Why? Why don't these people realize they are messing with people's lives?

[Parrothead]

:cursing: Da^n government won't get their s___ together and decide about a budget.

 

:banghead: There is talk about mandatory furloughs and pay cuts in two weeks.

 

Why? Because the freaking people in charge are too stupid to realize they are playing with employees lives and want to posture and "look better" than the other side. :angry: And both sides are pulling this crap. :angry:

 

How do I get a job after being unemployed for 10 years? I can't drag hose or chase after bad guys any more. My body is broken. :glare:

[Arcadia]

I can definately sympathise. At least in my case, California did not issue IOUs this year for tax refunds.

[Heatherwith4]

:grouphug: It does stink.

[Dandelion]

Yep, our government is out of control. I can't decide whether they're just grossly incompetent or whether they're so insulated in their little D.C. bubble that they just don't really care.

 

I'm sorry it's affecting your families in this way, Chucki and Karen. :grouphug:

[LMA]

Yes, my husband is waiting to hear about a furlough. The Admiral said they will know March 1. It will start mid-April through Sept., the end of the fiscal year. The employees are going to insist that they be allowed to pick their furlough day.

[Moxie]

Term limits, term limits, term limits!! There should be NO career politicians! They forget what it is like to actually work for a living.

[Dandelion]

Term limits, term limits, term limits!! There should be NO career politicians! They forget what it is like to actually work for a living.

 

 

Totally agree.

[amy g.]

Term limits, term limits, term limits!! There should be NO career politicians! They forget what it is like to actually work for a living.

 

 

I could not agree more.

[Reflections]

Yep, our government is out of control. I can't decide whether they're just grossly incompetent or whether they're so insulated in their little D.C. bubble that they just don't really care.

 

I'm sorry it's affecting your families in this way, Chucki and Karen. :grouphug:

 

 

 

HA HA - it's Both!

 

It's very frustrating - :grouphug:

[Halftime Hope]

Someone had proposed a 10 items Bill of Rights-ish document to overhaul the congressional job. at the top of the list was that every law that applies to us would apply to them. I think it was Warren Buffet, or some other big-wig investor-type guy. I'm going to go look that up. We face Sequestration cuts in dh's industry.

[TexasRachel]

Yup. It stinks and because DH is considered an emergency personnel he has to work and not get paid for it. But congress still gets paid. And I won't say more because there's nothing nice to say.

[gardenmom5]

there hasn't been a budget in four years.

 

I would LOVE to see congress have to live with the laws the push on everyone else. we'd see lots of change then . . . . .

[BakersDozen]

Someone had proposed a 10 items Bill of Rights-ish document to overhaul the congressional job. at the top of the list was that every law that applies to us would apply to them.

Oh my goodness, I wonder what the % approval/voter rating on a measure like that would be? That might be the most agreement this country has seen in a long time. Unfortunately, a measure like that makes way too much sense for our gov't workers (term "workers" used loosely).

[gardenmom5]

Oh my goodness, I wonder what the % approval/voter rating on a measure like that would be? That might be the most agreement this country has seen in a long time. Unfortunately, a measure like that makes way too much sense for our gov't workers (term "workers" used loosely).

It would probably be like the WA state legislature. they overturn iniatives. every initiative to control spending gets passed by voters, and every two years the legislature get's rid of it. (because an initiative is only good for two years.) there's talk of making it permanent - which would require putting it in the state constitution), but the legislature is ever so resistant to the voters controlling the purse strings.

at least a few years back our state auditor finally got some teeth - and boy did the port of seattle have a baaaaad showing to the tune of $1,000,000 in fraud. (the feds ended up on that one.)

[blessed3x]

We are there too, and just took a pay cut to move back to VA ( :hurray: ) but with this will be losing more $$ ( :cursing: ).

Agree with all that has been said about Congress and am biting my tongue to not say more. :glare:

[Critterfixer]

I move that all representatives and senators be forced to work from home. That way, when they fail to do their job they can step right out on their front porches for the egging they so richly deserve.

