This is going to sound harsh, but I have to say it.

I have been a Federal government employee for 17 years, so if the furlough goes through I will be affected. Would that suck? Sure. But I'll be honest: I'm sick and dang tired of hearing my fellow Fed employees complain about the crap. We could have been told to go home for 122 days straight, but instead they're cutting us one day a week. Deal with it.

It just seems to me that the ones doing most of the complaining are the highest paid employees and the employees who are dead-lazy and don't do a lot for the organization anyway. I'm sorry, but shut up. I'm sick of it. 

I am not a federal employee, but I don't think it is fair at all. Sure, it could be worse, but it shouldn't be happening at all, in my opinion. I know they need to make cuts, but cutting people's pay is not going to help the economy. I guess it is always a possibility that pay cuts can happen, but it still really sucks when it does.

I am worried about how it will affect Army Family programs too. Our ACS here is already feeling the pressure with the hiring freeze. They are lacking important employees, and even asking volunteers to step up more. I was asked to do something that is usually a paid position, but I can't due to other circumstances at the time they need me. 

When I first heard about the furlough, I did a lot of research to find out why it was happening.

There is a forecasted budget, and an actual budget; all major (and minor) entities that receive federal appropriated operating funds must have their forecasted budget proposals in by a certain date before the new fiscal year starts. So what basically happened is that DoD asked Congress for a certain amount of money, but Congress said they would only grant that amount minus 3%--so the 122-day furlough is a part of making up for that 3%. It will not go in anyone's pocket, like many think it will. It will go to pay off existing bills so that the funds will balance out and we won't be in the red.

Gemini09, you make a great point; it's not just the Federal employees who are being impacted, it's a lot of other people as well. Department of Justice is going to furlough FBI agents, military readiness will suffer for lack of training and operations, the Department of Education will cut Head Start for over 70,000 children and lay off 14,000 teachers and staff, the FDA will lose 2,100 safety inspectors, and the Departments of Energy and Nuclear Safety, Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security and Housing will take big hits, too. Even the Social Security Administration will take hits in staff. So it isn't just us who are going to be affected; one day off a week sucks and I stand to lose about $750 a month in salary--but I'm not selfish enough to whine about it when some people don't have jobs and want to work! It's just irritating me because the most vocal ones around here are the ones who are lazy-a**es anyway and don't have a workload that amounts to a hill of beans! Sorry, but it's frustrating. If you're pulling in 80K a year, don't expect me to feel a whole lot of empathy for you when you say you won't be able to pay your bills. Who told you to buy a 350K home? Who told you to buy a Mercedes? There is nothing at all wrong with having any of those things, but if having them puts you in a position where you're living paycheck-to-paycheck when you don't have to, then that's on you.

...Sorry about that. [/rant] 

LoL, it is cool.

I am just irritated that Congress has let it come to this. Soooo many people are going to be negatively affected by it. It makes me rethink about getting a federal job in the future like I wanted :/ 

it sucks but I am prepared ...let it happen. It could be worse. 

My God Tee thats a lot of money to lose a month Im so sorry I know your not about to complain but dang it I think its unfair to people like you who work so hard for so little as it is and to be hit like that makes me sick! I for one am very angry because our wonderful pres has no idea what it is to suffer like hes asked you and others to suffer...let me rephrase that like hes FORCED you to suffer. 

I haven't really heard a lot of people complain around here (but I do work in a small office setting). Losing 20% of our pay sucks (obviously). I've been planning a wedding for a really long time and now I don't want to take the $$ out of savings to pay for it lol. It's situations like these that make me realize that sometimes you just can't plan life. I'm a worrier and always have been and I plan things out to the T. I didn't make plans to work around a furlough. Do I have the money I need to make it and still have the wedding? Yes. Do I have to cut a lot of things? Yes. My heart goes out to those who are going to be affected and have nothing to fall back on. I literally have cut everything that I can (can't cancel the wedding plans as we have signed a contract and would have to pay either way). The way I look at it, complaining isn't going to change it. It's going to happen and we have to suck it up and deal, hard as that may be. I'm trying to look at the positives. Right now we work 9 hr days, and get every other Friday off. With the furlough, we'll go back to 8 hr days and get every Friday off. I'm looking forward to that! =) And once the furlough is up in September, I will get my 20% back (hopefully) but will have cut all these bills and will have extra to put into savings. Everything happens for a reason and I would much rather take the hit than have soldiers pay affected. And like you said, TeeC, it could be a lot worse and I'm thankful for still having a job! 

One of the guys I work with has a wife who also works for the Fed; talked to him last week and he said they will lose $1300 a month in income from the sequestration. I truly feel for them--but in my opinion, I knew this was coming 5 years ago.

