The looming sequester

[BigMikeH77 0]

Hi friends,

I wanted to share with you an e-mail that was waiting fo rme this morning. I've received no fewer than three similar notices, and in the past year there have been several times where I left work on Friday not expecting to return the following Monday.

It wreaks havoc on my nerves. Sometimes it keeps me up at nights. You see, I am a federal employee. I work for an office within the Department of the Interior that ensures oil and gas companies pay the royalties that they need to pay - usually to the federal government (that goes to you and me, the taxpayers), sometimes to tribes if a particular well is on tribal land.

As mundane as my job can sometimes be, it's an important job. My office pulls in billions upon billions of dollars in revenue each year, second only to the IRS.

Some people think that most federal employees are lazy, overpaid, etc... I assure you that this really isnt the case. I went to college. I served in the Army and in Iraq. In my career I've built spacecraft for Lockheed Martin, managed IT operations for three different government entities, and now I'm here with the DOI.

I'm a divorced dad of two awesome kids who think it's the neatest thing when I do my base leg right over the picnic table at the DZ, and they shout to me and wave. My son likes to jinx my landings and watch me PLF. My daighter pretends that her stuffed animals have parachuhtes. :-)

I'm just like every other working guy and gal that is trying to make it today. I rely on my paycheck to put a roof over my head and pay my child support and keep my lights on and my stomach happy.

I'm not asking you to take action, make phone calls, etc.. I just want you to read this e-mail and imagine yourself in my situation and ask "why?"... I hope that our elected officials can get it together, and that right quick. Thanks for reading.
-Michael
___________________________________________
From: Secretary of the Interior
I write this memorandum with a heavy heart as we prepare to implement sequestration reductions on March 1, 2013. I maintain hope that Congress will act and reach agreement on a balanced deficit reduction plan that avoids these senseless cuts. However, with the deadline only days away, we are finalizing our plans and have started taking immediate actions to prepare for the devastating impacts.

The President has stated that the sequester is bad policy and I agree. The sequester is an across-the-board reduction that slashes activities without discretion and will reduce the level of direct services we provide to the American public across the country. It will have a wide range of long-term destructive consequences for our mission and programs – negatively impacting our entire workforce. I promised you that we would share what we knew as soon as information was available. Although we are still finalizing our implementation plans, we expect the following:

All of our 76,000 employees will face challenges in performing their mission. We are facing incredibly difficult choices in how to implement the sequester. I want to be clear that there are no good choices – all of the choices we make have negative long-term consequences on our ability to perform our mission. All of the tools that we are using to mitigate impacts of this indiscriminate reduction will nonetheless have impacts on your ability to perform your mission and serve the American public. We are implementing hiring freezes, reducing overtime, reducing travel, eliminating conferences, reducing training, reducing contracts, reducing cooperative agreements, and reducing grants – each of these has a negative impact on mission delivery.

Thousands of permanent employees will be furloughed. While we are still finalizing our implementation plans, we expect that thousands of permanent employees will be furloughed for periods of time up to 22 work days. The specific numbers of employees and the duration will vary from bureau to bureau and program to program. You can expect to hear more next week from your bureau and office leadership about potential impacts within your organization. Let me assure you that all affected employees will be provided at least 30 days notice prior to executing a furlough or in accordance with the designated representative collective bargaining agreement as appropriate. We will also continue to engage in discussions with employee unions as appropriate, to ensure that any furloughs are applied in an appropriate manner meeting agency mission requirements. If you have questions on this issue, I would encourage you to go to the Office of Personnel Management website, which has helpful information and answers to frequently asked questions regarding furloughs (found at www.opm.gov/furlough, under the “administrative furlough” section).

Many seasonal employees will be furloughed, have delayed starts, shortened employment periods, or will not be hired at all. Our seasonal workforce is an essential part of our workforce. Many of our seasonal employees come back year after year to perform our mission. They fight fires, provide visitor services to millions of Americans, and perform vital field and scientific work. Many of our seasonal employees will be furloughed, have delayed starts, or face shortened employment periods. In some cases, we will not have the financial resources to hire seasonal employees at all. All seasonal employees that are furloughed will be provided at least 30 days notice prior to execution of the furlough.

We will be unable to hire the number of students that we had planned – halting the progress on youth hiring of the last 4 years. Our students are a vital part of our workforce today and integral to the Interior workforce of tomorrow. We will be unable to meet our youth hiring goals. We also expect significant reductions to our cooperative agreements with our partners that fund youth work crews and are the foundation for our vision of a 21st Century Conservation Corps. Our inability to hire students and enter into cooperative agreements will have lasting impacts as these young people are forced to find work elsewhere and ultimately make different long-term employment choices.

