1 Obama has control of who will have to take a short unpaid (initially) vacation.

2 Drew-
Please acknowledge that some of us who will be hurt by this aren't complaining, and in fact, support the sequester.

3 They were on the news a few days ago complaining that if they get laid off a few days the law prohibits them from getting a temporary job on the outside.


I have some news for you.  There are no temporary jobs on the outside. Thank your current boss.

4 I thought sequestration could be avoided if Congress sent a balanced-budget amendment to all of the States.....

5 on 9/11/01 I was in grad school and working full time, in the spring of 2002 I lost my job and quickly got a much better one making about $120k a year, by february, of 2003 I was at MCRDPI becoming a Marine because I felt like I needed to do something

fast forward to 2007 and getting out of the Marines, I have done nothing but wait tables, work for myself and my wife and eventually go back to school because this economy sucks and its near impossible to re-enter a decent industry - I finish law school in May, I am going to continue to work my ass off, and be annoyed at any public sector person that complains to me about not getting a raise etc etc - try no having a decent job

buncha cry babies

6 This seems like a good thread to repost this which was posted on a nearly dead thread this morning. ABC's '57 Terrible Consequences of Sequestration' http://abcn.ws/YpBSCr

7 Chickens coming home......to roooosttt.

8

I took a 100% pay cut 5 years ago.

 

*thump thump thump*

 

Nope, the  needle on   my  Give-a-Shit-Ometer still hasn't moved.

9 Hey you guys..awesome... just saw a girl about eight carrying a cute little pink ,22

10 Share the wealth, share the pain.

11 the federal workforce, which used to be known as, "a multitude of New Offices, and "swarms of Officers" who harassed "people, and eat out their substance, You Guys!" (Stuff Jefferson Actually Said, Vol I, Abridged),

12 I may be the only one, but dammit, I'm proud to serve my country as a DoD civilian, and very grateful for the wage I'm pulling down as a GS-12. ($68,809. It's a matter of public record.) I'm glad we haven't had a pay hike in a couple years. A couple percentage points don;t make much difference for my paycheck, but they make a huge difference to the nation's balance sheet. I'm sorry it's come to a furlough, but I'm about my country first, and my convenience second. We need to make a lot of cuts, and if we can't get them through a logical budgeting process, then I guess it'll have to be the sequester. It's the best of the bad options. And finally, those union pukes do NOT speak for me.

13 My daughter makes very little money which, frankly, is appropriate for the work she presently does. Her employer, rather than laying off employees, offered the option of letting each employee take 5 unpaid holidays per year. Guess which option they took. And, they didn't bitch and moan about it either.

14 Hey you guys ... great line about CCW.. I'd rather be judged by twelve than carried by six

15 What #8 said.

16 Yeah, try some of that apology stuff, GOP. Wolf Blitzer, et al, have all the microphones. Teh stupids want it all, and are not willing to give up anything. Will we see the kinds of rioting as seen in Greece? If not now, when? Will anyone be willing to counter those eventual riots? Will only the cops be there with their shields, their water hoses, their tasers?

17

Unpaid Vacation?

These draconian measures MUST be curtailed!

18 Let the government auctions begin! 

I've been shopping around for an affordable ICBM silo.

19 Momentarily OT. From Drudge North Korea on Sunday warned the top U.S. military commander stationed in South Korea that his forces would "meet a miserable destruction" if they go ahead with scheduled military drills with South Korean troops,.. They wouldn't have pulled this shit on Reagan.

20 Trying my best to give a shit about this terrible situation.... Just kidding.

21 For the most part I agree, but this is hitting the federal law enforcement side, to include the CIA, as well. It might not bother me that labor officials are getting hit where it hurts, but I personally am not excited to see it hit counter terrorism analysts or FBI agents. I am myself a member of the military and am already feeling the pain. Training for my soldiers and friends is being canned, flight hours are being reduced, and I've instructed my guys to start hoarding basic necessities like toilet paper, soap, and printer paper. It's going to get much worse.

22 Drew, linky to the article on whiny union workers?

23 Unpaid vacations? Pfftt. Haven't had a paid vacation since 1988.

I've been on straight commission for 25 years. Left a good salaried job with company car, strong bonus, and good bennies in order to see if I could carve out a bigger slice for myself, and did. Been very tough these last 4 years, but i wouldn't change a thing.

Many in what I call "institutionalized" salaried positions would do well to learn what it's like to only be able to eat what they can shoot.

24 During the last phony government shutdown the workers that were laid off (mostly in public park type things) were paid when the budget was finally approved.  IOW they got another free paid vacation.



It was all phony BS which they then blamed the GOP and Newt and the press had a field day.

25 @21 The CIA is not on the federal law enforcement side.  They are the people who have to break laws *wink wink* from time to time.

26 In the great post cold war draw down we lost almost 400 ships and over half our aircraft. What we did not lose was one single solitary civilian. So, yeah, I've got all kinds of empathy here.

27 A friend of mine said that the hood guy is saying he's going to have to close air traffic towers. Friend said he heard it on his radio news cast. If they are saying stuff like that they must be desperate. We are supporting public workers anyway. They are keeping their jobs, they still have absolutely no clue what it feels like in the rest of the country.

28 Something else that needs to be pointed out: political appointees are immune from the furloughs.  How convenient!

29 Posted by: GIJared at February 23, 2013 01:00 PM (1nngQ)


The cuts are small and it is up to the sole discretion of Obama who will be sent home.  For example, if they cut the consultants at the FAA the entire sequester mess would be solved with NO other layoffs.

30 I just saw an Upworthy post about Bernie Sanders bitching about the Koch Brothers trying to buy elections.  This is all of four months after the reelection of Barack Obama. 

Fuck, this country is stupid.  Nobody can follow this sequestration shit, it would take more than two seconds to understand. 

Democracy, the rule of the mob.  Get used to it, because it isn't going anywhere. 

31 Sucks. I'm one of the DoD civilians told that there's going to be 22 furlough days over 6 months. It's a 20% pay and hour cut over 6 months. That's definitely a hardship. Still, when I said let it burn, I had no illusions that I wouldn't also be burned.

And fuck the government workers' unions. Those things shouldn't exist anyway.

32 It's not a 20% pay decrease for the year. It's a 20% pay decrease for half the year--that's only a 10% reduction in pay for the year.

33 " I am going to continue to work my ass off, and be annoyed at any public sector person that complains to me about not getting a raise etc etc - try no having a decent job buncha cry babies Posted by: seaniep" I have a sister in law who is a newly retired union teacher. She's been blubbering about the fact that as a 61 year old retiree she has to pay 20% of the insurance premiums for herself and her husband. 80% of her and her husband's health insurance is paid for by the taxpayers and she's complaining. Meanwhile, she has never said ONE word about my sister's husband who lost jobs in manufacturing twice in one year. She's never said one word about my health insurance premiums, which I pay entirely on my own, going up $148 per month instead of the usual $10 per month.

34 A friend of mine said that the hood guy is saying he's going to have to close air traffic towers. Friend said he heard it on his radio news cast. *** Desperate doesn't begin to cover it. Check out the cuts laid out by ABC at the link I provided above. Treason isn't the right word for it but, it's close. They are threatening to abandon some national security functions.

35 ABC's '57 Terrible Consequences of Sequestration'[\i] #1 Fewer flights because less ATC's #2 Longer lines at airports 2 + 2 = ELEVENTY!

36 This is such utter bullshit.  Crisis my ass.

37 we were notified of our agencies sequestration options yesterday. The 80 or so people I work with took the news fairly well. The ones who bitched that I talked to I reminded them that the ~$3000 pay cut we will take first is better than no job and second is more than a marine will take home in hazard pay getting their dicks blown off daily. For some reason that seems to stifle too much bitching. Outside the beltway with my agency we'll get to actually take the day off. Some of my brothers in DC though will get to work for free. Still bitching is at a minimum. WE know the problem needs to be fixed. Way I see it I get to have 7-12, three day weekends over the next few months.

38 A good share of these union people voted for TFG because he supposedly did such a great job fixing the economy. I'm mean enough to be looking forward to at least some of the Obama voters losing their employer paid for health insurance. Let them live with the consequences of liberal policies.

39 I stiil don't understand how this was the administraton's idea and when it's coming to fruition they want to pass the blame off to the republicans And I don't understand why the republicans are so happy to take the blame. The world has gone mad. Sorry people are losing their pay but think about the people who have lost their jobs then their houses and are not able to find any work anywhere.

40 From this morning:

Obama says will have to shut down airports. The FAA’s budget for “consultants” is larger than all of the sequester.

http://is.gd/6nP5Me

41 American, take a pink slip, so we don't have to.

42

This is such utter bullshit. Crisis my ass.

Posted by: huerfano at February 23, 2013 01:08 PM (bAGA/)

 

----------

 

Well, there is a 'crisis', and it's too good to waste.  So Owebama's demogogue mode will kick into high dudgeon.

43

Treason isn't the right word for it but, it's close. They are threatening to abandon some national security functions.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at February 23, 2013 01:07 PM (piMMO)

 

Extortion?

44 ...this is an administrative furlough, though--we _don't_ get paid for our furlough days when they end, as has happened in the past.

I would NEVER suck on the government teat (besides, um, being paid by the taxpayer), but I've seen DC area govies bitch because they won't be able to draw unemployment because they can't take all 22 furlough days in a row--you have to take one a week. Well, duh--if the goal (at least on paper) is to save money, they're not going to set it up so you can get unemployment.

People in DC live way beyond their means--the bitching is going to be epic when the sequester begins. Just keep getting the word out that this was the tyrant's bright idea.

45 Extortion? *** That's the perfect word for it.

46 Turn Washington DC into Detroit. The utterly debauched, corrupt madhouse that is DC deserves that and more. The scumbags of DC are wasting (not investing--codeword for waste) billions per day. Millions per minute. Programs out of DC always fail. The US is headed for a fiscal and economic disaster with the huge deadweight of an incorrigibly corrupt federal government submerging the country under a mountain rage of debt and parasatism. Obama is an obviously ridiculous joke totally dependent on hardcore, Goebbelsian liars in the press and government to prop up his useless, monstrous administration. What is really sick is that so many of the public sector punks use their "work" time to post promisicously on assorted websites. The Washington Post site is lousy with fedgov vermin.

47 Is it true they will euthanize all zoo animals in America if the Republicans don't do something?  Or is it just the cute ones?

48 A friend of mine just said "rule of thumb for sequestration. If you are important you are furloughed. If you are researching the mating habits of piping plovers, you get to work overtime and extra pay". Everyone is laughing but that is closer to the truth than they want to believe.

49 Is it true they will euthanize all zoo animals in America if the Republicans don't do something? Or is it just the cute ones? *** Only the furry ones.

50 So much waste and they go after payroll... cause that is where the most visible pain is.  It is all theater for the Obama-media.  This is all a sham and the media will lap it into a frenzy; rinse ; repeat.

51 Sorry people are losing their pay but think about the people who have lost their jobs then their houses and are not able to find any work anywhere.

Thanks.  I think about them as well.  However, there is a line between wanting to solve a problem (overspending) and just plain wishing ill on people, many of whom are fine, hardworking folks who do necessary jobs.  Lots of people here are looking for vengeance, not solutions, but solutions are what we need.

52 Unfortunately, the furloughs will hit the DOD's longterm R&D capability. Guess why? Because some people hit by the furlough have the skills and are in great demand in private industry, and being mostly young (because of the vagaries of DOD hiring) will not hesitate long in moving on, at least those of us who do not choose stay out of dedication to the mission of supporting the country and the warfighter in military technology. I am talking about scientists and engineers here, not lifelong bureaucrats or paperpushers, most of whom will hang on and power past the furloughs because they have no other choice and no other options. Oh well. Something has to be done, and when no one will wield the scalpel, it eventually comes time to wield a hammer.

53 Only the furry ones.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at February 23, 2013 01:13 PM (piMMO)

With the sad eyes

54 "Jorge Figueroa who works in quality control for the unemployment insurance division..."

LOLZ!  Like that even exists!

55 "32 It's not a 20% pay decrease for the year. It's a 20% pay decrease for half the year--that's only a 10% reduction in pay for the year. Posted by: discontinuity" And the average income of families has gone down something like $3700 per family. Plus there has been terrible inflation of grocery prices and gas prices. Wouldn't know how crappy things are from listening to the liberal news media.

56 So help me, if anyone who works for the Federal government has the nerve to whine in front of me, it will be all I can do not to say "Shut up, you pathetic parasite, you work for me."

57 Is it true they will euthanize all zoo animals in America if the Republicans don't do something? Or is it just the cute ones? *** I just tweeted that. #ScandalousSequesterThreats ! All zoo animals will be promptly euthanized. Yes. Even the cute ones. (credit to Dang)

58 47 Ugly ones stay. Cute ones go.

59 Democrats should be pissed about sequester, Republicans should be foaming at the mouth about this farce. I can see the Sunday shows now, stupid hanging curve ball questions taken for strike three. The bat will not get off the shoulder. (bonus if that makes any sense to you, dear reader)

60 That should read 'Because some people hit by the furlough have the skills THAT are in great demand, etc etc'

61 "We are just living from one paycheck to another, and this could be really bad for us,” said Jorge Figueroa"


Welcome to Obama's America, fuckstick.  Now (and I've always wanted to say this to a government employee) GET IN LINE!

62

Ugly ones stay. Cute ones go.

 

-----

 

There are cute goonion members?

63 Children will now be forced to view the carcasses of their beloved baby goats, ponies cows, chicks, duckling, etc. in petting zoos across America.

64 Not a word about foreign aid? Seems we could cut that first.

65

The scumbags of DC are wasting (not investing--codeword for waste) billions per day.