When I got out of the Army in 1996, it wasn't a guarantee to get a Federal job just because you were a Vet; as a matter of fact, sometimes it was harder to get into the system. And if you were blessed enough to get in like I was, you very rarely came in the door as a GS-11 like many people do nowadays. Well, it seems that is what has occurred over the last 10 years--we dipped and dipped from the well until it ran dry. We used GWOT funds to hire permanent employees, knowing that once the GWOT funds went away we would not be able to sustan so many people on payroll. We pulled strings to get our buddies promoted to GS-11s, 12s and 13s, even if they were sorely underqualified and/or incompetent. I wish I had a nickel for every Fed employee who has told me that they only got their job or got promoted because they were in the same unit as such-and-such and they "hooked them up" with their job. All this occurred to the detriment of the people like me who had to have the knowledge, experience and education to claw their way up to the position they're in now.

DoD let the horses out into the pasture and now they want to close the barn door. It's too late, and I think this is just the tip of the iceberg; I don't believe there will be a sequestration and then things will go back to normal. On the contrary, I believe that they will use it as a justification to make even more cuts and get rid of even more people to save money. Congress has really dropped the ball--and Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green, Independant or otherwise, I hope all their butts are voted out when the time comes. 

I hate that people get jobs because of " who they know "..its not fair to those who get in the way it is supposed to be and not by who they know.. My husband is a contractor on post and when the company he works for lost their contract and he got hired by the new company, they listened to the other company and instead of putting people where they should go, they did the buddy system and now they are wishing they had not.. they actually told my husband, "if we knew now what we knew then, you would be in a different position and others would be gone" but thats what you get when you dont start fresh.. It is bs, but hey, at least he has a job and he is showing them what kind of worker he is and how organized he is.. has always been like that tho... 

TeeC: I agree. it was wishful thinking that in September things would go back. I think RIF's will happen after the initial furloughs. I hope I'm wrong though. I did not get my job due to knowing people, but I know a lot of people who have and it isnt right. I've been in the system for about 10 years now and I started at the bottom (probably even lower than that lol) and am proud of where I am and hope I can continue to work in the system, but who knows what the future holds. 

I see nothing wrong with knowing people in your profession and networking. If it gets you an advantage of getting a job. 

I don't know about you....but the $1,000 a month hit I am taking in the paycheck sucks and I am going to b***h about it. Knowing it was going to happen doesn't make me any less angry. I am prepared and will survive, but that don't stop me from being upset.

This isn't just affecting office people. When you can't get a medical appointment or have to wait longer than normal....we are on furlough too. INCLUDING inpatient care staff.

It really makes me mad that those people who made this happen are still sitting cozy.

It will also affect the local economy. When I was getting my hair colored the other day we were talking about the furlough. She said that several of her other clients were talking about it as well and they stated that they would be cutting out "luxury" things like seeing her! Made me think that I would be extending my colorings from 6 to 8 weeks. 

I hear that obrn4u. We are cancelling our Sprint contract at the end of the month and going with Boost mobile. We have already cut off cable and my daughter will have to stay home this Summer instead of being able to go to a summer program. I'm even buying box color instead of getting it done at a salon. You are absolutley right that it is going to effect the economy. People aren't going to be able to eat out anymore and I'm really going to have to pick and choose where I shop. I live in JC but the tax rate is so high. I actually bought a gallon of whole milk at walmart in Manhattan for $2.98. Never seen it that cheap at the JC Walmart and JC Dillions wants almost $6! And you are right about how things are going to change as far as wait times for appointments etc and this is jsut the start. =( 

I see nothing wrong with knowing people in your profession and networking. If it gets you an advantage of getting a job.

I don't have a problem with it if you're qualified for the job which you networked to get; but in my experience, that happens very, very little in the Federal government. It's more, "Hey, I need a job; can you hook me up?" The hooker-upper says, "Sure!" and the person walks into a job they are sorely underqualified to do. That makes everyone else have to work harder to compensate for their incompetency.

obrn4u, you have a right to complain, but my point was that if we are just grumbling amongst ourselves, we are complaining to the choir.

Of the 2,102,269 Federal employees, how many of them do you think contributed to the budget crisis by hooking their buddies up with unnecessary upgrades, by hiring people for jobs that weren't needed? How many of them have called or written their Congresspersons or Senators and let them know that if they didn't fix this, they can kiss their jobs goodbye in the next election?

Between no raises for the last 4 years and TSP, Fed employees have pumped 103 billion (yes, billion) dollars back into the government--but now the government wants us to "roll with it" and take a deduction in pay? On that note, how many Federal employees do you know who have rallied and said they will no longer contribute to TSP? If we put pressure on them, then they will know we mean business and stop messing around with us. Nope. I'll just moan and whine to my fellow employees and mumble and grumble about how unfair it will be when I don't get paid. That's why it's pissing me off. Well, that, and the fact that the most vocal ones here are sorry, lazy-as-heck, no-good employees who don't need to be sucking at the government teat anyway...