Cigar
04-03-2013, 06:58 AM
How about we ask several hundred thousand people that question?
It's now an article of faith that dire sequestration warnings were overblown (http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20130327/NEWS01/303270318/Alexander-Sequestration-predictions-exaggerated).
New studies downsize (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/estimates-lowered-for-sequestration-related-job-losses/2013/03/29/0de23fa4-917a-11e2-bdea-e32ad90da239_story.html) potential job losses because of the federal budget cuts. Agencies have figured ways to ensure that the more alarming effects (no food inspectors! (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/beef-with-the-sequester-at-least-one-federal-program-was-able-to-beat-it/2013/03/31/1f45f44e-97f5-11e2-b6a6-affcd1af039a_story.html)) are avoided. Government organizations are coming up with methods to delay severe disruptions. Congress isn't debating a replacement. The media have lost interest or have reduced it to a political argument (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/sequestration-effects_n_2980099.html). The economy was supposed to be brought to its knees by the $85 billion in cuts. Instead, we trudge along in a new normal.
This is a dramatic misunderstanding of what's actually happening. The grips of sequestration are just now beginning to be felt and the effects are already quite dramatic.
Organizations and companies have begun laying off workers, while many more have decided not to staff vacant positions. Schools on military bases are contemplating four-day weekly schedules. Food pantries have closed, as have centers that provide health services. Farmers have been forced to go without milk production information, causing alarm in the dairy industry and the potential of higher milk prices. Workers at missile-testing fields are facing job losses. Federal courts have closed on Fridays. Public Broadcasting transmitters have been shut down. Even luxury cruises are feeling the pinch, with passengers forced to wait hours before debarking because of delays at Customs and Immigration. Yes, sequestration is creating the possibility of another poop cruise.
On the national level, sequestration may be defined by canceled White House tours and long lines at airports that never materialized. But on the local level, it is beginning to sting.
-0-
Dozier's story and 99 others from the past week are below.
1. Air Force base jobs lost in Tullahoma, Tenn. -- The Aerospace Testing Alliance announced it is cutting 128 of 1,809 civilian jobs at Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma starting April 19. It has also put in place a 20 percent pay cut and weekly furloughs for workers at a research facility. [Link (http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/mar/28/testing-facility-feels-pains-of-sequester/)]
2. Loss of jobs in Rock Island, Ill. -- The U.S. Army garrison, Rock Island Arsenal, announced that it is firing 175 employees, 44 of whom are temporary workers, 131 of whom will see their jobs unrenewed when their terms expire. [Link (http://www.kwqc.com/story/21830022/rock-island-arsenal-workers-notified-of-job-cuts)]
3. Medical response times lengthened in central Nebraska. -- Medical responders have had response times lengthened because of the closing of a control tower at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport. [Link (http://www.khastv.com/news/local/Sequestration-could-hinder-medical-responders-200895931.html)]
4. Food pantry closed in Murray, Utah. -- The Salt Lake Community Action Program closed its food pantry, one of five locations that serve more than 1,000 people every month. Executive Director Cathy Hoskins told The Huffington Post that in addition to the closure, the organization has stopped paying into employees' retirement plans, won't fill an open job and told some staffers to take a week's unpaid leave. "I've had one person retire, we're not replacing them. We're not doing any hiring at all," Hoskins said. "We're trying very hard to boost our volunteers, but this is hard work working in a pantry. And if you get a volunteer, usually it's a short-term volunteer because it's just very very difficult work. ... No raises, no increases, none of that stuff. We're cutting everything we possibly can." [Link (http://fox13now.com/2013/03/29/sequestration-forces-food-pantry-closure/)]
5. Research employees lost in Durham, N.C. -- The Duke Clinical Research Institute is planning to "downsize" 50 employees. [Link (http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/blog/2013/03/duke-unit-staring-at-downsizing.html)]
6. Contractor jobs lost in southwest Oklahoma. -- Northrop Grumman Information Systems Lawton, Okla., site issued 26 layoff notices. The defense contractor CGI is anticipating that sequestration would affect 270 workers at its Lawton site. [Link (http://www.swoknews.com/news-top/local/item/6038-almost-300-jobs-in-danger)]
7. Health care jobs cut in Hampton Roads, Va. -- Officials at Hampton Roads Planning District Commission announce that 1,600 jobs in the region's health care sector will disappear. "It won't be job cuts," said James A. Clary, an economist with the group. "It will be not filling the positions." [Link (http://hamptonroads.com/2013/03/hospitals-assess-how-deal-cuts)]
8. Health care workers laid off in Saranac Lake, N.Y. -- Adirondack Health, a medical center at Lake Placid, announced that was laying off 18 workers after firing 17 in December. [Link (http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/21682/20130325/adirondack-health-explains-layoffs-er-plans)]
9. Rehabilitation center for Native Americans closed in Sitka, Alaska. -- The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium announced that on April 30, it is closing the Bill Brady Healing Center, a residential drug and alcohol treatment center for Alaska Natives. Michael Jenkins, communications director, said the approximately 20 people who work there will be transferred to other positions in the organization, furloughed or fired. "For the most part, because of our location here in southeast, alcohol and drug abuse has a very high incidence. So taking this away is going to make it difficult," he said. [Link (http://articles.ktuu.com/2013-03-28/alaska-natives_38107521)]
10. Education jobs lost in Sioux City, Iowa. -- The Iowa Early Intervention education program is bracing for the loss of 11 teaching positions, while the Sioux City Community School Board is looking at potentially 30 staff positions being eliminated. [Link (http://www.ktiv.com/story/21791415/2013/03/25/sioux-city-school-board-deals-with-buget-cuts)]
.... and many many many more ... yes you may not be feeling the effects, but that doesn't mean much to the hundreds of thousands of others who are.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/02/sequestration-effects_n_2996101.html
It's now an article of faith that dire sequestration warnings were overblown (http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20130327/NEWS01/303270318/Alexander-Sequestration-predictions-exaggerated).