 

Heh, "investment." I'd like to see some green-eyeshade-types do a little ROI stuff on that claim.

 

It definitely  wouldn't have a plus sign  after it.

66 Our town has these tiny little piloted bulldozer/snowblower thingies specifically for clearing sidewalks. You see them for days after a snowstorm, inning along and making a mess. Where did the money for those things and their pilots come from? Obamastash!!! Well, I suspect.

67 51 Sorry people are losing their pay but think about the people who have lost their jobs then their houses and are not able to find any work anywhere. Thanks. I think about them as well. However, there is a line between wanting to solve a problem (overspending) and just plain wishing ill on people, many of whom are fine, hardworking folks who do necessary jobs. Lots of people here are looking for vengeance, not solutions, but solutions are what we need. Posted by: pep at February 23, 2013 01:14 PM (6TB1Z) I don't think anyone is looking for vengeance. I think everyone has experience dealing with employees who have treated them less than optimally. Employees who have forgotten that they have their jobs because the American people pay for those jobs. So those who seem thrilled at having these people experience what the private sector has experienced probably think that this little furlough will do them some good. They'll realize that elections have consequences and that there is no grove of money trees in DC. Sadly they probably will learn nothing from this experience, will continue to treat the public with disdain and will become even more impossible to deal with as they will build themselves up as never before. It will back fire.

68 @52
Nicely timed.  You describe me, except for the young part.  I'd like to hire some young postdocs to take over when I retire, but can't because of the freeze and budget cuts.  It's actually harder than you might think for them to get other jobs right now, at least the ones they'd like, but they will eventually get jobs.  And that will be more good people who won't be available to bolster the country's defense, not to mention the kid starting college and pondering whether or not to go into the sciences and concluding that it isn't worth it.

69 a quick look seems to show that most of the increase in Federal workers falls in the Department of Defense and Veterans areas

70 3 They were on the news a few days ago complaining that if they get laid off a few days the law prohibits them from getting a temporary job on the outside.

Posted by: Vic at February 23, 2013 12:51 PM (53z96)

Eh?  I'm one of those DoD goons who will likely be having 22 Fridays free during this fiscal year (oh, the humanity) but I was thinking of seeking side gigs doing web development or something--perhaps through a pimp--to make up for reduction in income.  It's been a long time since my indoctrination/soul extraction so I don't recall a prohibition upon other part-time employment per se.  There are, certainly, ethical or opsec concerns with certain employers.

71 #ScandalousSequesterThreats Delta to stop offering Biscoff cookies on all domestic flights.

72 #ScandalousSequesterThreats New Darth Vader costume: perriwinkle blue, because black is just so... depressing.

73 #ScandalousSequesterThreats No more SMASH!

74 It's the funderfunding of government employees! Isn't that supposed to be fun?

75 This getting bad you guys.  Really bad...

"Zoo Death Panels are assessing each animal with a eye to head size ratio.  Animals with larger eyes are going first.  A waiver has been issued to reptiles.  Baby animals that are nursing will be euthanized in their mother's arms, talons, or whatever,  on live television,  again - and I can't stress this enough,  unless Republicans do something."  -Leo Tard,  The Peoples Protector of All Things Governmenty

76 From Drudge

North Korea on Sunday warned the top U.S. military commander stationed in South Korea that his forces would "meet a miserable destruction" if they go ahead with scheduled military drills with South Korean troops,..

They wouldn't have pulled this shit on Reagan.

***

I will write a strongly worded memo that will tear through North Korea like Jenjizz  Conn.

77 @68
I wish I could say that won't be so, but for at least a part of the Feds, you are absolutely correct. 


I don't think anyone is looking for vengeance.

**Turn Washington DC into Detroit. The utterly debauched, corrupt madhouse that is DC deserves that and more.**

The thing speaks for itself.

78 Let's call it "Social Justice".

79 Any Republican worth half a shit should be able to go on any show this weekend and blow this shit out of the water...but they won't.

80 The entire focus is wrong.  The issue is not what we can do for government workers but what government workers can do for us.

81 #ScandalousSequesterThreats Raylan Givens given a rape whistle and a Bic pen and told to "make do" without his gun.

82 Any Republican worth half a shit
Posted by: Red Shirt at February 23, 2013 01:26 PM


Your expectations are too high.

83 I don't think anyone is looking for vengeance. **Turn Washington DC into Detroit. The utterly debauched, corrupt madhouse that is DC deserves that and more.** The thing speaks for itself. Posted by: pep at February 23, 2013 01:25 PM (6TB1Z) I think vengeance is a very scary word as it almost implies hatred. Rather I think people believe that government employees should experience what they experienced and maybe will find it in their hearts to understand what the rest of this country is going through.

84 80 The entire focus is wrong. The issue is not what we can do for government workers but what government workers can do for us.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 23, 2013 01:28 PM (VlXYw)

Have you seen the quality of gov't workers these days?....no thanks(no offense to moron gov't workers, your work is above and beyond I'm sure.)

85

Lots of people here are looking for vengeance, not solutions, but solutions are what we need.

 

We all know what the solutions are. The problem is, we hire politicians to solve them and they aren't interested in doing that. What they  do is cause problems.

They   promise one thing on the campaign trail, then enter office and do the exact opposite of  what they promised. They don't  give one shit about the country or the  people in it, they're only out to increase their power over us.

 

After having my future destroyed by  these vermin, I'm all for these leeches getting a little pain in their lives.   If we had a robust economy with a diversity of jobs, we wouldn't be discussing this. Show me one political animal that's done one thing to even try to achieve this goal.

86 ...Any Republican worth half a shit should be able to go on any show this weekend and blow this shit out of the water...but they won't/

And my new voter card arrived in the mail yesterday. I am a newly minted "unaffiliated voter".

I know many here disagree with this tact, but my wagon just got officially unhitched from the GOP. I'm a free agent now. For whatever good that will do. I don't know how else to send a message.

87 I don't know how widespread this sentiment is, but I just want it to happen now, and I suspect it won't.

For more than 2 years now, every couple of months we get called into an all hands meeting and told "Be prepared for serious budget cuts and pain." Then you prepare, and then at the 11th hour the politicians kick the can down the road another couple of months.

It's a little like being on death row--they give you a date and then strap you down to the table and put the needle in, then at the last minute you get a stay and get taken back to your cell. But you're still going to get it at some point, so it's no real comfort. These cuts are coming--just do them already and stop screwing with people's lives every few months.

I have no hope that this won't be like the previous times--if they don't cobble together some joke of a solution by next Friday, they'll do it before the sequester goes into effect in April. And then we get to repeat this in a couple of months.

88 82 Any Republican worth half a shit


Posted by: Red Shirt at February 23, 2013 01:26 PM


Your expectations are too high.



Sometimes a half a shit is better than no shit.  Especially if you haven't shit in a day or two.

89 Your expectations are too high.

Posted by: huerfano at February 23, 2013 01:29 PM (bAGA/)

I know...they will get their usual buddies on to play the aw shucks part.  Burn Baby Burn!

90 #Come on, You guys...it's not like they're going to write about a fed like me, whose response was,"Everybody's taking a financial hit nowadays. We all have to sacrifice."

91 I think vengeance is a very scary word as it almost implies hatred.

Yes, yes it does.

92 Tough shit. Hold a bake sale.

93 Sometimes a half a shit is better than no shit. Especially if you haven't shit in a day or two.

Posted by: Billy Bob, Pseudo Intellectual at February 23, 2013 01:31 PM (wR+pz)

Sounds like fiber is needed

94 Polar bears are crying, you guys.

95 " They want guarantees that no one will be penalized when work does not get done and assurances that managers cannot choose favorites to spare."


Why would they start getting penalized over not getting their work done when they haven't ever been?

I thought they gave government employees bonuses for being lazy.

96 The problem is, we hire politicians to solve them and they aren't interested in doing that. What they do is cause problems.

Agreed. 

97 47 Is it true they will euthanize all zoo animals in America if the Republicans don't do something? Or is it just the cute ones?

Posted by: Dang at February 23, 2013 01:13 PM (R18D0)

All forms of weasels get to live.

98 A potful of poop is worth more than most Republicans in D.C. these days

99 #ScandalousSequesterThreats Soylent Green. Don't say you weren't warned.

100 It's the funderfunding of government employees! Isn't that supposed to be fun?
Posted by: andycanuck at February 23, 2013 01:24 PM


A funlough, not a furlough?  They'll have more time to spend with the family, reading, working in the yard, golfing, going to the beach.  Just imagine the possibilities!

101 Lots of people here are looking for vengeance, not solutions, but solutions are what we need.
Posted by: pep at February 23, 2013 01:14 PM (6TB1Z)


It's not vengeance, it's shoving back as hard as possible that there is something special and untouchable about paychecks that come from the Federal government.


Guess what?  That paycheck that you are getting is funded in part by the money that is taken from my paycheck every week at the threat of a gun being put to my head and the trigger pulled if I do not pay it.  So not only am I earning my money, I'm earning yours as well.  I'm sorry, but, as your employer, guess what?  We're out of money.   This is the very start of the steps that need to be taken to fix that.  

102 Polar bears are crying, you guys. *** #ScandalousSequesterThreats Quit yer bitchin or the polar bear gets it between the eyes.

103

10  Share the wealth, share the pain.

 

This is good, PurpAv.

Catchy.

A slogan...to hit back at the sloganeers.

 

We should use this. Over and over.

 

"Share the wealth, share the pain."

 

Reminds me of that song, that repeats: "This is what you want, this is what you get".

104 @101
Read my #2.

105 @104
That could be misinterpreted.  Please read my comment @2.

106

Not a word about foreign aid? Seems we could cut that first.

 

No, no. That's further down the list. Cut out the "free pho's" first. And still Peggy Joseph. The FSA voted for this shit, make them suffer the consequences. Gotta feed and clothe yourselves, worthless parasites!

107

A funlough, not a furlough? They'll have more time to spend with the family, reading, working in the yard, golfing, going to the beach. Just imagine the possibilities!

 

"Funlough."   I am  so stealing that.

108

>>Posted by: Red Shirt

 

Your nic makes me think fed. employees shouldn't wear red on the day they pick who gets furloughed.

109 The first thing we do is furlough the lawyers.

110

 

Rand Paul proposed that foreign aid be cut by 50%.

 

111 @109
Bwahahahaha.  Right on schedule.

112

>>Your nic makes me think fed. employees shouldn't wear red on the day they pick who gets furloughed.

 

(casually takes off red scarf and throws it into the giraffe area)

113 The sequester has directly impacted me. Its the best we can do. I'd ask for it again if I could. Sucks that basic R&D is getting hit first, but every ox will be gored in the coming years.

114 Are federal union dues a percentage of wages or a set amount?  If dues are based on wages - hee hee hee!

115 Rand has pushed to cut foreign aid by 50% to help fix the gap. I'm sorry I'm basically a Rand fanboy at this point.

116 OK, green flag for the Nationwide race. Later, seriously guys.

117 If they shut down the useless EPA and the department of mis-education, everyone would be much better off and they wouldn't have hurt any important functions like national defense - which is the one thing they really, really need to supply.

118 Didn't their boss say; "Everyone has to have some skin in the game."?

119 111 @109 Bwahahahaha. Right on schedule. Posted by: pep at February 23, 2013 01:38 PM (6TB1Z) Think about it. They're overpaid and they aren't just in the Justice (snort) department. That's basically the EPA.

120 Shouldn't the top 1% of federal employees volunteer to take a pay cut so the other 99% don't have to?

121 That could be misinterpreted. Please read my comment @2.
Posted by: pep at February 23, 2013 01:37 PM (6TB1Z)


I did read your number 2 but I have also read the rest of your comments as well which, intentionally or not, walk back your sentiment in your initial comment.   You assert there is an aspect of vengeance to this.  Are you then seeking vengeance on yourself?  After all, if you support the sequester and are not complaining then you are contained within the group of people you are claiming have ill motives for such support. 


Look, the problem is the same here as when we get into the generational wars arguments.   We are discussing aggregates and the broad statements applied to those aggregates may or may not apply to the specific person at  issue.  

122 As people used to say "Stick it to the Man.." has a whole new meaning...

123 I'm sorry I'm basically a Rand fanboy at this point. *** Welcome to the dark side.

124 Shouldn't the top 1% of federal employees volunteer to take a pay cut so the other 99% don't have to? *** But, but but.... SQUIRREL!

125 87 I don't know how widespread this sentiment is, but I just want it to happen now, and I suspect it won't.

Posted by: Palandine at February 23, 2013 01:31 PM (g7D8V)

+1

Hey, I like money.  But, if this is the only way to so much as get the ball rolling regarding spending reduction, then let's just do it already.  I was in favor of letting Chimpy McBushilterburton's tax cuts expire across the board.  Sure, my taxes would have increased but it would have pulled at least part of the Free Shit Army back into the pool of net tax payers.

126 As a federal employee (with 3 kids), i welcome the furlough. I realize that i am in a position to absorb the furlough more easily than others (my wife is a well-paid consultant in the private sector). Please remember that many, if not most gov employees recognize the necessity of cutting spending significantly (if not drastically). I don't want my kids saddled with trillions in debt. Poor bastards. The generation before us had their cake and ate it too. Time to pay the piper. Retirement will become a relic of the past soon.

127 #ScandalousSequesterThreats All military assets will be immediately placed on eBay.

128

Backwards Boy, the people you cite, the politicians--they won't get their pay cut. It's all the cogs, like me, who will.

 

And we've been cutting personnel for 6 months now--25% of our agency's people.  I will nap on my off days, as thye've been cramming all the work on those left--just like in "civvie" life.