I want to be clear that the sequester’s impacts will be felt long beyond the next 7 months. Indeed it threatens the long-term viability and execution of our mission. The sequester will compromise our ability to implement the President’s all-of-the-above energy strategy due to reductions in oil, gas, and coal development programs. Middle-class Americans who expected to spend their summer vacations at our 398 national parks, 561 refuges, and over 258 public land units will encounter reduced hours and services or even closures. Local communities and businesses that rely on these great outdoor places to support their livelihoods will face a loss of income from reduced visitation to national parks, refuges, and public lands. Basic community services supported by the grants and payments we make to states and counties throughout the country will be cut. We also anticipate reductions in the level of support services to Tribes, which again translates into reductions in basic services to millions of tribal members. Given our large footprint on the American landscape and the diverse constituency our programs support, we expect that impacts to the public will be felt in hundreds of communities around the Nation.

Over the last 4 years we have made great progress by working together to deliver on a bold agenda that is generating significant results and includes reforms of the oil and gas programs, creation of a renewable energy frontier, renewed commitments to conservation through America’s Great Outdoors, a focus on job creation through greater support of the conservation economy, stronger relationships with Native Americans, and high employment levels of youth. The sequester will roll back many of these advances and reduce the capacity we so diligently constructed.

It is my earnest hope that this senseless but avoidable crisis will be averted. Please know that I am working around-the-clock, tirelessly advocating on your behalf and on the behalf of the millions of Americans who rely upon our services. Thank you for your service and perseverance in this most difficult time.

[Skyrad 0]

Once again in plain English?

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[rehmwa 2]

Congress's inability to prioritize and rationally cut spending to levels that can be supported by tax payers will directly result in laying off those public sector employees that work for a living.

this results in threats such as: schools will close, mail will stop, police and fire will reduce, we'll be overrun, your public sector friends will be jobless. all so each congress critter can continue to claim they are fighting for their pet wasteful programs.

also, of course, caused by not being offered a reasonable budget

also, of course, caused by the fuzzy math of government budgeting where getting more money can still be emotionally cried as a 'cut' so that department heads can send horrible stressful memorandums to scare their employees all under the guise of thanking them for their sacrifices - in the hope that it'll motivate people to spend more and increase their budgets slightly more than the increase they will get.

etc
etc
etc

BigMike's post decries that his department will die if they don't get their money, but no where does it offer up who else should be cut or closed or cancelled to cover for them. the only thing is it's personalized to lean on sympathies and guilt. It sucks - but who's gonna pay for it?

Funny thing - private sectors cut and furlough, etc, all the time. and just taking more from the public to pay for these jobs -> I'd like to see all the e-mails from those employers that note how many people would be laid off to just continue the current outrageous growth in government.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[rushmc 18]

Since this whole thing was Obama's idea to begin with
I guess he liked the sequster before he didnt like it

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[rushmc 18]

BTW. even if the sequester happens, next years budget will be bigger than this years

So it is only a cut in growth, not actual spending

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[normiss 622]

While we clearly need both.

[BigMikeH77 0]

There are lots of ways to make things more effiicient, and there are lots of different things that can be done. I'm not an economist, nor a politician. I don't create budgets or decide who gets hired or fired.

Simply put, im plain english, the sequester is a senseless austerity measure. Austerity doesn't work. If someone had fallen overboard a ship, and was barely keeping afloat, would you throw them a dumbbell and say "you'd better get in shape if you want to be able to climb back aboard"? I ask because that's exactly what the sequester will accomplish.

I'm not trying to make anyone feel guilty, I'm simply putting a face, name, and story to something that seems bigger than all of us yet affects every one of us.

My department will not DIE, but it's ability to effectively do perform its mission will be severely hampered. That's not a personal consequence, but me not being able to afford rent, child support, food, etc. is.

[rushmc 18]

Quote

While we clearly need both.

and more

a 50% reduction in Fed employees would be a good start

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[rehmwa 2]

the sequester is a generic solution to try to get the budget under control - mostly military, but across the board of something like 1.5% cuts (who has the real numbers???). I'd like the real number to see if it's a number that could be cut, typically, without huge layoffs, etc......If not, then we are admitting that (for discussion sake) 98.5% of the work is overhead - that's certainly not efficient.

It's only in place because the exec and legis branches are failing to budget in a responsible way. They can't control their spending.

If we keep going the way we are - continuous tax increases to support a growing administration - then fathers and workers and helpers and all sorts of others in the private industry will be in the exact same place.

It's not that there is no sympathy, it's about who gets the sympathy. Perferential sympathy toward whatever group(s) are currently in front of us at the time won't fix the problem - it's just using a credit card to pay for the other credit card until the next card comes due......

The sequestor is supposed to be a threat to get congress and the president to budget smarter. It's sickening that, instead, it's just another political lever to them.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[BigMikeH77 0]

Quote

a 50% reduction in Fed employees would be a good start

How it come across if someone said that they think you ought to not have your job, that half of the people at your company should just be fired because you don't agree with the way it does business, consequences be damned?

Not very nice, I'd say.

[mirage62 0]

Hey,

The sequester was a dumb idea, it was by all accounts the presidents idea. Give the president credit he will (has) turned this toward the Rep. In the end it appears that this "new" fight will be over the idea of closing loop holes now. We've raised taxes ont eh"rich" we charges back the 2% to everyone but the idea of cutting 2-3% out of the federal gov is undoable?? Shouldn't the president come up with the cuts now? We don't have to have the sequester - we have to have the cuts.