New studies downsize (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/estimates-lowered-for-sequestration-related-job-losses/2013/03/29/0de23fa4-917a-11e2-bdea-e32ad90da239_story.html) potential job losses because of the federal budget cuts. Agencies have figured ways to ensure that the more alarming effects (no food inspectors! (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/beef-with-the-sequester-at-least-one-federal-program-was-able-to-beat-it/2013/03/31/1f45f44e-97f5-11e2-b6a6-affcd1af039a_story.html)) are avoided. Government organizations are coming up with methods to delay severe disruptions. Congress isn't debating a replacement. The media have lost interest or have reduced it to a political argument (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/sequestration-effects_n_2980099.html). The economy was supposed to be brought to its knees by the $85 billion in cuts. Instead, we trudge along in a new normal.
This is a dramatic misunderstanding of what's actually happening. The grips of sequestration are just now beginning to be felt and the effects are already quite dramatic.
Organizations and companies have begun laying off workers, while many more have decided not to staff vacant positions. Schools on military bases are contemplating four-day weekly schedules. Food pantries have closed, as have centers that provide health services. Farmers have been forced to go without milk production information, causing alarm in the dairy industry and the potential of higher milk prices. Workers at missile-testing fields are facing job losses. Federal courts have closed on Fridays. Public Broadcasting transmitters have been shut down. Even luxury cruises are feeling the pinch, with passengers forced to wait hours before debarking because of delays at Customs and Immigration. Yes, sequestration is creating the possibility of another poop cruise.
On the national level, sequestration may be defined by canceled White House tours and long lines at airports that never materialized. But on the local level, it is beginning to sting.
-0-
Dozier's story and 99 others from the past week are below.
1. Air Force base jobs lost in Tullahoma, Tenn. -- The Aerospace Testing Alliance announced it is cutting 128 of 1,809 civilian jobs at Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma starting April 19. It has also put in place a 20 percent pay cut and weekly furloughs for workers at a research facility. [Link (http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/mar/28/testing-facility-feels-pains-of-sequester/)]
2. Loss of jobs in Rock Island, Ill. -- The U.S. Army garrison, Rock Island Arsenal, announced that it is firing 175 employees, 44 of whom are temporary workers, 131 of whom will see their jobs unrenewed when their terms expire. [Link (http://www.kwqc.com/story/21830022/rock-island-arsenal-workers-notified-of-job-cuts)]
3. Medical response times lengthened in central Nebraska. -- Medical responders have had response times lengthened because of the closing of a control tower at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport. [Link (http://www.khastv.com/news/local/Sequestration-could-hinder-medical-responders-200895931.html)]
4. Food pantry closed in Murray, Utah. -- The Salt Lake Community Action Program closed its food pantry, one of five locations that serve more than 1,000 people every month. Executive Director Cathy Hoskins told The Huffington Post that in addition to the closure, the organization has stopped paying into employees' retirement plans, won't fill an open job and told some staffers to take a week's unpaid leave. "I've had one person retire, we're not replacing them. We're not doing any hiring at all," Hoskins said. "We're trying very hard to boost our volunteers, but this is hard work working in a pantry. And if you get a volunteer, usually it's a short-term volunteer because it's just very very difficult work. ... No raises, no increases, none of that stuff. We're cutting everything we possibly can." [Link (http://fox13now.com/2013/03/29/sequestration-forces-food-pantry-closure/)]
5. Research employees lost in Durham, N.C. -- The Duke Clinical Research Institute is planning to "downsize" 50 employees. [Link (http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/blog/2013/03/duke-unit-staring-at-downsizing.html)]
6. Contractor jobs lost in southwest Oklahoma. -- Northrop Grumman Information Systems Lawton, Okla., site issued 26 layoff notices. The defense contractor CGI is anticipating that sequestration would affect 270 workers at its Lawton site. [Link (http://www.swoknews.com/news-top/local/item/6038-almost-300-jobs-in-danger)]
7. Health care jobs cut in Hampton Roads, Va. -- Officials at Hampton Roads Planning District Commission announce that 1,600 jobs in the region's health care sector will disappear. "It won't be job cuts," said James A. Clary, an economist with the group. "It will be not filling the positions." [Link (http://hamptonroads.com/2013/03/hospitals-assess-how-deal-cuts)]
8. Health care workers laid off in Saranac Lake, N.Y. -- Adirondack Health, a medical center at Lake Placid, announced that was laying off 18 workers after firing 17 in December. [Link (http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/21682/20130325/adirondack-health-explains-layoffs-er-plans)]
9. Rehabilitation center for Native Americans closed in Sitka, Alaska. -- The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium announced that on April 30, it is closing the Bill Brady Healing Center, a residential drug and alcohol treatment center for Alaska Natives. Michael Jenkins, communications director, said the approximately 20 people who work there will be transferred to other positions in the organization, furloughed or fired. "For the most part, because of our location here in southeast, alcohol and drug abuse has a very high incidence. So taking this away is going to make it difficult," he said. [Link (http://articles.ktuu.com/2013-03-28/alaska-natives_38107521)]
10. Education jobs lost in Sioux City, Iowa. -- The Iowa Early Intervention education program is bracing for the loss of 11 teaching positions, while the Sioux City Community School Board is looking at potentially 30 staff positions being eliminated. [Link (http://www.ktiv.com/story/21791415/2013/03/25/sioux-city-school-board-deals-with-buget-cuts)]
.... and many many many more ... yes you may not be feeling the effects, but that doesn't mean much to the hundreds of thousands of others who are.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/02/sequestration-effects_n_2996101.html