[Mergath]

Ugh. That sucks. :( I was reading an article in the Sunday Star Tribune about sequestration (I'm a little behind on my newspapers, lol) and as I was reading the list of what will get cut, all I could think about was how many regular people are going to end up in serious financial trouble if this does go through. I hope they figure something out. They usually do, thankfully, at the very last minute possible.

[Amy in NH]

And I heard a piece the other day with the legislator who was there for a few years back in the 1970s. He's back again now for the first time in 25ish years. Back then they worked at least a 40 hour week; now they work 20-32 hours.

[Parrothead]

We are there too, and just took a pay cut to move back to VA ( :hurray: ) but with this will be losing more $$ ( :cursing: ).

Agree with all that has been said about Congress and am biting my tongue to not say more. :glare:

This is us exactly dh took a pay cut to get the day job. Then they messed up his check and overpaid him. Not they want it back.

 

It is an absolute freaking mess. I'm trying to find a night job but that is looking pretty slim.

[Danestress]

Not to be callous, but I find it hard to sympathize after all the unpaid time off private industry employees had to take during the recent recession. 20 percent less is a lot better than weeks of mandatory unpaid time off.

 

 

Really? I find it easy to sympathize with both. It's not a contest - two broad sets of people can both suffer and can actually encourage each other and sympathize with each other through it.

[Parrothead]

Not to be callous, but I find it hard to sympathize after all the unpaid time off private industry employees had to take during the recent recession. 20 percent less is a lot better than weeks of mandatory unpaid time off.

 

With your background, how about school security, or local dispatcher?

 

I can't do security. The body is now riddled with osteoarthritis. I looked into dispatch this evening. Local, state and federal. Either no openings or there is a hiring freeze.

 

 

Oh, furlough is unpaid mandatory leave.

[redheadmom]

It is not just direct federal or government employees that are affected by the budget. Any company that has contracts with the government has to see what is getting paid. We just found out last week that my DH's projects have enough funding that he should have a job. There are a lot of private companies in the same place. Any bids or contracts with the government may be cancelled due to the budget cuts. Not a great feeling. I wish Congress could act like adults instead of it being a popularity contest or a personal fundraising venture.

[Hypatia.]

Oof, I hear ya. :glare: We're looking at a furlough with 20% pay cut here too, at best. At worst, DH gets laid off.

[trlt]

It is not just direct federal or government employees that are affected by the budget. Any company that has contracts with the government has to see what is getting paid. We just found out last week that my DH's projects have enough funding that he should have a job. There are a lot of private companies in the same place. Any bids or contracts with the government may be cancelled due to the budget cuts. Not a great feeling. I wish Congress could act like adults instead of it being a popularity contest or a personal fundraising venture.

 

 

Yes. My husband's work has had the government cut funding and now we are waiting to see what happens. This touches more than just government employees.

[athena1277]

My dh's job is on a gov't contract. I asked him yesterday if he thought his job would be affected by sequestration. He had no idea what I was talking about. :banghead: I'm going to pray that means his job is safe for the moment.

[lynn]

Term limits, term limits, term limits!! There should be NO career politicians! They forget what it is like to actually work for a living.

 

 

I agree. Now that I am older I am realizing that there are a few names that have been around way to long I cringe when I hear those names. Like long term employees in the private sector many just loose focus of the job they were hired to do and just don't seem to care about anything but getting their pay check and counting off the days until retirement.

[BrookValley.]

Both my husband's and my job will be affected. Not looking forward to it.

[TravelingChris]

We are AD military so we are told we will stay get paid. However and this is a huge however, our medical bills will not be paid in a timely fashion---- if any doctor keeps us on after this garbage, I think I will start crying tears of gratitude. But the problem is not so much the house- they keep voting on legislation that the Senate doesn't even vote on- I am sorry, you don't like it, vote it down and vote in your own idea and let's get it done. And of course, the President would rather fly huge planes to Florida to play golf/ I am worried for everyone. My son works at a pharmacy and so many of his customers are defense workers or contractors. ALmost everyone at my church will be negatively affected- furloughs, late payments, reneging on payments, etc.

[Tammyla]

I feel & sympathise for every family and person dependant upon our g@vt. doing its job.

 

My dh hasn't been notified of furloughs yet, but my sister's dh has. They will be firing all temporary hires and beginning furloughs immediately. Everyone has already been living with a hiring freeze for years.