129

Theoretically speaking I have no problem with the sequester.

I only have a small problem with the fact that my wife's job is on the 22 day furlough list.

What I do have a problem with though is that it's pretty clear the particular implementation of the cuts (not the cuts themselves) are designed to be visible, not smart.

 

I don't think it'd be hard to cut double the sequester amount.  I think you could do it sans furloughs with minimal impact on defense.  But The Dipshit in chief doesn't want that because he wants to score political points.

 

We'll make it through, we began belt tightening a few months back in perpetration, and we're putting off some of the repairs we'd like to do to our house (nothing urgent, a driveway resurfacing, some tuck pointing.)  We also bought a rice cooker so we can roll back to the good old days of rice and beans as a meal.

130

 

Didn't the Führer say...."You have to eat your peas"?

131 120 Shouldn't the top 1% of federal employees volunteer to take a pay cut so the other 99% don't have to? Posted by: Mama AJ at February 23, 2013 01:41 PM (SUKHu) I'm stealing that. Fights will be started.

132 Do cities ever say, "we are going to have to cut the landscape crew?". No, the always list the fire department, police then libraries. If it is painful, it is painful on purpose. By design.

133

>>But, but but....

 

>>SQUIRREL!

 

Mmm, squirrel bacon.

134 My company had a 20% pay cut in 2007-2008, but with no extra day off. Pay is still at that level because we are basically surviving only. These people should shut up. I'm guessing every single division has a conference every year in Las Vegas...I'm sure there is other fat too. The news went on and on about the air traffic controllers. Never once did the newscast mention other options...like privatizing air traffic control so it never has to feel the budget pain again. Oh, and Canada did that in 1996. So, if Canada can do it, and planes have not fallen out of the sky, we can do it.

135 I read through the list in the WaPo link.
I say Lead On, McDuff!  And damned be he who first cries "Hold, Enough!"

136 Do cities ever say, "we are going to have to cut the landscape crew?". *** I remember when the city of Jax threatened that sidewalks wouldn't be built to a dangerous school bus stop but failed to cut the $75k per year to keep up the purple neon light across one of our bridges.

137 You know Prizzy hates the Sequester ..so keep Sequestering and cutting the bloat in Washington....the public will find that the Sun Rises after the sequester and that is the time to put another budget cut in the chamber...the last thing Prizzy Prezzy wants is that the citizens can live and thrive outside of the Government titty..

138

>>I'm stealing that.

 

I'm going to go put it on Twitter.

139 Mmm, squirrel bacon. *** Zoo bacon! Still LMAO.

140 "A hardship to be sure but nothing compared to losing a job that isn't coming back and trying to find a new one in the Obama economy."

You are not trying hard enough - suck it up, get away from the keyboard and get busy looking, becoming a wealth producer, etc.. What? you don't like that attitude? Shocker.

The feds are not the enemy but Obama is successfully dividing everyone into the "take mine not theirs" camp.
I'm not going to enjoy losing 20% of my pay but enjoy even less the new embrace of socialism by those who cheer the bad fortune of others.

141 Any breakdown on Gov. voting? Seems like most went for Barry. Stopping now.

142 After all, if you support the sequester and are not complaining then you are contained within the group of people you are claiming have ill motives for such support.

Not at all.  I support the sequester because it is the only way I see to start solving the overspending problem.

We are discussing aggregates and the broad statements applied to those aggregates may or may not apply to the specific person at issue.

Absolutely agree.  That's my point.  It is very dangerous to condemn all government workers just because of the actions of some, especially politicians.  The source of the problem is the majority of voters who returned the pillagers to office.

143 Dang you, Mama AJ, now I want a nice snack of squirrel bacon.

144 11 people my department got shitcanned in September (including me) directly due to the 2.3% medical device tax.  We all got a 100% reduction in our paychecks.  FUCK YOU gov't slobs.

145 32 It's not a 20% pay decrease for the year. It's a 20% pay decrease for half the year--that's only a 10% reduction in pay for the year. Posted by: discontinuity at February 23, 2013 01:05 PM (tLn51) 9% They got a 1% raise right after Christmas, remember?

146

#ScandalousSequesterThreats

 

From now on all bacon will be Turkey Bacon.

147 This whole sequester thing was started by Mitt Romney's wife.  Or was that equestrian?  Anyway,  go Obama!

148 You government workers need to choose your word more carefully.

149 144 11 people my department got shitcanned in September (including me) directly due to the 2.3% medical device tax. We all got a 100% reduction in our paychecks. FUCK YOU gov't slobs.

Posted by: Timon at February 23, 2013 01:48 PM (hHlaS)

You sound like a Medtronics employee.
Same thing sort of happened to me -- I got offered a job, then that offer was removed:  project cancelled.

150 Spread the word...share the wealth, share the pain...and Obama decides what gets cut.

151 Just look at all the whining of the little people who actually have to work for a living, and then live off the scraps of welfare we provide after we've broken them spiritually and financially! Silly serfs...

152 And what about the people who ARE away from the keyboard and have been looking for jobs for YEARS finally settling on something that pays them less than quarter of what they made before and are not rejoicing in anybody's misfortune? Any compassion for them instead of advice to "suck it up"?

153 These babies need a job in the real world aka the private sector.  I've been so poor in the last 4 years that i've gone without food at times.

Its just a fact of life that you can be fired for ANYTHING, including getting sick, in the real world.  The poor economy should have devastated these crybaby pricks 4 years ago.

I cannot relate to this crying on ANY LEVEL.  Being furloughed a couple days isn't a hardship.  Its what we deal with in the private sector all the time.  DEAL WITH IT. 

I welcome 40% across the board cuts for gov't.  You want to know how we live? That would be a start.

154

Unemployed federal workers.  Serious You Guys.

155 #ScandalousSequesterThreats From now on all bacon will be Turkey Bacon. *** Unacceptable! What are you terms?

156 You sound like a Medtronics employee.
Same thing sort of happened to me -- I got offered a job, then that offer was removed: project cancelled.

Posted by: jwb7605 (Let It Burn) at February 23, 2013 01:50 PM (Qxe/p)

__________________________________________________________

Very close.  Also, all jobs I was interviewing for disappeared after the election.  I was lucky and finally start a new job on Friday!

157

 

Yeah, the cuts are *designed* to be painful.

Across the board cuts, mean that everything is cut...instead of starting with cutting the fat.

 

And by 'fat', I mean...all those lavish perks and wastes of money, like the endless 'conventions' and 'seminars' and 'retreats' that our government betters go to.

 

Which are basically parties...that government workers travel to...and party for a long weekend, on our dime.

 

158 Congrats Timon. Good on you.

159 Memo to all federal employees: Cry me a fucking river.

160 Did the blog break? Hello - o - o - o - o.

161 start a new job on Friday! Posted by: Timon

Fuckin' A! 

162 #ScandalousSequesterThreats Oreo Half-Stuffs

163

Asked one of my libtard coworkers who was bitching about sequestration: "If this was such a monumentally stupid idea, why didn't President Obama veto it?" Still waiting for an answer.

164 Perhaps it has already been said

but the dirty little secret is the universe can get along just fine with these bureaucrats missing a few days work. When that little secret gets out, there will be a glimmer of hope for the future.

That's the one thing the politicians, and their friends dare not let happen, that people learn we can do without those bureaucrats for a few days.

165 "I am talking about scientists and engineers here, not lifelong bureaucrats or paperpushers, most of whom will hang on and power past the furloughs because they have no other choice and no other options. Oh well. Something has to be done, and when no one will wield the scalpel, it eventually comes time to wield a hammer." Every government employee I have always met has claimed they could easily find a higher paying job in the private sector. So, please...fly be free. You will make more money, help the economy more, pay more in taxes, and open up a spot for someone new who is unemployed. The nation will survive. The wars are ending. Spears into ploughshares.

166 another idiot (not me) chimes in (from yahoo news)

The United States military base at Pearl Harbor will be made less secure as a result of Washington's failure to avoid across-the-board sequestration budget cuts, Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii warned Saturday.

"The plain fact is that will undermine our capacity for readiness at Pearl Harbor," Abercrombie said, referring to the base that was attacked by Japanese military forces in 1941 that resulted in the deaths of 2,400 Americans. "Now if that doesn't symbolize for the nation that far from overstating it, it is zeroing in on a graphic example of what happens when we fail to meet our responsibilities congressionally, I don't know what does."

Speaking at the annual Winter Meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington, D.C., Abercrombie said that the $487 billion reduction in Pentagon spending will have an impact on 19,000 civilian employees who work with the United States Pacific Command. The budget reduction, he said, would cut four work days from each employee.

(Is Abercrombie expect someone to attack Pearl Harbor any time soon?

167

#ScandalousSequesterThreats

 

Frosting of Pop-Tarts will be suspended.

168 " And what about the people who ARE away from the keyboard and have been looking for jobs for YEARS finally settling on something that pays them less than quarter of what they made before and are not rejoicing in anybody's misfortune? Any compassion for them instead of advice to "suck it up"?"

If they are getting paid less than a quarter than what they made before then all is at parity as the feds are taking about a 20-25% cut. You should be happy that justice for all is accomplished, the greater good, etc.
Seriously though you missed the point of my post. You didn't like that comment any more than I like the generalizations about the feds.

169 "Yeah, the cuts are *designed* to be painful. Across the board cuts, mean that everything is cut...instead of starting with cutting the fat. And by 'fat', I mean...all those lavish perks and wastes of money, like the endless 'conventions' and 'seminars' and 'retreats' that our government betters go to. Which are basically parties...that government workers travel to...and party for a long weekend, on our dime." I now realize this is why Obama choose sequestration. The "teachers, firefighters, police" angle.

170 Talking with an insider at the DoD, the way the "furloughs" will actually play out is that some number of employees will be switched to a four-day work week, either M-Th, or T-F, and take a commensurate pay cut. They aren't losing their jobs, they're just going to learn how the rest of America lives.

171 #ScandalousSequesterThreats Frosting of Pop-Tarts will be suspended. *** I stole that and tweeted it.

172 Wah-Effin'-Ah! Welcome to real life, nozzles of douche! As for helping us keep jobs - do you mean by massaging employment figures every month, you crapweasels?

173 The GOP should be banging a simple drum: Sequestration can be stopped, but we are waiting for Obama's budget proposal, which is past due as the last 4 out of 5 have been. We are waiting for his leadership.

174 Again, not all gov't employees get to go to Vegas, have dozens of assistants, get gov't cars...there is a commonality in those who do, though....

175

I will say this though.

They canceled several of my wife's trips by moving them to her office south of here and making her drive (unreimbursed.)

 

I told her to keep track of everything she spends over those few days (especially if the snow storm comes to pass an she gets stuck there) because I plan on handing it to my accountant and saying "find a way to make this a tax deduction."

176 I'm all in favor of a swarm of taxpayer-funded officers coming over to eat out my substance.

177

#ScandalousSequesterThreats

 

Until further notice ALL internet porn will be placed behind a paywall.

178 Exactly sexypig. He doesn't WANT to make any cuts. He wants to hold everything hostage to yet more tax increases (of which he already got one at the beginning of the year by kicking the can down the road 3 months). It's absolutely the cops and firefighters thing--my agency can make the 20% cuts without decreasing payroll (which is a sad commentary in its own right), but we've been told the cuts have to be by furlough. It's a complete joke.

179 I hope they don't cut our asteroid program. We were just seeing the fruits of that pay off, what with the recent launches and all.

180 I've been through layoffs before and spent most of my career in the private sector (13 years).  I've been a GS13 for the last 3+, doing a job that would require an O-5 to perform.  The pay hit will hurt, and most of us know that there will likely not be "back pay" for the furlough days, as there was in 1996.  We may get the chance to use leave retroactively, but that's unknown.

Most DoD employees I know did NOT vote for Obama, and the union does NOT speak for many of us.  I refuse to join, actually. 

There seems to be a great deal of, "Fuck you.  Glad you're hurting!" out there.  We're not the ones who set policy, and none of us have enjoyed the economy in the shitter.   Like Mr. Historian (post #12), I'm all about service to the country.  I took a pay cut to do this job, and could command much more in the private sector, and likely wouldn't need to worry at all about a layoff.  But I work hard and perform a service that I'm proud of for the taxpayers and the defense of the nation, just like any military officer does (and we take the same oath).

In short, I'm not the enemy.  I pay taxes, too, and want spending cut back. I also hate that the DoD is taking an across the board hit, while all the non-defense spending is diffused.  I will not be watching soap operas and fondling a sack of gold coins during the days I'm not paid.  Obama and Panetta are using us as pawns, just as Obama has manipulated private sector markets.  If you don't think that pisses most of us off, you're nuts.

181 Supposedly "cutting" $44 B.  Yet added $65 B of pork in that Sandy Relief Bill.

Half of these bastards jobs in the fed govt shouldn't even exist.

182 California had furloughs and they sucked. DMV for example became extremely backed up. Another thing was shopping in Sacramento on Fridays sucked because all of those furloughed people who supposedly had to eat cat food due to pay cuts were all out shopping. California was run by the Dems and did furloughs. We survived. The diversity officers are still being hired. The world continues.

