There has so much back and forth about what the shutdown of the Federal government really means, that I figured that as someone who stands to be furloughed, I would add in my two cents.
Besides the cancellation of the Cherry Blossom Parade, the shuttering of the Smithsonian, and the closing of parks and monuments, it also means that I won’t get paid, which could mean I won’t be able to make my mortgage payment next month, pay my credit card bills, or buy groceries. It means I need to delay some needed dental work, because even though I have health insurance, the dental benefits are minimal and I have large out-of-pocket costs. It means delaying taking the dog and cats to the vet. It means that the work I do to prepare for our annual financial report to Congress and the public will not get done, because I can be fired if I decide to work during the furlough.
It means that for the 3rd time since I became a civil servant, my livelihood and finances are being tossed around like a football, without any concern for the damage that will be done. I believe that being a civil servant is an honorable profession. I serve the public. I’ve heard so much bellyaching by the teabaggers that this is the Democratic Senate’s fault because they didn’t pass the appropriation bills last fall. I call BULLSHIT! Nothing got done in the Senate because you had Head Bagger Jim DeMint and his lapdog Mitch McConnell playing politics with and running filibuster after filibuster on all of the spending measures. And you also had a spineless Harry Reid, who just threw in the towel instead of fighting these jerks. And now you have a weak-kneed John Boehner who lets the teabaggers in his caucus call the shots, instead of being a real speaker (sort of like Sam Rayburn and John Nance Garner) who didn’t let these greenhorns run the show. The Orange Man just caved to the whack jobs standing outside the Capitol yesterday shouting “shut it down.”
When I was a kid, I was in awe of Congress. I had the utmost respect for the institution. But after 25+ years as a Federal employee (hell, it was after 3 years), I discovered that Congress is made up of 515 little dictators and 20 people who actually give a damn about their constituents (and I include John Carney in this group of 20). Each has an agenda and they use Federal employees and the District of Columbia as their laboratories, to see if the can stop needle exchange, freeze wages, take away bargaining rights, gut whistleblower protections, force a city government to issue school vouchers, and on and on and on. If one of these schmucks ever tried to push through one of these little experiments in their home district, they’d be out of a job.
So here’s my reform proposal: On October 1 of each year, if an appropriations bill is not in place, Members of Congress and their staff are docked a days pay for each day that passes before a spending bill is enacted. No more continuing resolutions. Executive branch employees who lose pay will be made whole; Congress and their staffs would not.
I will make the most of what could be my last day working for a while (I have a formal EEO complaint against my agency to file). And anyone who emails me after 4:30 PM tomorrow will get the following message:
I have been furloughed because the teabaggers in Congress don’t care about the American public or government workers, only about scoring political points. I will reply to your inquiry when I return to work. If you have questions about the furlough, please call 202-225-0600 and ask to speak to John Boehner.