I hate them all

Kevin Keenan is my hero, a double FUP, he does so much with so little

[rushmc 18]

Quote

Quote

a 50% reduction in Fed employees would be a good start

How it come across if someone said that they think you ought to not have your job, that half of the people at your company should just be fired because you don't agree with the way it does business, consequences be damned?

Not very nice, I'd say.

It is not about nice
It is about survivial

And I went through a 26% reduction already

Time for the fed to do it

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Sorry as someone who's worked in IT in the private sector since the mid 1980s, as someone who has worked at more than 25 different organizations (some times it was my choice to leave, sometimes I was told to leave, sometimes leaving was the only logical choice for both parties), I have little sympathy when a government worker whines about a possible job loss. When you are ready, come join us in the real world where layoffs happen all the time, where we learn to adapt to an ever changing job market and where we never feel we are entitled to a "job for life".

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

Quote

a 50% reduction in Fed employees would be a good start

How it come across if someone said that they think you ought to not have your job, that half of the people at your company should just be fired because you don't agree with the way it does business, consequences be damned?

Not very nice, I'd say.

actually, I think a few posters here have done exactly that to him.....



if Fed employee says "we just need more taxes so I can keep my job" - can it also be read as "two people need to be laid off so I can keep my job"?

not nice either -

the mission of the government needs to be cleaned up and streamlined too

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[beowulf 1]

Quote

Quote

a 50% reduction in Fed employees would be a good start

How it come across if someone said that they think you ought to not have your job, that half of the people at your company should just be fired because you don't agree with the way it does business, consequences be damned?

Not very nice, I'd say.

I am sorry but you don't have my sympathy. Lots of people in the private sector get laid off all of the time. Why are you special?

[rushmc 18]

Quote

Hey,

The sequester was a dumb idea, it was by all accounts the presidents idea. Give the president credit he will (has) turned this toward the Rep. In the end it appears that this "new" fight will be over the idea of closing loop holes now. We've raised taxes ont eh"rich" we charges back the 2% to everyone but the idea of cutting 2-3% out of the federal gov is undoable?? Shouldn't the president come up with the cuts now? We don't have to have the sequester - we have to have the cuts.

I hate them all

Dont forget the upcoming continuing resolution issue coming the end of March

Gov shut downs already being talked about

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[BigMikeH77 0]

Quote

Sorry as some who's worked in IT in the private sector since the mid 1980s, as someone who has worked at more than 25 different organizations (some times it was my choice to leave, sometimes I was told to leave, sometimes leaving was the only logical choice for both parties), I have little sympathy when a government worker whines about a possible job loss. When you are ready, come join us in the real world where layoffs happen all the time, where we learn to adapt to an ever changing job market and where we never feel we are entitled to a "job for life".

I do not in any way feel entitled to anything but time with my children and the medals on my uniform. If someones department deems a job no longer needed, than so be it. Senselessly slashing jobs just for the sake of doing so is no justification for putting people on the dole.

[billvon 2,400]

>Shouldn't the president come up with the cuts now?

He can't - only Congress can pass spending bills.

>We don't have to have the sequester - we have to have the cuts.

Agreed. But that would mean that Congress has to make a decision, and they don't want to do that.

[rushmc 18]

Quote

Sorry as some who's worked in IT in the private sector since the mid 1980s, as someone who has worked at more than 25 different organizations (some times it was my choice to leave, sometimes I was told to leave, sometimes leaving was the only logical choice for both parties), I have little sympathy when a government worker whines about a possible job loss. When you are ready, come join us in the real world where layoffs happen all the time, where we learn to adapt to an ever changing job market and where we never feel we are entitled to a "job for life".

+1

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

I do not in any way feel entitled to anything but time with my children and the medals on my uniform. If someones department deems a job no longer needed, than so be it. Senselessly slashing jobs just for the sake of doing so is no justification for putting people on the dole.

ABSOLUTELY!! The scrub needs to be smart. But it has to happen and congress and the president don't have the balls to do it right.

I'm not saying you are appealing to sympathy. I know it seems harsh from the replies here. But I do think that the politicians and department heads are trying to do just that - appeal emotionally on a topic that should be done logically.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

>Shouldn't the president come up with the cuts now?

He can't - only Congress can pass spending bills.

isn't the president supposed to propose a budget?

are you satisfied that he's proposed budgets that have actually decreased true spending?

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[billvon 2,400]

>isn't the president supposed to propose a budget?

Yes. Congress then passes any laws that actually cut (or increase) spending.

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

>isn't the president supposed to propose a budget?

Yes. Congress then passes any laws that actually cut (or increase) spending.

well, that's one question. don't be shy about the other one

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[beowulf 1]

Quote

Quote

>isn't the president supposed to propose a budget?

Yes. Congress then passes any laws that actually cut (or increase) spending.

well, that's one question. don't be shy about the other one

Good luck!

[billvon 2,400]

>are you satisfied that he's proposed budgets that have actually decreased true
>spending?

Nope. I haven't seen a budget proposal yet that has decreased true spending.