 

OP...Finding a job lately stinks, but I hope you find one and send commiserating empathy and sympathies. :grouphug:

Since my kids are teens and almost done with homeschooling, I'm regularly asked if I'll be returning to my career. Yeah right, I'm sure they'll be waiting with bells on for me.

[MBM]

The problem is that way too many politicians are paid off to vote in what big businesses essentially buy for their benefit. Those politicians are puppets. Huge and powerful corporations and firms control a big chunk of government this way.

 

ETA: My husband is a federal worker who has to work even if the doesn't get paid. Someone has to run his department. That sucks, too.

[TXMomof4]

I'm sorry for all of you. Dh is in training right now and their teachers are all contract - they're trying to find warrant officers to come finish the last month of school - which means dh will not be getting the info he needs out of the class. Everyone is scared about their jobs around here and of course the AD military are worried about getting paid in general. It's funny - dh joined to military thinking, even with a paycut initially, at least there wouldn't be quite the fear of layoffs that he had with his civilian job. Little did he know....

[chiguirre]

But the problem is not so much the house- they keep voting on legislation that the Senate doesn't even vote on- I am sorry, you don't like it, vote it down and vote in your own idea and let's get it done.

 

The Senate rules are incredible. They allow a minority party to effectively stop any legislation or appointment unless the majority can muster 60 votes to move for cloture. The minority doesn't even have to bother to actually filibuster (and lose their beauty sleep), they just indicate their intention to filibuster with a hold and gum up the Senate procedures for weeks at a time.

 

I highly recommend

 

http://www.amazon.com/Even-Worse-Than-Looks-Constitutional/dp/0465031331/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361368852&sr=1-1&keywords=it%27s+worse+than+it+looks

 

by Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein which goes into a lot of detail about why the Congress and, particularly, the Senate are so ineffective.

 

And, to those of you facing cuts, you've got my sympathy. Dh had to take a 25% cut in 2009, so I know how bad that is. All I can say is: do your research, learn the facts and vote accordingly.

[TexasRachel]

Well, DH just got told by the union to look forward to a 40% pay cut with a most likely, 33% permanent pay cut. They think they'll have to get rid of overtime. No one is sure how that's going to work because there has to be some overlap between shifts. We're not excited by that amount of cut.

 

I would really like to send my bills to DC. They all need booted.

[LMA]

:cursing: Da^n government won't get their s___ together and decide about a budget.

 

:banghead: There is talk about mandatory furloughs and pay cuts in two weeks.

 

Why? Because the freaking people in charge are too stupid to realize they are playing with employees lives and want to posture and "look better" than the other side. :angry: And both sides are pulling this crap. :angry:

 

How do I get a job after being unemployed for 10 years? I can't drag hose or chase after bad guys any more. My body is broken. :glare:

 

Is your furlough one day a week? My husband's will be one day a week, not several weeks at once. He also loses the hours needed to acquire leave and pay for health insurance, etc. 20% is a lot to take.

 

And for those who have no sympathy, we have already survived a 6-month layoff from a few years ago.

 

To look for a job, network, network, network. I have picked up the slack during the layoff with freelance work. I got started through word of mouth through friends of friends. Get on linkedin, even if you haven't worked in ages.

[Parrothead]

 

Is your furlough one day a week? My husband's will be one day a week, not several weeks at once. He also loses the hours needed to acquire leave and pay for health insurance, etc. 20% is a lot to take.

 

And for those who have no sympathy, we have already survived a 6-month layoff from a few years ago.

 

To look for a job, network, network, network. I have picked up the slack during the layoff with freelance work. I got started through word of mouth through friends of friends. Get on linkedin, even if you haven't worked in ages.

Right now the furlough is undecided. It could be one day a week (which is what they leaning toward) or a week or two here or there.

 

Dh is getting hit harder than most because he is loosing 25%. It is some kind of funky thing specific to his agency.

[LMA]

Right now the furlough is undecided. It could be one day a week (which is what they leaning toward) or a week or two here or there.

 

Dh is getting hit harder than most because he is loosing 25%. It is some kind of funky thing specific to his agency.

