in any branch of government. Not one cent. What is going to happen is that instead of getting an INCREASE in your budget of say $1,000,000 for your prison, you will get an actual increase of $980,000 for your budget. Your last year's budget amount PLUS $980,000. You get MORE money than last year. With inflation below 1%, the 2% reduction in your increase will have negligible effect. The Obama administration is trying to scare you into screaming about the Republicans when you should be telling them to shut up.
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zul32:
Not only that.. but they're saying 'oh we need to cut 85 billion out of this year's budget...'
When it's a fact that Foreign aid is a 50 Billion (with a B) that we borrow from China.. then send it right out the door!
Oh, and not only that... Have you read the news lately? Lets go and give Syria another 60 million dollars! Right, we're getting furloughed, and they're shoving the money away from the Americans and on to people that don't even pay taxes.
>:(
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