183 Brad: Go to the head of the line, quit your fucjkin' job and report back in a month.

184 half the gov workforce could be cut and the country would not even notice

185 wheatie is talking about what I like to call the Democrats' cannon fodder -- the lowly federal (or state or local) employee on the front line of these budget battles it's always the cops and firefighters to get the axe first, never one of the sub-directors of the Gay Indian Affairs Department

186 Listen, let's not be like TFG and try to divide Americans with caricatures. Federal employees *do* have a better deal than most of us, but they are Americans who presumably wish our nation well. Our message is this: Yes we realize that many government services are useful. That's why we don't want it them go bankrupt. Shared sacrifice means you too; thank you for your service. You can't cut, and then rejoice in their inconvenience. That's dumb politics. At least pretend to be sympathetic, and be honest about why we need this. Federal employees tend to be reasonably educated, and some of them will get it. Maybe only 30% will get it, but elections are won on the margins (especially in swing states like Virginia). I go to an evangelical church and you'd be surprised how many more liberals there are than there used to be. That's because Obama at least tries to talk our language even though his base hates our guts. Maybe he only gets 20%, but that's been enough to win. I know we're angry, but don't be dumb. It's not working.

187

169...I now realize this is why Obama choose sequestration. The "teachers, firefighters, police" angle.

 

Yeah, maximum Drama.

 

King OhDrama knew there would be more pain with 'across the board cuts'...than with targeted cuts, to cut the fat.

 

No one would really notice if all those government 'conventions' and 'retreats' were eliminated.

Well, the hotels would feel it.

 

188 Don't forget that the taxpayers are going to save loads of money on the cuts to defense contractors and their employees. I know it is tough for the contractors who make 100K plus in the capital region and whose company pockets another 50-100K from the gov contract.
Should we not be cheering that result as well? /sarc

189 #ScandalousSequesterThreats Until further notice ALL internet porn will be placed behind a paywall. *** You should be on twitter!

190 Iowahawk: Department of Rural Solar Train Development lays off up to 2 Deputy Assistant Press Undersecretaries

191 Very close. Also, all jobs I was interviewing for disappeared after the election. I was lucky and finally start a new job on Friday! Posted by: Timon at February 23, 2013 01:53 PM (hHlaS) Congratulations! Noticed that also. People were interviewing all over the place and waiting and waiting and waiting. Finally, after the election, of course, they called to ask how much longer will the process be and were told, almost across the board, that the company "decided not to hire for that position at this time". When one friend was complaining another friend said "almost looks as though they were deliberately interviewing before the election to make us think that the economy was roaring back, and now, we're getting the easy letdown". He voted for obama.

192 "While private sector workers lost their jobs the size of the federal civilian workforce has grown under Obama."

Yeah, that was Obama's platform, to spend taxes on new government jobs in order to improve the economy. He made no secret about it, and is probably proud of having kept that promise, economically devastation not recognized. Since the majority of '08 and '12 national votes counted determined that to be "the" national mandate from "the" people, no thanks to GW phraseology, this would prove Obama's political capital. Fiat value, eh?

**

"Honestly, it's not right that these people have to take a pay cut. They should quit their job and get a job in the private sector."

It's not enough for federal employees to quit. The job positions and entire bureaus must be terminated in order to cut federal spending and require significantly less taxation.

Don't be surprised, though, should bipartisan government officials further conjoin corporations within the federal system of operations. It's already the case in health/medicine. There is no way that American working "class" can afford to pay the mandated (at risk of prison and loss of homes/property) insurance costs that are far from affordable or reasonable. No thanks to the SCOTUS, citizens have no standing regarding our own bodies and health care. And that wasn't even spawned via proper congressional protocol.

193

#ScandalousSequesterThreats

 

15% Federal  Skeet Tax

194 Exactly sexypig. He doesn't WANT to make any cuts. He wants to hold everything hostage to yet more tax increases (of which he already got one at the beginning of the year by kicking the can down the road 3 months). It's absolutely the cops and firefighters thing--my agency can make the 20% cuts without decreasing payroll (which is a sad commentary in its own right), but we've been told the cuts have to be by furlough. It's a complete joke.

Posted by: Palandine at February 23, 2013 02:03 PM (g7D8V) [/I

 

Yeah, this

So why exactly doesn't the Republican party latch on to this?  Let's go ahead and find other ways to cut, reduce travel, skim some off programs, hell the Per Diem for travel meals is FAR to high.

195 It never occurs to Republicans to be specific in who gets the axe and who gets an exception in these budget battles. Or does it? Maybe they're all in on the scam.

196 #ScandalousSequesterThreats SI Swimsuit Edition: Code Pink

197 140 "A hardship to be sure but nothing compared to losing a job that isn't coming back and trying to find a new one in the Obama economy." You are not trying hard enough - suck it up, get away from the keyboard and get busy looking, becoming a wealth producer, etc.. What? you don't like that attitude? Shocker. The feds are not the enemy but Obama is successfully dividing everyone into the "take mine not theirs" camp. I'm not going to enjoy losing 20% of my pay but enjoy even less the new embrace of socialism by those who cheer the bad fortune of others. Posted by: Brad at February 23, 2013 01:47 PM (IF2l Wow. That's rich. Suck it up and produce wealth, because I'm not going to enjoy the leftover 80% which falls into my lap, but won't be miserable enough to suck it up myself and uh, get away from my keyboard to actually produce wealth. Shocker.

198 Maybe they're all in on the scam.

Posted by: soothie, now with exfoliating beads at February 23, 2013 02:07 PM (s+8Vv)

FIFY

199  " tsr to the whie courtesy barrel.  tsr to the white courtesy barrel."

200 @71 No biscoff's...that pisses me off (said in a Charles Bronson voice)

201

I  know, Barrel.

 

But before I go, I'd also like to point out there are many Federal workers (especially in the DoD) not represented by unions.

 

These fuckers don't speak for many people I know. (In fact several of them have suggested that a good culling of the bottom 5% of performers is in order.)

202 #ScandalousSequesterThreats No more Armed Forces. Foreign policy battles solved with games of Rock, Paper, Scissors

203 I didn't make any generalizations about the Feds as this is the first post I've made on this thread, and the person I'm speaking of doesn't work in the public sector. They didn't want to life off unemployment so they accepted a job they were way overqualified for making much. much less money. I just found the comment about "suck it up" lacking in compassion. This economy stinks and lots of people who have sent out hundreds of resumes can't find a thing because their companies decided at 55 and over they were expendable

204 In the armed forces of the United States, the technical term for a union is "mutiny".

205 "I just found the comment about "suck it up" lacking in compassion. This economy stinks and lots of people who have sent out hundreds of resumes can't find a thing because their companies decided at 55 and over they were expendable."

I didn't say you did - you missed the sarcasm in contrast with two different povs.
I've got a twenty something child who did all the right things for degrees, hard work, etc. who cannot find anything in the way of a job. We are supporting her not the government -- would be nice if we could use the money for something different but that's the way it goes.
How many other feds are doing the same thing for one or more of their kids impacted by the economy?
But to cheer their misfortune as some commenters are makes no sense.

206 We should have a telethon to save the government jobs guys.

207 GS13...what's that pay? $40,000? $50,000

208 "That's because Obama at least tries to talk our language even though his base hates our guts " What language is that?

209
I really don't want to paint all fed govt workers with the same brush, but for some of them to pretend of hardships when they have been getting COL raises the last few years when many in the private sector have been getting zero or actual cuts smacks of arrogance.  And that is not even to mention what has been happening in healthcare, many of these govt workers would be absolutely shocked at that increase.

210 Hey Federal Workers, my small business which employs 10 people took a 20% pay cut in 2008 until the present. Where were you then offering to send me donations to keep my pay up?

211 "We should have a telethon to save the government jobs guys."
No need for a telethon - just eliminate all the red state welfare farm subsidies

212

 

I remember Barky crowing about all those jobs he "created or saved" with the Stimulus.

 

Most of those were government jobs.

 

But government jobs...are Revenue Negative.

 

Sure, there are taxes taken out of those checks.

But that is not new revenue...it is 'recycled tax dollars' that were taken from the private sector.

 

So, when the government does things that cause jobs to die in the private sector...the government is killing the funding for it's own payroll.

 

When jobs are killed in the private sector, there should be automatic cuts in the government payroll.

 

 

213 203 I didn't make any generalizations about the Feds as this is the first post I've made on this thread, and the person I'm speaking of doesn't work in the public sector. They didn't want to life off unemployment so they accepted a job they were way overqualified for making much. much less money. I just found the comment about "suck it up" lacking in compassion. This economy stinks and lots of people who have sent out hundreds of resumes can't find a thing because their companies decided at 55 and over they were expendable

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 23, 2013 02:10 PM (PxYrx)

I noticed that last part (I was 63).

I'd also like to point out that if you're "beating the streets" with a resume instead of using the keyboard, the only job you'll find involves slinging hash or working at Home Depot.

I actually tried personally delivering resumes to "high tech" companies, and was literally told they only reviewed electronic applications, and did not consider walk-in applications.

I retired "early".  Pays the exact same as double-super-secret unemployment, and I'm using my own money from my perspective (for the next 12 years, anyway).

214

just eliminate all the red state welfare farm subsidies

 

 

 

 

 

 

215
These fuckers don't speak for many people I know. (In fact several of them have suggested that a good culling of the bottom 5% of performers is in order.)

Posted by: tsrblke at February 23, 2013 02:09 PM (GaqMa)

______________________________________________________________

Reforming Gov't firing practices would be a great thing.  The Gov't can't cull dead wood like industry can.  When layoffs hit a vendor, they take the opportunity to take a scalpel to the workforce.  The government uses seniority, which means that an ineffective 15 year employee, particularly with a veteran's preference, can pretty much do what they want, including sleeping on the job.  Scum like that needs to go, but their supervisors can't get rid of them. 

216

#ScandalousSequesterThreats

 

75% less 'Pepper' in Government Pepperjack.

217 "The government uses seniority, which means that an ineffective 15 year employee, particularly with a veteran's preference, can pretty much do what they want, including sleeping on the job. Scum like that needs to go, but their supervisors can't get rid of them."

So when they were active duty they were salt of the earth and well respected but once they get a federal job they transform into scum overnight....?

218 My bad, GS-13 makes $89,033. That is in the top 5% for single earner's income. This means for every 100 people only 5 people make that much money. I won't even ask about the benefits.

219 just eliminate all the red state welfare farm subsidies <<

Yes and all blue state welfare.

actually all subsidies period and those fed govt jobs that manage the subsidies.

I think we have a deal.

220 "I think we have a deal."
I agree with you but you know it will never happen. Lots of moral relativism when subsidies come into play.

221 We should have a telethon to save the government jobs guys. Posted by: Whatev at February 23, 2013 02:15 PM


Hey, kids, let's put on a show!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRZ5400UKSc

222 I think Obama and the entire Congress should have to take a 20% pay decrease. With all his talk of sacrifice where is his and where are theres? Obama talks a lot of hot air.

223 "So when they were active duty they were salt of the earth and well respected but once they get a federal job they transform into scum overnight....?" Where you sit is where you stand. Incentives matter.

224 209
I really don't want to paint all fed govt workers with the same brush, but for some of them to pretend of hardships when they have been getting COL raises the last few years when many in the private sector have been getting zero or actual cuts smacks of arrogance. And that is not even to mention what has been happening in healthcare, many of these govt workers would be absolutely shocked at that increase.
_______________________________________________________________

We haven't gotten a COL raise in years.  The military may have, but I haven't.

My healthcare premiums also went up, along with deductibles and co-pays.

225 186.

Many government agencies are important. But when considering ALL of the federal agencies, fewer are integral to the nation than are most agencies.

Even if no agencies were amputated from the federal government, every agency needs to trim the size of its own administrative costs. They already have health benefits (didn't require a federal union of workers, btw, just the legislated package). I wonder if mid-level management were actually be the best to maintain public works -- trim off the top administration as well as the secretary's secretary (Office Managers manage the office work themselves). Without pay increase, the mid-level would assume the vacated responsibilities which they've already witnessed "on hand" at work. Sink or swim. There are plenty of unemployed, available highly skilled workers ready to do well for the taxpayers.

Since the tithe was enough to sustain civilization without the impositions of empire, then some percentage of income close to 10% (less than double, certainly not triple) is what government must constrain itself within. What taxpayer would argue a flat 10% for state and 10% for federal flat taxes, no "mandated" fees beyond? For that money, we'd get as much government as The US Constitution stipulated.

Imo, spare us the DHS (as if it ever coordinated all of the federal intelligence programs/bureaus), the EPA, USDA, Dept./Ed. Terminate all "comprehensive legislative reform" packages including the not-Affordable Health Care mandate to purchase exorbitantly overpriced health insurance coverage, the amnesty for illegals rather than immigration law enforcement, and the just as hackable as any other low or high tech gimmick "National Identification Card" program. pfft, just what we want any hacker to get more of, personal identification data.

226 Brad please stop digging. Maybe contemplate where Gov. money comes from.

227 @208 "That's because Obama at least tries to talk our language even though his base hates our guts " What language is that? ---------- Oh you know, "Least of these", "Brother's keeper". Snippets of Scripture taken out of context and cynically portrayed. Sadly, Biblical illiteracy is prevalent in some churches, and some people are swayed. There actually is a great deal of communitarian language in Acts, but the early church communities have nothing to do with feeding the Dem patronage network with ever-increasing taxation. Libs like to say that Jesus never spoke against gays. Well he never spoke against income inequity or even slavery, either.

228 GS13...what's that pay? $40,000? $50,000

Posted by: sexypig at February 23, 2013 02:15 PM (dZQh7)

 

 

--- $89000

229 "163
Asked one of my libtard coworkers who was bitching about sequestration: "If this was such a monumentally stupid idea, why didn't President Obama veto it?" Still waiting for an answer. Posted by: The Poster Formerly Known as Mr. Barky at February 23, 2013 01:57 PM"

Not only that, he promised to veto ANY attempt to replace it. Remember that?