 

 

We could be losing 25%. 20% is a rough estimate around here. I don't really have the courage to actually compute it out.

 

I wish the government would just get itself together.

 

Hugs to you and all the other government families.

[SunnyDays]

I'm sorry for all of you who will be so directly affected. Yes, it IS messing with people's lives, and they need to get their stuff together. My dad is federal and waiting to hear as well. :grouphug:

 

[Tammyla]

ugh...Dh was officially notified late yesterday of furlough details.

 

I'm going to try to budget and plane for the pay cut/hit. The unknown is how long they will let it go on if it happens. Any ideas? I think they mentioned through October; I need to check with dh on the details again. I was just a little taken aback with mental wanderings and worries last night, when he mentioned it during dinner.

[PineFarmMom]

 

We could be losing 25%. 20% is a rough estimate around here. I don't really have the courage to actually compute it out.

 

I wish the government would just get itself together.

 

Hugs to you and all the other government families.

 

 

 

Maybe they could create another bureau for the bolded. :laugh: I'm sure that would help. They really should just increase our taxes to create that bureau. That would help even more!! :cursing:

 

I'm sorry to all who are affected. I hate to say it, but it will probably get worse. :( I am totally and completely boggled by the pitiful inadequacy of those in leadership, from the very top down. And I agree...term limits!!!!!!!

[Dandelion]

 

 

Maybe they could create another bureau for the bolded. :laugh: I'm sure that would help. They really should just increase our taxes to create that bureau. That would help even more!! :cursing:

 

I'm sorry to all who are affected. I hate to say it, but it will probably get worse. :( I am totally and completely boggled by the pitiful inadequacy of those in leadership, from the very top down. And I agree...term limits!!!!!!!

 

It's definitely going to get worse before it gets better. And I have no doubt that a few more bureaus/czars/whatever will be added as part of (misguided and absurd) attempts at solving our country's financial problems. I'm usually an optimist, but I feel anything but optimistic about what I see happening right now.

[Wildcat]

Da^n government won't get their s___ together and decide about a budget.

 

There is talk about mandatory furloughs and pay cuts in two weeks.

 

Why? Because the freaking people in charge are too stupid to realize they are playing with employees lives and want to posture and "look better" than the other side. And both sides are pulling this crap.

 

How do I get a job after being unemployed for 10 years? I can't drag hose or chase after bad guys any more. My body is broken.

 

I hate politics and politicians. We need leaders. Not foot stompers pouting and pitching a fit because they didn't get their way.

[FaithManor]

 

It's definitely going to get worse before it gets better. And I have no doubt that a few more bureaus/czars/whatever will be added as part of (misguided and absurd) attempts at solving our country's financial problems. I'm usually an optimist, but I feel anything but optimistic about what I see happening right now.

 

I agree completely. They'll put their crony friends in charge of some sort of task force to sort it out and pay them big bucks to do so...never occuring to them that THEY WERE ELECTED TO DO THAT WORK IN THE FIRST PLACE!

 

I wish we could give all of them a huge pay cut and slash their benefits.

 

They create the crisis and everyone else pays the penalty.

 

Where is my deserted island?

 

Faith

[Impish]

Yup. It stinks and because DH is considered an emergency personnel he has to work and not get paid for it.

 

How is this legal? Isn't that basically saying that they OWN your dh, and have the right to force labour from him w/out compensation?

 

How is this not some form of slavery?

[nmoira]

The thing that struck my most about politics when I moved to the US was that for the majority of those in Congress, campaigning for the next election commences even before their swearing in. The posturing and the strutting makes me sick.

[Rebecca VA]

Yes, if the office needs you, you can be called in on your sequestration day. That means you cannot take on a second job and work on your sequestration days -- you are always on call.

[FaithManor]

How is this legal? Isn't that basically saying that they OWN your dh, and have the right to force labour from him w/out compensation?

 

How is this not some form of slavery?

 

 

It's ridiculous, but it isn't considered "slavery" because the employee as the right to quit. So, since there is choice to NOT work there, then this is somehow okay.

