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Federal News Radio
Mike Causey's
Federal Report
By Mike Causey
Tuesday - 2/26/2013
Here's an e-mail I got last Thursday from a friend. She's from the
metro Washington area but currently is working on a humanitarian
project in one of the poorest spots on the planet. She asked: "So, how
is the sequester going? Guess D.C. is in turmoil. For me, no problem.
All I am doing is working for kids who don't have shoes. Or food!"
Gulp!
Meantime, back in the US of A we still have (at least) the rest of the
week to agonize and analyze if "IT" is going to happen and if IT does,
will it mean long lines at the airport, toddlers in Head Start programs
sent home hungry, and tens of thousands of federal workers (from FBI
agents to EPA lawyers) being furloughed?
The Republican governor of Virginia and the Democratic governor of
Maryland (both potential presidential candidates in 2016) went on TV
over the weekend saying essentially the same thing. If sequestration
happens, their states' economies — built on federal and military
operations — will go down the toilet. Oh, and also, the opposition
party will be to blame!
So what's it going to be? Will it happen, be delayed and, if it does,
what will the impact be?
Here's what some readers told us Monday:
*"I'm sure something is going to happen at the last minute. This is
suicide for the party that gets blamed. I haven't heard much here at
the IRS. We might be some of the ones they deem essential??? As I
approach 59, I'm getting tired of all this. All the government's
gridlock is just causing more and more feds to not give a damn anymore.
Give me what I would receive at age 60 when first eligible to retire
and $25,000 and I am out of here." -- Tony of the IRS
*"The Obama administration is crying about sequester. That brouhaha is
the biggest bunch of hooey around. First of all, it's not a cut but a
reduction in the rate of growth of the budget! I keep hearing reporters
say the cut will do such and such. What a load. I work in the Defense
Dept. The department could easily accept this, probably without any
furloughs, just by reducing waste. Maybe it would be easier if the
department had some leeway from Congress on shifting $$ around, but why
hasn't the SECDEF been asking for this, instead of spending all the
time wailing and gnashing his teeth about how draconian the cuts are!!
I'm tired of the misinformation and misdirection that I see, both in
the administration and by the media. Please continue to get it right.
-- Mike in Virginia
*"I am a long-time reader and...a comptroller in a DoD organization
that has over 200 civilian employees. As you can imagine, there is a
lot of angst about the potential furlough looming over us. I have to
state, however, that DoD is crying wolf about the need to have a
furlough because of sequestration. The effect of sequestration will
amount to only a 10 percent cut to our FY13 budget; a cut that can be
absorbed with some belt-tightening. There is no need to furlough any
civilian employees. In my 30-plus years of service, I have had to deal
with 10 percent budget reductions many times before and they never made
the news, and we never considered furloughs to achieve the reductions.
Secretary Panetta notified Congress on Feb. 20 of the potential need to
implement a furlough. Congress should forbid DoD from furloughing
civilian employees. If it happens, a dangerous precedent will have been
set that could become a routine solution in future disagreements
between the President and Congress over the budget. Federal civilian
employees would become the pawns in this high stakes game of Chicken."
-- Defense Dept. Comptroller
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