230 The Feds over the past four-plus years have thrown upwards of four trillion public dollars directly at the economy in the forms of various "stimulus" programs. What exactly have we gotten for all that largesse? Clearly not much of anything useful. Meanwhile the entitlement programs are on express elevator rides to insolvency. It's been seven years since we've posted even one robust quarter of GDP growth. Long-term unemployment is on a population adjusted basis far worse today than it was even during the height of the Carter malaise. It's impossible to be optimistic about the future, especially if we're discussing the younger generation, which of course to a large extent is unemployable. Overall the prospects for the country are very grim. Elections, laws, regulations and policies all have very severe consequences.

231 Look, I have seen these threads before, and my advice to federal employees is to keep quiet. You have amazing salaries, and have been saving 20% of your pay for years, right? So suck it up and use that rainy day money now. Things will get better. I mean, after taking a 20% pay cut in 2008, its only been 5 years now at that level. Some day it will go up and so will yours. My company can go out of business tomorrow, losing all my capital. You will keep on keeping on without any risk. That has to be worth a pay cut, with days off. (We got a pay cut and no days off.)

232 Not only that, he promised to veto ANY attempt to replace it. Remember that? *** An inconvenient truth

233 207 GS13...what's that pay? $40,000? $50,000

Posted by: sexypig at February 23, 2013 02:15 PM (dZQh7)

Depends on the area of the country. I as offered GS13 in DC (Navy Yard) at just about $90K. Didn't take it, I wanted to go back down to the Norfolk area.

234
damn right it will never happen, not one dollar per year, which is why it annoys me when govt workers scream poverty.  I know the game, but its still annoying.

Eventually, the new game for private sector workers is gonna have to be what they do in Greece and simply not claim most of their income.  Once most people figure out they are being played for fools, all of this will finally and mercifully come to a head.  And then we can have a true conversation.

235 Pipe Fittings Types of Pipe Fittings New Metal Pipe Fittings New RANGE-HDPE Plumbing Pipe Fittings Pipe Fitting Ends PVC Pipe Fittings HDPE Pipe Fittings Cast Iron Pipe Fittings Brass Pipe Fittings Galvanized Pipe Fittings ABS Pipe Fittings Copper Pipe Fittings

236 Maybe contemplate where Gov. money comes from. China, just like everything else?

237 222. Yep, less is more.

Senator Rand Paul returned $500K of his federally tax funded office budget expense account to the federal government last year, and $600K this year. Trimming expenditures is obviously feasible when there's a will, there is a way.

238 Posted by: Pipe Fittings at February 23, 2013 02:27 PM (0K4Xj) *** This message brought to you by Bubba Gump Pipe Fittings

239 "GS13...what's that pay? $40,000? $50,000" That was sarcasm. Federal employees are not hurting, and I assume because they are the best and brightest, they have either been saving 20% of their salary in their emergency fund (now is when you spend that) or they can easily find a higher paid job in the private sector.

240 217 "The government uses seniority, which means that an ineffective 15 year
employee, particularly with a veteran's preference, can pretty much do
what they want, including sleeping on the job. Scum like that needs to
go, but their supervisors can't get rid of them."

So when they were active duty they were salt of the earth and well respected but once they get a federal job they transform into scum overnight....?

Posted by: Brad at February 23, 2013 02:20 PM (IF2l

____________________________________________________________

You missed the point.  They may have been useless on active duty, too, (hell, they may have been Soldier of the Year) but that's irrelevant to the point I'm making.  With enough seniority, it's nearly impossible to get rid of someone who doesn't get the job done.  In some cases, people take advantage of that by not doing anything and still collecting a check.

241 >>>My healthcare premiums also went up, along with deductibles and co-pays.

Posted by: SARDiver at February 23, 2013 02:23 PM (jgWCv)  <<<<<

Serious, tell me your new deductible and co pay.  Then let me shock the crap out of you for a family of four.

242 Wake Forest putting on a show against Number 2 Miami. Tough little Deacons. If you can find it on cable, there's about 10 mins left in game. Oh, Barry Larkin's son plays for Miami, I'm definitely old.

243 Club Fed

244 "Brad" is just being a self-righteous prick because it's his ox that is getting gored.

"red state farm subsidies" = look, a squirrel!  Fuck you.

245 Man, I hope these people regret paying their SEIU dues.

246 #SequestrationThreat Obamacare Death Panels forced to take unpaid leave - senior citizens everywhere cheer.

247 Maybe contemplate where Gov. money comes from.
--
China, just like everything else?
--
50% of every Dollar "spent" is owned by China, the middle man between the Federal Reserve and the US Government.

248

Posted by: Pipe Fittings at February 23, 2013 02:27 PM (0K4Xj)

 

No Butt Welded Pipe Fittings?

Piker.

249 I spent two summers working for the Federal Government as a paid intern. Most of that time was spent cutting and pasting (pith real scissors and a glue stick) together a new Glossary of Environmental Terms[/], which was never published. I caught my boss for that project sleeping at her desk a few times. So that was two years pay for a GS-13 and about three months pay for a GS-4 for a reference manual that was never published. The other main project was a "Thermal Standard", which was a steel ball filled with foam rubber that was supposed to imitate missile ordnance stored in the open environment. At least that got published in a thin little document that a few hundred people might have seen. If Reagan hadn't frozen government hiring I probably would've walked out of college into a government job. I probably would be a GS-15 living in Woodbridge by now. I guess I should hate Reagan for it but it was the right thing for him to do.

250 ""Brad" is just being a self-righteous prick because it's his ox that is getting gored." BINGO. Hey, my company hit hard times, where is my subsidy? LOL. I guess bankruptcy could be considered a subsidy. Yeah, I am bitter about government pay. I'm from California so you can understand. Only in this state do people who started a business look longingly at the prison guard pay scale and bemoan not becoming a prison guard.

251 /i]barrel

252 Poor Jeremiah - guess the subsidies are your part of the government teat. Welfare is a wonderful thing by any other name....

253 New reason to break out the popcorn. NC State at Carolina, 4PM EST.

Now can we just have a drinking/food thread to get us in the mood for the pregame warmup?

254 239 "GS13...what's that pay? $40,000? $50,000"

That was sarcasm. Federal employees are not hurting, and I assume because they are the best and brightest, they have either been saving 20% of their salary in their emergency fund (now is when you spend that) or they can easily find a higher paid job in the private sector.

Posted by: sexypig at February 23, 2013 02:30 PM (dZQh7)

______________________________________________________________

And I spent a lot of years gaining expertise and education in order to make my skill set valuable. 

Like I said, yes, I did command more in the private sector, and yes, I did give that up.  I wasn't making that sort of money my whole career.  Yes, I could make more if I went out now and have had overtures to that effect.  The problem is that the people I work for (my green suited customers) depend on me doing my job, and it's an inherently governmental function that cannot be duplicated in the private sector.

255 GS-15 = $123,758 97% percentile for single's income in the USA.

256

 

Do Federal workers get...a Pension + Social Security?

 

Sorry if that's a stupid question, but I've always wondered that.

 

 

257 As the public dime grows smaller and smaller over the next couple of decades it will be fun watching the remaining b-crats scratch eachother eyes out over the remaining crumbs. 

258 sexypig should make better business decisions such as locating in the most taxed state in the union.....

259 wheatie, older fed employees do--newer ones don't get a pension--we do Thrift Savings Program, which is a govie 401(k) that we contribute to.

260 Poor Brad - guess everyone else is an ungrateful welfare farmer when they come to take some of your paycheck for a change.

Sorry, us folks out in the districts already paid and paid and paid at the office.  Time for the Capital to get some skin in the game.

261 I appreciate your point, but Obama can speak any language he wants. I doubt he has any real interest in the main message of the Gospel-the saving power of Jesus his death and resurrection, Jesus, the way the truth and the life. if you asked him I doubt Obama could even talk intelligently about the New Covenant in Jesus' blood or the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. He used the church to get ahead in the AA community and he uses Biblical language (sometimes even incorrectly) to manipulate people. I pray for him and that he and his family would be safe, and that God would give Obama just what God thinks he needs, but I think the only god Obama has is himself and the only faith he has is his political agenda. Yes, that's a judgement and perhaps it's wrong but I feel entirely cynical whenever Obama opens in mouth in Christian talk. However, many liberals are swayed by it, but some of them (some of them, not all) really give the impression that Obama is their God.

262 241 >>>My healthcare premiums also went up, along with deductibles and co-pays.


Posted by: SARDiver at February 23, 2013 02:23 PM (jgWCv) <<<<<
Serious, tell me your new deductible and co pay. Then let me shock the crap out of you for a family of four.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at February 23, 2013 02:30 PM (p/cQy)

__________________________________________________________

Serious, the amounts are my business, and I'm not going to share them with you to win an online argument.  So, you win.

263 "Like I said, yes, I did command more in the private sector, and yes, I did give that up. I wasn't making that sort of money my whole career. Yes, I could make more if I went out now and have had overtures to that effect. The problem is that the people I work for (my green suited customers) depend on me doing my job, and it's an inherently governmental function that cannot be duplicated in the private sector." You would better serve the people if you took the private job that paid more: 1) More money for you. 2) More tax revenue and we need it. 3) Open up a desperately needed job for someone else. Fly, be free. Seriously. As Charles DeGaulle said "graveyards are full of indispensable men"

264 Well here is a report from the gun show front lines.  Just returned from the Jackson, MS gun show.  Crowds bigger but so was retail space.  Prices seemed bigger also.

http://annapuna.blogspot.com/2013/02/gun-show.html

265 One Federal worker furloughed is a tragedy.  A million unemployed taxpayers is a statistic.

266 Let it burn.

http://tinyurl.com/a7ubqmh

267 @262 There really are some Federal civilians doing important work who are not easily replaced.  They'll be the ones who get threatened with a furlough.

Since this is all just a bullshit game anyways.

268 Stuff Jefferson said!!!!! I, for one would sign that document if they put a line thru British Crown and put Federal Government in place of it.!!!111!1111 Amazes me that people can't see the similarities from that time to the present.

269 @seaniep: my condolences on your upcoming law school graduation (JD 2000 myself). ;-)

270
Hey you brought up how tough it was with your healthcare increases, but I will take the victory.

271

259 wheatie, older fed employees do--newer ones don't get a pension--we do Thrift Savings Program, which is a govie 401(k) that we contribute to.

 

Ah. Thanks, Paladine.

 

I'm all for giving our Veterans a good pension...as well as any other services where they put their life on the line for us.

 

The whole concept of a 'government pension' got started with a pension for our soldiers.

 

But a pension for bureaucrats?

We can't afford it.

And it creates unfair competition against the private sector employers...as well as a financial burden for all taxpayers.

 

272
“this is going to be very stressful.”




Stressful?  Oh no! *faints*

Posted by: The Republican Leadership While Getting The Checkbook Out

273 AP - Thanks for the link and the gun show blog post. I feel better about some of my meager few purchases recently.

I think the one thing that buyers need to know is that with the massive amount of internet shopping and buying of ammo, many vendors no longer update their inventory on line and you just have to call to find out what's shakin'.

274 263
You would better serve the people if you took the private job that paid more:

1) More money for you.

2) More tax revenue and we need it.

3) Open up a desperately needed job for someone else.

Fly, be free. Seriously.

As Charles DeGaulle said "graveyards are full of indispensable men"

Posted by: sexypig at February 23, 2013 02:39 PM (dZQh7)

_____________________________________________________

Yeah, because skill sets like mine are a dime a dozen. 

In my position, I've saved the taxpayers many millions of dollars by doing what I do, and that has enabled advantages for the warfighters.  While I could employ my talents in the private sector, it would not have the same impact. I won't get into my specific functions because frankly, they're not your business.  You can choose to believe me or not.  I don't give a shit. 

Now, I'm sorry that you and your business have suffered.  I sincerely hope it turns around for you and your employees, and if it makes you feel better to hate people like me, fine.  Knock yerself out. 

275 Tobacco Road.  I just looked at all the prices and lost any urge to buy anything.  I bought some girl scout cookies and called it a day.

One vendor was blaming the snow storms in Missouri for delaying his ammo shipment.  Saying that was why he had hardly any on hand.  Said FedEx couldn't get it through.

One vendor was selling the Korean Glock 50rd drum magazine for like $145.  Geez.  A bit of overkill for a handgun.

276 204. In the armed forces of the United States, the technical term for a union is "mutiny". -- Mike James

I wonder if unions see its members joining the US Military as "mutiny".

...between use and abuse

In 1980 "right to work" states where the nation's aerospace industry corporations had manufacturing facilities, rather than deal with employee unrest or unions, the corporation cut to the chase and provided their employees all the benefits "won" by unions nationally, and the employees didn't have to pay union membership fees. Of course, when the massive recession hit the next several years' American aerospace industry, the union rules applied, so lay-offs were mandated according to seniority rather than an employee's productivity. Not only did the little shops close without subcontracted bids, but some of the giants closed as well, swallowed by bigger fish that massively cut jobs while the Wall Street investors speculating in losses amassed profits. 

277 Just cut the White House vacation budget.Surplus, baby!

278 They can have my job....I just got informed I get 7 fewer days off next year with no commensurate increase in pay.   (I think I knew this would happen when my employer got bought by MegaCorp With Globally-Recognized Name and Logo; they can treat employees like shit because they'll get a hundred resumes from people eager to be treated like shit for the privilege of saying they work for a megacorp with globally-recognized name and logo if someone decides they don't like being treated like shit. Ho-hum.)