 

DD is a medic, in a state of emergency, she could be held at her job for days, weeks, and months. If the state runs out of money, she still has to show up. That's the deal. Most states have laws like this to prevent the citizenry from dying for lack of emergency medical care because everyone quit. EMS, Fire, and Police have it the worst because in most states they cannot quit until "after the crisis" and yes, sequestration couuld easily be considered "the crisis". She's never had a lock down at work. However, I do know of at least one hospital in Michigan that did. The medical staff couldn't leave the building until the governor said they could. Many never received anything more than base pay - some received nothing - because the hospital couldn't afford three or four days of overtime for everybody...doctors were salaried and would never have been able to collect no matter what.

 

No, having a child waiting at school and no parent to pick them up, or a spouse with a medical emergency, or getting sick, or death in the family, or whatever was an excuse to be allowed to leave work. In these circumstances, it is a lot like being in the military and deployed.

 

On the other hand, would you want to be the unfortunate patient waiting for the ambulance or laying on a guerney in the hospital and find out that everyone is going home because they aren't going to be paid? No one wants to die because employees left or didn't come to work.

 

So, there is a catch 22 to what are considered essential services and in particular, emergency services which can also include intelligence gathering positions and security.

 

Faith

[Impish]

That's just nuts. I understand emergencies, etc...but there's no excuse for not paying ppl.

 

I don't see how being an essential service means you can be held prisoner for an undetermined period of time. Insane.

[Upward Journey]

We would be affected, too. The problem is, we aren't exactly sure how. Most likely, it will be a 'no job' issue rather than a furlough or a pay cut.

 

This entire county and surrounding area is going to be affected by what happens. *Thousands* of jobs (the all or nothing scenario like us, plus the furloughs and pay cuts others have mentioned) are at stake, PLUS the thousands of jobs indirectly affected. Restaurants, stores, sub-contractors, etc. I am absolutely dumbfounded at what is happening. There will be NO jobs here. None. And I haven't worked in 20 years, so basically I'm qualified to flip burgers at min wage, but since no one will have money to buy said burgers, I doubt I'd be able to find a job even doing that. We would have to abandon our house (and equity) and move to take whatever jobs we could find so we could to eat. The last time something similar happened, it took almost 20 years for this area to bounce back. It was a ghost town here.

 

I hate politics and politicians. We need leaders. Not foot stompers pouting and pitching a fit because they didn't get their way.

 

 

I'm struck by what you wrote here, in that this is not new. This already happened to half the country when the housing bubble burst and the government bailed out the banks instead of the populace. Everyone that had anything to do with the building, selling and buying of houses was effected, and it tanked the country. As an example my husband works in civil engineering in urban land development. Over the last three years we've gone through 2 moves, and a stint of unemployment, ALL of our saving is gone. If we have to start over again we'll be SOL.

 

It's sad that the policians seems to want to strike another blow, when the country is finally starting to show signs of life again :(

 

I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments!

[Impish]

If I forced someone to remain in a building against their will, I'd be charged w/forcible confinement...but it's ok for an employer to do, as long as that employer is the gov'mt? Really?!

[FaithManor]

That's just nuts. I understand emergencies, etc...but there's no excuse for not paying ppl.

 

I don't see how being an essential service means you can be held prisoner for an undetermined period of time. Insane.

 

DD is a medic. She can be forced to work without pay for an extended period. People get very, very angry when they call an ambulance or have a car wreck and there is no reponse.

 

We had a hospital not all that far from here that got into a financial crisis a few years ago. They locked all of the employees in. People weren't being paid and so they were going to quit. Well, that means patient's die since none of the area hospitals could combined, take all of the patients of this larger hospital. Politicians consider this the kind of thing that makes it hard to get re-elected since if it happens, you can bet CNN, Fox, NPR, Associated and the like are going to be all over it like ugly on an ape. So, it's a lot easier to have some little known law that allows medical personnel, fire, police, sheriff, etc. all forced to work without pay for however long you feel like it, and occasionally trot that out if you have to, then have it splashed all over the international news agencies that lots of people died because medical personnel walked off the job or that the bank robbery went unnoticed or the mall was looted and pillaged because there is no law enforcement on the job. It just doesn't play out well with the general public. The citizenry has come to expect a certain level of service at.all.costs. and so that would include, forced labor.

 

Faith