Posted on 12/30/2012 10:27:43 AM PST by MinorityRepublican
WASHINGTON—The Pentagon is preparing to notify its entire civilian workforce to prepare for furloughs if Congress and President Barack Obama are unable to reach a deal before Jan. 2 to avert automatic spending cuts.
A senior defense official said Sunday that the Pentagon would notify 800,000 civilian workers to brace for furloughs in the new year, meaning the workers would be ordered to take mandatory leave without pay for a certain period. The warning is much gloomier than the agency recently offered employees, as it had said there wouldn't be an immediate impact on personnel or operations if a deal wasn't reached by January
The automatic spending cuts were put in place by the 2011 Budget Control Act and require $110 billion in spending reductions, split between defense programs and other domestic agencies. The cuts must take place in the first nine months of 2013, and then $110 billion in cuts will take place for eight additional years, under the conditions of the 2011 law. Democrats and Republicans have been working to replace or postpone the cuts but they have been unable to reach an agreement.
The Pentagon will be forced to cut $55 billion in spending in the first nine months of 2013, a roughly 10% reduction in many of its programs. The cuts would affect more than just the agency's workforce, as the White House has said the military's budgets for purchasing aircraft, ammunition, missiles and other items will be cut sharply.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I see we have a Freeper here using the left's favorite term "Military Industrial Complex", first coined by Eisenhower.
When Eisenhower first used the phrase, Military spending as a percentage of GDP was greater than 10%. Now it's down below 5%. I believe that's a 72 year low.
Meanwhile all other types of goverment spending have gone through the roof.
Isn't that cool.
...preparing to notify its entire civilian workforce to prepare for furloughs if Congress and President Barack Obama are unable to reach a deal before Jan. 2...Repeal Obamacare!
All government agencies could be well served by a 50% budget haircut and I include the Pentagon as well as Congress.
Having served in the military there is massive waste.
The only way to unravel it is just as is done in the private sector. We must tell the individual in command JCS or Sec Def that we want the budget cut by 50% and continuity of mission.
Tell him/her to figure out how to do it and if they don’t know how that another Sec Def will be appointed. They’ll get ur done.
No one is saying we should cut 800,000 civilians from DOD nor is it possible to cut 800,000 civilians from DOD and defend this country. That would be a 100% cut in civilians in the DOD.
Lets start with welfare first. There is a lot of waste in the military but there is the same in civilian companies. They always cut personnel and the waste continues just with less people.
Bingo.
No, it was as recent as 21Dec12 in a letter from Panetta to all DOD employees telling them that in the unlikely event of “sequestration”, the reductions would, in bulk, be handled by natural attrition, ...with any drastic measures being addressed over the year and probably felt no earlier than the last quarter of the FY, not in loss of personnel as much as reductions in budgets and hiring freezes.
He reassured DOD employees not to withhold any personal finances from their normal holiday routines and this was business as usual for Congress.
We know he has our back, ...at least as much as he watched those in Benghazi.
well DoD is the softer target. How many billions are consumed in maintaining the the Section 8 and public housing in the inner cities, with accompanying outlays
for food phones and pocket money?
The One will not touch his base.
I realize that some civs are needed. Always were, always will be.
Remember when an aircraft maintainer actually maintained planes? Not today. Lots of civs do a big chunk. Remember when MPs did MP work? On the 22 and 35, most mil could not touch them until the union companies who built the planes were damn good and ready to let them. So they sat and watched...for years...both getting paid. One by a whole lot more. Today security is farmed out as we say recently to deadly effect. Military can’t do security on military bases?
It can’t feed itself in a chow hall? When did it forget how?
Pick one of a thousand mil jobs being done by union civs that could not be done cheaper and better than by military.
Look into WHY our top 2 planes are so expensive, and delayed.
We need a few hundred thousand less civilians in Govt. PERIOD. And no case, other than political favors can account for the NEED of that many civs. Not when military are being encouraged to leave their 29K jobs to be replaced with 100K civ replacements.
When you lay off your software engineers and subject matter experts, the pain appears later. The money is back, but all the skilled labor is gone forever. The capability dies. That’s not good when you kill the weapons support systems. There is no reason to show loyalty to an employer who throws you on the street.