279 No one's going to care or feel any sympathy, but as a federal employee living in D.C., I'm legitimately worried.  If I get furloughed for two weeks, I'm concerned about how I'm going to be able to pay my bills.  I've got some money saved up - from the days before the economy sh!t the bed - and I actually don't live an extravagant lifestyle (my wardrobe these days consists on what I can buy on the cheap from Old Navy - yay $8 sweaters!).  But the cost of living in D.C. is so ridiculously high that if I have to dip into my meager savings just to pay the rent, things get scary quick.

280

Wheatie:

Yes...Feds pay into Social Security (if they are FERS)  and they have a pension.  Employees after 1985 were placed in FERS, employees before that were in CSRS.  CSRS employees paid no Social, but paid 7.5 % of the wages into CSRS..they have a sweet deal, 30 yrs and 56 gets you 80% of salary.  FERS employees pay into the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) as a 401 K, have their FERS retirement (1.5% of salary) and pay social security.  56 and 30 for a FERS employee gets you social security (@62), 30% of salary and your 401K.

Let me say that I am a federal employee for DoD.  In my department, of the 30 something engineers I manage, there will be quite a few that decide to retire (our average age is 5 .  Also, everyone of these employees has no problem with the sequestor nor the 20% cut in pay.  We all know what is going on in the econonomy.  We all have 401Ks in various stages of repair and we all know the problems. 

281 No one will see this being an Old Thread now but I think one thing we should be pushing is that the Minimum Wage increases in 2007-2009 which were pushed by Democrats (yes I know, signed by Bush but passed and pushed by Pelosi/Reid) were as damaging to the economy as the housing crisis and they have had a much longer effect that is holding back the recovery. It needs to drilled into the heads of LIVs that the previous enforced wage hikes and the new proposed ones are poisoning the economy.

I say this as a small biz guy myself. Opening in 2008 but have not been able to hire anyone as I'm just managing to pay business bills as is. I have had to work part time in other jobs to pay my home bills. I would love to hire a person or two but the money has not been there to justify it, not to mention the looming threat of more increases in the cost of business because of MW and "affordable" care laws.

282 ....our average age is 58....I don't know how the smiley face got stuck there.

283

Posted by: Hamish at February 23, 2013 03:24 PM (jwqOs)

8 ) without a space in between produces

284

282...Posted by: Hamish at February 23, 2013 03:19 PM (jwqOs) 

 

Thanks for that info, Hamish.

 

As I said upthread...we should be cutting out all the frivolous 'fat' out of our govt spending, before we start cutting other things.

But then, common sense is in short supply in DC.

 

And Pixy makes that smiley...whenever someone types an '8' + ')'.

285 Thanks...I thought it was the scotch...

286

283...It needs to drilled into the heads of LIVs that the previous enforced wage hikes and the new proposed ones are poisoning the economy.

 

Yep, Arcadehero.

The Minimum Wage has become a job killer.

 

Not to mention, inflationary.

Every time the MinWage goes up, jobs are killed...or prevented from happening...and because employers have to add that additional cost onto their products, the prices for everything go up.

 

287 The first thing cut (eliminated) should be the federal agencies budget for ammo purchases.

288 "In my position, I've saved the taxpayers many millions of dollars by doing what I do, and that has enabled advantages for the warfighters. While I could employ my talents in the private sector, it would not have the same impact. I won't get into my specific functions because frankly, they're not your business. You can choose to believe me or not. I don't give a shit." And yet here you are, on a thread about furloughs and losing salary...and p.s. as a taxpayer, sorry, it is my business. And one of my experiences is that if you love your job and you are making a difference, you will take a 20% pay cut with days off without grousing. "Now, I'm sorry that you and your business have suffered. I sincerely hope it turns around for you and your employees, and if it makes you feel better to hate people like me, fine. Knock yerself out. " I don't hate you. I hate fed employee coming onto the thread saying how valuable they fucking are and bemoaning a pay cut with days off that everyone else took in 2008. Get over yourselves. Oh, and truly thank you for saving those millions of bucks and helping the warfighters. And I am sure you will thank me for making products that help people work better and for paying my taxes...

289 289 The first thing cut (eliminated) should be the federal agencies budget for ammo purchases. Posted by: confused at February 23, 2013 03:42 PM (E7i+5) Actually, if the government agencies who brought ammunition were smart, they'd sell that ammunition to the public at quite a hefty premium and use the money to keep more employees on the job with pay. The public employees should also encourage those who owe taxes to pay those taxes, including our congress and senate folks, that would help too and set a good example for the rest of the country.

290 I've been sensing a pattern here at AoS the last few weeks. I've been lurking since before the 2008 election and have only recently come out of the shadows; directly as a result. The pattern seems to be that if you work for the government, or a government contractor, you are worthless and expendable. You don't matter. The waste and bloat in the budget has become us, no matter if we actually providing valuable, important work or not. It does not matter if we are conservatives, and there are quite a lot of us that are. No, all that matters is that our income comes, in some way, from the government. We made fun of the Left for their 99% crap, and yet now you folks are doing the same thing. It doesn't matter that I work for a private company, my money comes from the government, so I am now the problem and the enemy. It doesn't matter that the money I earn is spent at companies such as yours because it's tainted money now. It's okay if I lose my job, or if others take a pay cut, we totally deserve it. I get it. It's okay if I haven't gotten a raise in years, my insurance premiums have skyrocketed, or that my family lives off my income since my husband was laid off 3 years ago. I couldn't possibly understand economic hardship because my income comes from the government. I get it. You all are so much better than us because your incomes aren't from the taxpayer, right? Never mind that it's taxpayers who buy the goods and services from your employers. Yeah, it's totally different. You keep telling yourselves that until the fact that a whole lot of those taxpayers aren't going to be spending money at your business either after they get laid off or furloughed hits your companies bottom line. When the trickle down starts, I be over here reminding you that you didn't want my dirty money anyway.

291 @sexypig "I don't hate you. I hate fed employee coming onto the thread saying how valuable they fucking are and bemoaning a pay cut with days off that everyone else took in 2008. Get over yourselves. " Speaking as DOD engineer at a Navy lab, in all honesty, I am not worried about that 20% pay cut. Like I said, I can (an maybe will, haven't decided) get a job in the private sector whenever I decide to. What I am worried about making sure our military has the edge in technology it needs. Sorry, but radar systems and missiles don't spring whole out of the ground like Cadmus sowing dragon's teeth. It takes years and years of development. Our workforce (the navy's engineers and scientists) are either in my demographic :20s-30s, a lot of whom are going to leave for private industry for better salaries (and worse benefits, to be honest), or in their 50s-60s who are retiring very very soon, and whose hard won technical know-how will be lost. This isn't going to hurt us this year, but in 5-10 years when the Chinese are producing missiles, planes, and radars that completely outclass us, we sure will feel it. And that's what is keeping me up at night nowadays, because this 20% paycut thing won't hurt me a bit.

292 @matteus One thing I've learned lately is that the American public has no idea where our defense equipment comes from. They also don't understand that it's doesn't spring magically out of existence. It can easily take 10 years for something new, but average joe citizen is the expert now. They also have no clue about how old or decrepit our current fleet is, but whatevs, N. Korea has been totally quiet lately. I wouldn't worry too much about the younger guys leaving for the private sector. We're expecting 25% cuts in staffing, we don't have anything available. Also, not sure where you heard the better benefits bit, we've nearly lost all of our benefits over the last 4 years.

293 @matteus, well, the people voted and they want their free stuff, so let it burn. @Ms. michgican...wow, what a coincidence...government gets cut by a tiny amount, maybe some federal employees get a pay cut (with days off, don't forget that)...and suddenly you don't want to lurk anymore but have STRONG opinions. And you start threatening the private sector that your money is going to disappear? you do know all of "your money" started out in a taxpayer's pocket...or as debt (which is the real problem.) I know I am coming across very harsh on the fed employees in this thread, but some of you are tone deaf. The housing market crashed, we bailed out GM, we bailed out the banks, your salaries have not been touched, we spent $800 billion on stimulus to the usual contractors...all of this did NOTHING to help my small business and I did NOTHING to cause these problems. So, we took a hit, well that's okay, but now its time to for you to take the hit. So stop yapping and acting aggrieved - no one is entitled to perfect economic security, yes that includes you science dudes. Also, to all of the reasonable fed employees on the boards...I should make sure to remember you all exist too. Sometimes the internet hangover rant gets the better of me.

294 "One thing I've learned lately is that the American public has no idea where our defense equipment comes from. They also don't understand that it's doesn't spring magically out of existence. It can easily take 10 years for something new, but average joe citizen is the expert now. They also have no clue about how old or decrepit our current fleet is, but whatevs, N. Korea has been totally quiet lately. " We have how many carrier groups now? How many does our main enemy have? Look, I am for a strong defense, but when you run out of funds, belts are tightened. We should try to not run out of funds, but apparently the voters don't see eye to eye on that. Its not pleasant to face that fact, but here we are.

295 Do I need to dig up the handful of posts I've made over the years to prove my credentials to you? You're sort of proving why I choose not to post much. You have no idea what I, or any others, have already sacrificed. But please do continue to be judgemental and thinking yourself above us. At least it's nice to know I am now equally hated by both parties because of my job. It'll make the 2014 election much cheaper for me, and I won't have to take time off to vote.

296 @ms. michigan I don't know what you are referring to. I am talking about the exceedingly generous leave policy the DOD offers its civilians when I say 'benefits' @sexypig You aren't getting it, man. I am not acting aggrieved for the impact to me personally, if I am acting aggrieved, its about the damaging impact to this country's defensive posture. SPENDING NEEDS TO BE CUT, I agree completely, I don't agree with the dumb (literally) blanket nature of the cuts. It's like trying to lose weight by cutting your legs off.

297 Hey, welcome to funemploymen, you pukes!

298 We have how many carrier groups now? Not enough? How many does our main enemy have? Too many.

299 @matteus Ah, you actually said "worse benefits," not better. Yeah, our benefits suck. They used to be good, but like everyone else (despite what people think) we sucked it up and ate that hit for the common good.

300 Thank you for bringing that Jefferson quote to your audience, and beyond.

That they are coming after us with the Code of Federal Regulations instead of with muskets does not make them any the less oppressive.

301 I find it hard to have sympathy for government workers when I have not been able to keep a full time job since 2009 because of Obama and the Democratic party's actions.

So, for all those moaning government employees in this thread ...

Fuck you and the horse you rode in on. Welcome to our world, dumbasses.

Go ahead and vote democrat. You will be out of a job even faster once that socialist puke finishes auguring the economy into the ground.

302 I am getting very tired of seeing this "f-you government employees" comments on conservative blogs. There's no doubt that the federal government is a bloated suckhole of American tax dollars, but the people who are getting pay cuts and laid off aren't all leeches on the American taxpayers. A good number of them where I live in VA are Department of Defense employees that do actual work and are not HARDLY overpaid or swimming in benefits. My father's the sole provider for our family, works at the Marine Corps University, and is taking a 25% pay cut. Marine Corps University trains Marine officers. This is important. It must be done. He retired from the Marine Corps and went straight to work to continue supporting them. Half the people in my neighborhood are veterans, mostly Marine Corps in this area. They went to work for DoD contractors doing a variety of defense tech and also training contractors who have boots on the ground in Afghanistan. Some of them retired from the military and became boots on the ground contractors themselves. Point being, they gave their youth to the military, retired, and then went to work supporting the military, and many of them are facing layoffs. This will ruin their families. They will lose their homes. They're not rich. They're not making ridiculous amounts of money. They've been saving 20% of their ridiculous salaries? No, they've been trying to keep their heads above water on houses that cost more than they're worth since the housing market crash. They're underwater on their mortgages just like half the private sector home owners in VA. They are middle class, and they pay taxes and higher gas prices and higher food prices just like everyone else. My old neighborhood is going to be a ghost town when this goes through. The DoD is the ONLY branch of the federal government whose role is actually mandated by the constitution, and I guaran-damn-tee you it's not the useless paper pushers who are getting paycuts and laid off. It's people like my father and my neighbors who are actually doing important stuff. And everywhere I go I see people cheering and saying, "yay, they're suffering now, yay, fire the paper pushers! Join the rest of the unemployed! Now you know what we feel like!" Well, I hope your schadenfreude tastes good when it comes at the direct expense of our warfighting capabilities and the veterans who've already given blood for this country. No, not all of those who are getting hit by sequestration are veterans, and yes, even the DoD needs to be cut. But if you think it's being done intelligently or that it's a bunch of useless bureaucrats suffering for it, think again. My father and my neighbors sure as hell aren't Obama voters, and they goddamn sure aren't useless or overpaid.

303 Wow, my heart bleeds for them.  I am losing at LEAST fifteen days to unpaid shutdowns this year.  Ten days last year.  Where was the concern from King Putt for ME?

Oh, right, I don't work for a union, I don't suckle from the government teat, and I don't vote Democrat, so it's not like that JEF gives a damn for me, does he?

Fuck them all, let them reap what they have sown.  Let them have the barest taste of what they have already visited on the rest of us.

304 The feds are not the enemy but Obama is successfully dividing everyone into the "take mine not theirs" camp.
I'm not going to enjoy losing 20% of my pay but enjoy even less the new embrace of socialism by those who cheer the bad fortune of others.

Posted by: Brad at February 23, 2013 01:47 PM (IF2l

**********************************

True, but I don't have to put up with their whining.

305 The BurrOcrats should be happy that the GOP hasn't figured out a tax increase that many in the private sector might support -- tax the BurrOcrats (working and retired) enough to cover the bloated unfunded portion of their gold parachute pension and health plans.  Forget taxing the private sector for these public sector benefit excesses.   It's long past time there was a common sense correction to these gold parachute public sector benefits.

After all, some of the reason for never ending deficit spending is related to the need to fund overly robust public sector benefit programs, and with more and more public sector retirements, it's only going to get worse and worse.  Never mind that these sorts of poorly funded but overly robust pensions are somewhat a rarity in the private sector. 

Since the Ocrats like to make a lot of noise about having Choices, for those BurrOcrats who don't want to pay the defined benefit tax, offer them the option to evolve their define benefit pensions into defined contribution pensions based upon their actual prorated contributions to their pensions.   Oh wait, wouldn't that expose how poorly some of these programs have been funded...? 

Gee, if the BurrOcrats and pOliticians actually had their pensions based upon private sector prosperity instead of wishful unicorn farts, how long would it take before there would be a big evolution away in the excessive tax and regulations that is crushing the private sector prosperity? 

306 It's good to see so many people buying the propaganda. . That's sarcasm. . If you days are being cut or your favorite services, you are being targeted by DEMOCRATS as a form of extortion. Give us more money or we will hurt you. . And it's for a meaningless, ephemeral cut, too. . We don't need to cut fifty billion a year, we need to cut more than a trillion a year. . The reason we're sick of the whining is that it's always in the service of the extortion. . I'm all for giving sympathy to people having a hard time, less so when the hard time is because they couldn't find enough change going through my pockets for that mochalatte they want. . The private sector is being bled dry to fund 'Prosperitu Circle' AKA the counties around DC. If the tiniest slowing in the rate of growth for DC hurts so much, check your damned priorities.

307

I'd suggest directing more wrath against politicians, their political appointees, and those salaries and benefits, than against the tiny cogs, but that seems so 99%...

Damn, I hate having to put four....where I used to put three...   .

308 Posted by: Sentry at February 23, 2013 04:43 PM (pjBvs) Everything you just posted.....housing crash, lousy economy, inefficiency etc. can be laid at the feet of Government...and too much of it.

309 By design, the primary feature of the civil service is that they are supposed to be very hard to fire. Otherwise every time a new POTUS is elected, and the political appointees shuffle into place, all the upper level civil service would be purged and replaced by cronies of the POTUS's political appointees. Then every relatively low level functionary would be purged and replaced by whatever card carrying member of the D or R political party bothers to show for the job.

Nonetheless, whenever we are lucky enough to have a truely visionary POTUS who needs to make some fundamental changes to the bureaucracy, they got to bend some rules to purge the 'crats and get their own in there.

So, massive new hires for the Fed civil service in the last few years (20%?) but need to cut equivalent number of current employees (purge) - pay freeze three years running will get them out, but no worky, why?

OK, let's try to force the old guys out with unpaid furloughs (20% paycut). This will no worky as well. Why?

Because, by design, the primary feature of the civil service is that they are supposed to be very hard to fire And it is really hard to game it too.

No old guard is going to take (early) retirement now because the system calcs pension based on most recent/high salary years. Old guard been in civil service longer than this POTUS been in politics, and know when the shit get straight they'll get backpay, maybe even retroactive raises.

In the end, all Barkies attempts to circumvent the civil service will fail and HIS recent hires will have to be let go in a retroactive RIF where low seniority go first.

310 Instead of taking credit for this minuscule cut in federal spending, the pathetic Republican "leadership" is trying to give the credit to Obama. Idiotas!

311 Remember the "Bobs" from the movie Office Space? Bob #1: So Ms. Campbell, what exactly does an economist at the BLS do? Describe your day. Ms. Campbell: Well.......I don't know exactly. I come in and surf the net for 7.5 hours trying to figure out how to save the taxpayer money at Kohl's and then I fill out a from for 0.25 hours and then I spend the next 0.25 hours filling out my electronic time card. Bob #2: You make $120,000 a year shopping on line at Kohl's? Ms Campbell: Well, yes, and I saved 20% on a microwave oven and that's 20% the taxpayer didn't spend on it. Bob #1: Mr Figueroa, what does a government QC analyst for unemployment insurance do? BTW, WTF is that exactly? Mr.Figueroa: I sleep, and when Ms. Campbell comes in with piping hot hot pockets, I wake up and make sure they are 150.54789 degrees F. Bobs 1 and 2: So you and Ms. Campbell shop on line and snack all day and get paid a quarter of a million dollars a year? Mr. Figueroa: Yep. Ain't America grand!?!?! At least it was...until Republicans threatened me with a sea quest or what's it.

312 It is too late to care about the plight of any workers in the Federal or State governments.  The entire system is run and controlled by a small elite of predators who cannot be removed within the constraints of the existing system.

Innocent, sincere and dedicated people will be and are being sacrificed to protect the guilty who rule over us today.  It is all about maintaining power and control for people who absolutely do not care about anything else.

The elites have plenty of supporters.  A critical plurality of the voters are deluded into believing that they can get unlimited free stuff just like the elites keep promising.  Of course those promises cannot be kept.  The promise are not even meant to be kept; they are made only to placate the subjects. 

Apparently you can fool most of the people all of the time.

The elites would rather rule in Hell than service in Heaven.  The economy mean nothing to them.

A crash is inevitable now.  Plan accordingly.

313 I worked for a state government, and about 3/4 of the workers were capable and honest. The rest were drunk, weird, or asleep at their desks. I doubt that's much worse than private, but you can't get fired from a state. I worked for them because with my health, I couldn't get private medical insurance.

We got furloughed and 5% pay cuts and no raises and late paychecks off and on for years since reality set in with the budget and tax revenues. We didn't really feel the impact. Banks waited for our paychecks to clear, and what with taxes and forced union dues, we didn't feel the 5% much and enjoyed having the day off. The union, of course, exaggerated it all and made it sound like we were starving, so that the Dem whores would give us a raise ASAP.

Most of us are grateful that we had these jobs. Don't hate all of them just because the hated MSM cherry picks the whiners to quote. Hate the unions and pols who run the show.

314 It's not fair that we'll have to suffer!

315 Posted by: SARDiver at February 23, 2013 02:03 PM (jgWCv) Concur in full. I keep wondering where these new federal hires even went. IRS? DEA? Definitely not NASA (which is shedding people, actually), and it sounds like not DoD either. I actually don't support the sequester, but that's because it's peanuts in context of the whole problem. To borrow someone else's metaphor, it's like a family saying they have to cut baby food and not even looking at their beer and cigarettes expenses, much less the cost of their 5000 sf house for only 4 people.

316 313 Remember the "Bobs" from the movie Office Space? Posted by: Dion at February 23, 2013 05:38 PM (q+FIa) Beat me to it!! I was thinking of the same movie as I drove home this afternoon after instructing at merit badge college. I'd bet that direct hires in the federal government, outside of the military, have not had to face a "Justify Your Existence" meeting with HR consultants brought in to conduct a "right sizing". In my own case, in the private sector and over the course of 30+ years, I had at least two such meetings, as best I can recall. Gut check time, folks...

317

I worked for the DOD as a GS-15, and did it for ten years. They wasted so damned much money it was unbelievable. All you government employees, you don't have a hope in Hell of convincing me your departments couldn't take a 30% across-the-board cut and still actually get your job done. I know better because I've been there.

I used to actually ask our suppliers, who jacked prices immediately upon knowing I was Government, "Aren't you a taxpayer, too? Doesn't it bother you that we are wasting our money this way?" The answer was usually silence or a shamefaced, "Well, that's just the way it is."

Government is too bloated and needs a massive purge. It also needs to stop being the hirer of last resort for nonwhites and women. It's no coincidence that respect for government started going down at the same time it started being drastically affected by affirmative action. Affirmative action is well on its way to destroying the country. Look at preezy for a prime example.

318 For those of you mocking what constitutes "quality control" at BLS, let me open your eyes as to how vital our work is for your continued benefit. We have Top. Men. (I repeat, Top. Men.) in these positions, the complexities of which you cannot begin to comprehend: o Satraps of Significant Figures o Regents of Rounding o Dukes & Duchesses of Data Massaging o Barons & Baronesses of Brazen Mendacity o Lords & Ladies of Lameass Excuses Bow down and tremble before our credentialed glory, peasants! Our Prime Directive: If a Dem is in charge, support him large; if a Pubbie is in town, knock him down. No other directives or rules are necessary...

319 I work for the DOD in Alaska, a GS 07 to be exact. I took this job a year ago because I was about to be without a job and a job in the hand is worth two in the bush.  I went 12,500 dollars in debt to move myself, my wife and a limited amount of my belongings up here, because I needed a job.  My rent equals 64 percent of my monthly salery and I'm not living in a mansion.  I am a retired Marine Reservist who won't see his pension for another 13 years. I have done my time.  I am a conservative, non union member as is every one of my co-workers. My job is to make sure units can train and remain safe while doing so.  It is not a job which lends itself to non military people coming in and being sucessfull, IE my military training got me this job.  A 20% pay cut is going to hurt.  I understand why the furloghs are needed and I will tighten my belt and carry on.  I'm glad the Republicans didn't just kick the can on down the road and brought this to a head.  Having said that I would just like to offer a harty FUCK YOU to all those who think I'm living high on the hog on the goverment tit.  You fucks are playing the class warefare game as well as any Democrat... your mother should be so proud! 

320 Where's my effin' socks when I need them?

321

I am one of the DoD workers who will shortly be furloughed. Realize that DoD is one of the few institutions left in public life that is largely conservative controlled. Folks here understand the importance of cutting the budget. We know all about boiled frogs and Saul Alinsky. Most are appalled at what is going on at the top.

I, personally, work for the U.S. Navy. I understand that the point of the Navy is to fight wars; it is not a jobs program. I am deeply concerned about the loss of readiness (the sequester will impact training), however. That should come ahead of the civilian workforce as well.

We do need to decide whether we want a military that is capable of taking on the world's toughest opponents. Even if times were "good", it is incredibly difficult to stay ahead of those opponents and that is just the fact of the matter. How the Navy is planning to fight in 5, 10 or 20 years is based on a national warfighting strategy that flows down from the top. That generates scenarios that themselves generate what combat capabilities are studied in my lab for the future fight. If we can't afford to fight first rate opponents anymore, than those scenarios have to change. What would be intolerable is asking young men (and now women) to fight with tools that are knowably inadequate. 

 

322 Let me warm up the caps lock:  This is all Preznit Mugabe and his merry band of  Democratic Socialist Marxists fault.  In a land where the rule of law is followed there is a budget that identifies what is to be paid for.  All of the pain is the choice of these marxists.  Government by Alynski acolytes is always painful.

323 I won't be quitting my DoD GS-11. I have ten more years for pension. We have already had restrictions and cutbacks to purchasing. We are down to one working Wire EDM machine in the shop and I have been removed from the list of people travelling to Factory Acceptance Testing of two machines. Instead they will send one process person to the automated welder FAT and a contract specialist for the grinding center. I didn't really want to go, but I'm afraid of what we will get when the installation is done. No technical people go on FATs? Bad idea.

324 I've frequented this blog for several years and posted to it many times but never felt like an outsider until reading the comments in this post. You see I'm a GOV and not ashamed of it at all, in fact quite proud that I've served my country in the capacity I chose. I'm no paperpusher to be sure and could most likely make more money on the outside with better retirement and benefits and not have the requirement to be deployed on a moments notice (3 in the last 2 years) but I find it more rewarding to be right where I am. You can lump me and the others like me here in the same mold as most of you have above but you'd be wrong to make that leap.

325 The script is getting tired, you guys. Why the fuck are you bitching at us, anyway? There is one person holding the reins on this particular clusterfuck, go bitch at him. He won't listen, but go bitch at him. Enough with the fucking propaganda about how it's the fucking blog readers who are choosing who gets extra days off without pay.

326 There is an upside of this for the libs: just think of how much this will reduce greenhouse gasses an mitigate the effects of climate change. You would think they cheer up about this as it is what they are recommending for the rest of us.

327 Furloughs ... or is that Funloughs

328 “We are just living from one paycheck to another, and this could be really bad for us,” said Jorge Figueroa of Silver Spring.

Hey Jorge...  screw you and your government employee friends too.  Things were paycheck to paycheck here, and then your boss and union buddy Obama stuck is with tax increases, on top of ObamaCare tax increases, on top of double the cost for gas and no end in sight since he hates fossil fuel and rejects pipelines, and double the cost for electricity since he's killing all the coal generation.

Your boss and buddy is killing us in the private sector. I have extremely competent and experience IT expert friends with families and kids in college that have been unable to find work for more than two years. F-you and your unions too if you can't tighten the damn belt (I noticed you still get your raise and your automatic additional year of experience paygrade bump, which ought to offset some of this furlough difficulty).

If the American people get our chance, we'd fire 80% of you and slash the rest 50% of your pay so you're back to the same wages we get.

329 My wife had furlough days here in WI before Walker was elected, the state functioned fine missing a few employees. To the Whitney bastards cry me a fucking river, let it burn Heil Obamster

330 331 meant to say winey bastards.

331 Why the fuck are you bitching at us, anyway? There is one person holding the reins on this particular clusterfuck, go bitch at him. ***************************** Because a disheartening number of "conservatives" are thrilled, just THRILLED, to have company in their own misery by the looks of it. No one disagrees that the government needs to make huge cuts across the board. It's one thing to make that statement and another to continuously say things like: -- So, for all those moaning government employees in this thread ...Fuck you and the horse you rode in on. Welcome to our world, dumbasses. -- Gee, thanks. Veterans usually get out of the military with a very specific skill set, and "outstanding sniper" and "exceptional at hand to hand combat" don't lend themselves well to much private sector deployment, unless you want to be a cop. Therefore, they go to the DoD. And it's one thing to tighten belts--which the DoD has been doing across the board for some time now--and another to watch half the country freaking celebrate when you lose your job, call you a leech, and all but do cartwheels because now "you're feeling the pain too, sucker!" Guess what, they've been feeling the pain right along with the rest of you since Jugears took office in 2008. My Dad's job used to have three people doing it. Now it's one. And he's going to be doing the job of three people on 75% of his usual pay while at least half the people on every conservative website I frequent throw parties for his pay cut. The bitching here is about this insulting schadenfreude all over the conservative blogosphere. Believe me, I know exactly who to blame for the actual clusterfuck.