Simply put, the GOP lost the last election because they were viewed as the party of rich, white, men. They (the GOP) have been distancing themselves from their social conservative base since the election, and depending on how the 2nd amendment fight plays out they will lose those they have left.
They are going to the mattresses to protect a few percentage points of the vote, while alienating whole groups. They are allowing the MSM and Obama to dictate the narrative, and have been reading the same script.
Driving the country over the fiscal cliff to protect the rich (real or perceived) will only cost votes. If the GOP wants to remain a force in politics, they need to start doing to the fiscals what they have done to the socials. Ask to give up something.
We could lose some dead weight. I don't know any GS employees making 100K in DOD. Maybe some GS15s but those are few and far between. The ones you mentioned taking those 29K jobs are contractors in a war zone. They are working 12-14 hour days with no days off to get that kind of cash. If you worked 80 hours plus a week you could pull in 100K too.
I’m an equal opportunity cutter. Start with the most worthless of all - Congress. Then move on.
If the median income in America falls they need to face a pay and pension cut of 25% for every 5% of decline.
Their job should be simply to raise the USA economy and improve our trade balance and not just profits for global bankers or corporations, and not just more for their pals at the top.
For each war we declare on another nation we need to enact a 10% surtax to pay for the war for the duration. These wars are not in our interest and Congress needs to pay politically.
Bring back the draft and eliminate the over-abundance of $100K+ contractors.
When I was in most of the administrative logistical stuff was performed by GIs. Six weeks of basic was enough to get most on board. They were E1s and 2s paid a stipend. The overpaid contractors and CEOs today are connected politically to insiders. We need Americans connected to the USA and having a nation that broadly serves including the NYC Harvard elites, does that. Get rid of the contractors and we would retain the most competent in service and save billions.
“Bring back the draft and eliminate the over-abundance of $100K+ contractors.”
There is a reason we use so many contractors and DOD civilians. We have the most technologically advanced fighting force in the world. The equipment we use is often complicated and sensitive, requiring specialized skills and equipment to maintain. You can’t keep rotating in 18 year old kids to keep this stuff going (other than for basic maintenance). You have to have professionals who know the equipment like the back of their hands and who know how to keep it working or how to get it repaired (through National Maintainance or Organically) quickly, efficiently and correctly. Front line maintainers do a great job but they do not have the skills, equipment or facilities to keep advanced equipment (especially electronics) in continual working order.
In the adminstrative areas, you need civilians who will stay in a position for years and become true subject matter experts. These include engineers, contract specialists, inventory managers, provisioners, financial specialists etc. These are not jobs that you can just plug a soldier into for two years and then put in a new face, expecting everything to run smoothly.
I was a young Marine Cpl and Sgt during that period. My unit lost it’s Tech Reps, and we lost alot of good senior NCOs and SNCOs due to the Clinton drawdown. I look back at those days and wonder how in the hell I was able to have a 23 year Marine Corps career. Now I’m hoping and praying I will have a job after the 1st week of Jan.
To be clear, I am SUPPORTING the 29K military and saying they can do the job of the 100K civs. Sorry if I was not clear on this.
Take a look at the salaries of Lockheed/Pratt Whitney guys. The Govt pays those companies big bucks for those big buck salaries. And a lot of them are not doing a whole hell of a lot. Sure Some are worth every cent and more. But like everything else Govt gets into, it’s overkill for the most part.
There is also no reason to pay for 10 people when all you need is 5.
You really think those civ union jobs/rules/contracts are any different when working for/with the mil than any other branch of govt? Really?
Needs to be repeated over & over again by Repub politicans & DemoRATs. And then DO IT! I totally agree with you! Most of the bases around the world (if not all of them) could be closed down and our soldiers brought home. Why do we need or have permanent bases in far distant lands? No matter what the rationalization is, the answer is NO!
And while we're at it, most of the military installations or bases in our own country could be sold or moth-balled. It is the demoRATs that fight tooth & nail to keep these useless bases still open and still sucking off the taxpayers teats. Of course there is the obligatory kickback to the RATs campaign coffers as well.
SHUT 'EM DOWN!!! And shut down/layoff 50% of the entire federal workforce, excluding our standing regular military. But shut down or lay off 50% or more of the Pentagon bureaucracy also!
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