332 The bitching here is about this insulting schadenfreude all over the conservative blogosphere. Believe me, I know exactly who to blame for the actual clusterfuck. Posted by: Sentry at February 23, 2013 07:48 PM (pjBvs) WE ARE CRITICIZING YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE COOPERATING WITH THE DEMOCRAT'S SEQUESTER EXTORTION ATTEMPT. Stop cooperating with the fucking people who are trying to blackmail America for more money. Fucking period. This is no longer negotiable, we are going fucking Greece bankrupt. Government employees aren't coming out of the woodwork to discredit the hoax, they're coming out to shit and piss all over the people paying for it. Obviously a LOT of people disagree with across the board cuts, because IT NEVER HAPPENS. The Public Sector is pissing its pants over $50 billion. We need to cut over $1000 billion to survive, not over ten years but THIS YEAR. You're insulted. We're bankrupt.

333 I'm quadruple sick of it because it's every fucking budget battle from city to State to Federal, every fucking time and the shit *works* because the news and schools are keeping people butt-ass ignorant, and we're seriously facing economic collapse because people can't keep their fat grubbies out of everyone else's pockets. And you spend days convincing people and they go watch the news and get "reprogrammed" because they're effing hypnotized or something. Existential freaking threat, people.

334 RAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!

335 So which one of you government employees on this thread, all saying "we're different, exceptional, fill a niche"....are you the million dollar niche filler? http://tinyurl.com/cmhygl4

336 Btw, in broaching this subject in the real world I've learned that those who work for the government aren't taking the hit that those who work for contractors are taking. Apparently, no thanks to our cracker jack press, a lot of contracts aren't being renewed which means a lot of jobs will be terminated. Guess while the government employees were deciding to terminate the contracts they weren't thinking about the families depending on those contracts were they?

337 What Snarky said (#33 :  As a former defense contractor, there's nervous people out there.  Contracts won't get funded, and nothing new in the pipeline.  Shitload of lost jobs.

338 I'm no paperpusher to be sure and could most likely make more money on the outside with better retirement and benefits and not have the requirement to be deployed on a moments notice (3 in the last 2 years)

Posted by: Talibill at February 23, 2013 06:33 PM (qk/nQ)

Yeah.  Good luck with that.  Not sure what you do but whatever it is, right now there's about 20,000 people out of work who do it to, guaranteed.

339

Snarky....I work for DoD, non-appropriated, managing 30 engineers, non-appropriated.  Do you know what non-appropriated means....I'll give you a clue, congress does not appropriate money to pay us, we earn our money.  We provide a service to the military that the private sector will not provide.  Thus, even though I have enough money to pay my personnel for the rest of the year....we will all be on furlough and not one penny for their labor was appropriated by congress.  Suffice to say that we are a government entity that basically is a defense contractor.

We actually perform a great deal of work for the Private Sector (defense contractors) that wish to keep their cost down.  They come to us for services because we are cheaper than other contractors or their own labor force.  By law we cannot operate at a profit and thus we have a consistent labor hour rate across multiple years.  If I turn a profit this year (and I will thanks to the furlough), we will have to reduce our rates next year to achieve that 0 profit margin.  Though, I will be turning down those requests the rest of this year because we cannot provide those services when we are being furloughed.

I don't have the time to describe color of money and Federal Appropriation Law, suffice to say that DoD personnel will be far more impacted by this than other agencies.   Many of those agencies will just carry over funds into next year, thus not saving one damn dime for the taxpayers.  Their employees will be allowed to work massive OT to spend those carried over dollars next Fiscal Year and they will not lose a penny due to the furlough.  Most of DoD money cannot be carried over, end of the FY and it goes back to the Treasury.

I cannot speak for most of the government employees on this thread, but I can speak for myself.  Yes, I have saved the taxpayers in one year $15 million and that was one program, one project.  I can document other savings over the cost of my salary for every year of my service. 

I have three engineers that work for me that I will state unequivocally they are the best in this country in their respective fields.  Defense contractors and other private industry have attempted year after year to hire them away, yet they stay for multiple reasons, the main ones are that they highly value their commitment to the guys at the point of the spear and the freedom they have in doing their jobs.

To close, I have no problem with the sequestor....let it come...we will deal with it. 

 

340 Remove the EPA and the Department of Education and we're good. I've noticed the NIH and NSF are still accepting grant proposals. I'll believe all the sky-is-falling hype when White House staff loose their jobs, particularly the chefs. The Wookie likes to eat you know. As for the DoD I suggest you ground Air Force 1, both of them, along with the Blue Angels. When Obozo and the Wookie cannot jet around to fundraisers and golf courses on our dime then I think he'll start to deal.

341

I used the wrong terminology for non-appropriated funds.  There are military non-appropriated funds that are used to fund Morale, Welfare for military and their dependents.  My mistake and I would not wish to confuse any body.  Defense Working Capitol Funds are not appropriated and I did not want to go in depth about Working Capitol Funds, but Wikipedia actually explains it very well for Navy WCF. 

 

"The funding of the NWCF is based on a revolving-fund concept of operations, under which the NWCF activities received their initial working capital through an appropriation or through a transfer of resources from existing appropriations of funds and used those resources to finance the initial cost of products and services. Financial resources to replenish the initial working capital and to permit continuing operations are generated by the acceptance of customer orders.

Revolving funds operate in a fashion similar to a personal checking account. An individual deposits income into their account. In order to maintain themselves as a "continuing operation," necessary goods and services must be purchased, reducing the fund total. In order to keep the fund balanced, expenditures must not exceed income. By keeping a positive account balance, and by looking for ways to stretch capital further, revolving fund activities are exercising sound financial management.

A revolving fund gets its name from the cyclic nature of the cash flow. Income from customer purchases is used to finance a service providers' continuing operations, i.e., the business areas in a working capital fund sell goods or services with the intent of recovering the total cost incurred in providing those goods and services. Income from sales is then used to buy or replace inventory and finance the production of future goods and services."

NWCFs are any year money, they do not expire.  Oh they will have an expiration date on them, but they can be extended for long periods of time. 

 

342 @t9 & Snarky,

Both of you hit the nail on the head. The impact on the private sector contractors will be HUGE and that shit will roll downhill, fast. But like I said, screw us because our money comes from the government. I keep reading in the news that the government will just delay contracts, or slow them down, or keep them the same but slow down payment. People seem to think these companies can afford to float the capital to have employees sit around and do nothing. WTF planet are these people on??? Did anyone notice the earnings reports that came out last week? The large companies can't afford that. They'll have no choice but to go ahead with the 25% layoffs most of them are talking about. We've already sustained large reductions in staffing (oh yeah, I forgot - we haven't done any belt tightening like anyone else, huh?), so we are down to the best in the business. And the thousands upon thousands of small businesses that depend on our subcontracts to keep afloat? Shit, they'll be gone within 3 months, tops. But, we're sticking it to those lazy, overpaid government employees, aren't we?

The people who lose their jobs won't be able to find new ones - every defense company will be in the same position. All those small business owners and their employees? We'll just call them casualties in the war on Obama; a little collateral damage is all. Personally, I might be able to switch industries, but it might mean moving my family again. I just dragged them halfway across the country simply because I love my job and the fact that it helps keep our military safe, so they'll love that. At least my husband's been out of work since June 2009 so I don't have to inconvenience him with moving again. Ironically, my entire job is to prove to the government that the tax payer money we are given is spent efficiently and appropriately; but by all means, we wouldn't want someone doing that!

343 All of these cuts will affect affect other people so celebrating sequestration is unseemly. The more people who "die" economically (lose their house, their savings, etc) the more it affects all of us: No Man Is An Island No man is an island, Entire of itself. Each is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thine own Or of thine friend's were. Each man's death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee. John Donne. Lay it at the feet of Obama who has no worries about paying his bills and keeping his house and who simply doesn't care as long as his agenda is achieved. The people who post on this blog for the most part-unless they're trolls-didn't vote for Obama and to suggest that they're getting salaries for doing nothing is wrong. Everyone thinks what they do is valuable and most of them have families. Unfortunately, Obama was re-elected. Now we'll all reap what we was sown even though we had no hand in it.

344

My career was because of government:  Corporate sales tax accountant.  I worked for a national retail chain and had to be well-versed in the complex laws of each of the different taxing states and localities.  I've seen tax law at its  convoluted  worst.  I've also had to 'work' with state and local tax auditors too many  times  to count.  They'd come to our office, work 9-5 (no unpaid OT for those guys), while many had the attitude that we worked for them (make copies, blah blah blah).  Sorry, but government could be slashed 25% right now and the public wouldn't notice a thing.  Now that would be bad for the goonion honchos, no doubt,  as well as the individual  worker,  but great for the taxpayers.

 

I've also been reading where the government workers who are not laid off want guarantees that they won't suffer if the job no longer gets done.  I've got some real world news for these types:  If people are laid off and you can't get the job done, you should be fired.  I've seen it many times in private business where layoffs come to a 10 man department, 10%, so the department is down to 9.  That one worker's work is now shifted to the other 9 remaining and the work is still expected to be done correctly and timely.  Then another round of layoffs, another loss of an employee or two, more shifting of those laid off employees' work load to the survivors, again with the expectation that the work will still be done in a correct and timely manner.  If you have to stay late to get the job done, then that is what is required.  When was the last time you heard about  paper pushing  bureaucrats staying 'late' unpaid to get their work caught up?

 

Sorry so many government employees are offended at the comments here, but geez, get a grip.  The government steals from us to pay you, so why can't we have a say in how our bloody money is used?  Why can't we bitch about the profligate waste within the government bureaucracy?  Do you think government  employment  will always be ouside the  harsh  laws of economics?

345 Sorry folks, but this is a soft sell. No, I repeat, no company reduces workdays by 20% because that doesn't get to the where the real money is. A good company trying to save itself cuts the workforce, not the workdays! Cutting workdays does not reduce the Overhead and that's where the real savings are. These people in govt will lose 20% pay, but they won't lose their jobs, their benefits, their vacation days, their health coverage.......cut the govt workforce and let these mopes go find jobs in the real world!

346

RickZ,

Most of us are not offended by most of these comments nor am I offended by yours.  You make several statements that are your perceived opinion.  I have worked many unpaid hours in order to get a project completed on schedule.  I know many government employees that take home work every weekend in order to get a problem solved without compensation.  Guess what it is part of the job and I will be doing it this weekend.   

 

As for getting the job done...if you are already understaffed and now you have 8 hrs less per week per employee ( in my case 240 hrs per week for 22 weeks that comes out to 5280 hrs for my section or 3 full man-years   to finish multiple projects on time and on budget.  You determine priorities and go from there, there will be programs and projects that slide to the right.  If you can make an engineering schedule that suffers a 20% decrease in hrs be completed on time just by us working harder and more efficently you are in the wrong business.  There is not that much slop to these program budgets. 

 

 

 

347 Looks like some folks here should have gotten a government job!

348

The majority- or all- of you celebrating because DOD GS employees and contractors are taking a significant haircut don't understand the scope and extent of DoD activities.  This is a function mandated by the constitution.

Yet, guess what? If you are a DoD non-military employee, you are getting a big pay cut this year.  Meanwhile other governmental GS employees are not.  In fact, congress was just debating giving themselves a raise.

How the fuck is that equal treatment?  Why is my particular flavor of govt service deemed less valuable than, say, the FDA? EPA? DOE? Education?  And as someone who was an active duty officer until 3 yr ago, how is it fair that my military counterpart- who does 70% of the work I do and has 70% of the responsiblity- is getting a pay raise while I'm getting a 10% pay cut over a 12 mo period, actualized over 6 mo?

But instead of cries of equal sacrifice on conservative blogs, what I'm seeing is joy that the DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE is getting raped. Fuck all of you.  I'm done with the so-called conservatives in the republican party and this website.  You short-sighted clowns are letting obama rape people like me while cheering, and totally missing the fact that the raping is targeted to the very.fucking.group you should be supporting. 

Get your head out of your asses.

349 We're not letting Obama" rape" anyone. Obama is raping on his own.

350 Sure, let me re-state then, "You short-sighted clowns are cheering while obama rapes people like me , and totally missing the fact that the raping is targeted to the very.fucking.group you should be supporting."

351 You ungrateful pieces of crap. As a fed (as you like to call us), I work my as$ off to help keep you safe everyday. For what... treatment like this? I get reminded everyday it's taxpayer money... but I pay mine too. I work hard to support my family and I'm severely underpaid compared to you company car seeking, overpaid private sector idiots that give your CEOs (Exxon CEO made 400M in one quarter) all the money and many of you spending time blogging on the Internet are really hurting... sure! Having Daddy pay your bills or have a company given to you? You're probably on your smart phone reading this. You have no idea the sacrifices some fed employees make for you working alongside the military to keep them safe as well. You're all shameful Americans that have helped feed the problem of our economy by allowing all of your money to be funnelled to a select few like our entertainers and athletes that don't have real jobs and make more than all of us over our entire career in a just few games. The only stupid country that does it to this extreme. Your boy Boehner is exempt from all this and I'm guessing the Obama kids won't miss a meal. By the way, none of them will read this... just us dummies that have no say. Shut your mouths and go back to the game on tv.