Posted on 03/06/2013 4:46:52 PM PST by SkyPilot
KENNEBUNK, Maine –— Politicians may say the looming federal budget cuts won't hurt very much, but Becky Burritt isn't buying it.
The Kennebunk mother whose husband, Justin, is a civilian employee at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, knows the mandatory furlough days will mean cutting back on everything from eating out to kids' activities.
“We're cutting back, not going out — there will be more home-cooked meals,” the mother of two said as her family faces a loss of nearly $400 and all overtime per biweekly pay period.
Federal civilian workers at the shipyard and throughout the United States will be forced to take 22 days off without pay between April and the end of the federal fiscal year on Sept. 30. The furloughs are part of automatic budget cuts mandated the Budget Control Act of 2011 and known as sequestration. For Burritt, that's just a long name meaning her family will have less. She said the cuts will reduce her family's income by 20 percent and have forced them to think about what's important to them.
“We'll definitely have to dip into savings,” she said. “We're changing our auto insurance to save money and dropping cable. I've asked myself, 'Do I really need cable?'”
The Burritts are just one of hundreds of York County families that depend on income from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard — all of whom are facing six months of cutbacks in salary and loss of overtime due to government inaction.
York County is home to the largest percentage of shipyard workers, with Sanford having the highest number of workers, at more than 400, according to the nonprofit Seacoast Shipyard Association. But with workers throughout the county — including nearly 200 in the Kennebunks, Wells, Ogunquit and Arundel — the pain is likely to be felt throughout.
(Excerpt) Read more at seacoastonline.com ...
Union ship builders, who without doubt voted 95% for Obama, and you want me to feel sorry for them? Sorry, ain’t happening. I hope they end up living in their cars.
Charge admission for White House tours and all of our problems are solved.
Yep. Just did a little checking. Kennebunk ME went for Obama 3-2.
‘F the lot of them.
“These are working people, who pay their taxes and don’t take handouts.”
So were the rest of us who weren’t working for the government back in 2007 and go our ‘haircut” then. Personally, it’s time the government workers ( all of them without exception) had to tighten their belts. They have had a free ride for more than five years while the rest of us were already having to make these kinds of sacrifices. There are far too many of them, and the “government herd” needs a substantial “thinning.” They are just like their “private sector union buddies,” in that somehow they think this should all pass by them without any interruption in their sometimes worthless lives.
But I also understand that the strategy of Zer0's administration is to cut what is worthwhile first. Much like the jag-offs in bankrupt cities who close swimming pools and police stations in the summer to blackmail the taxpayers even while they and their cronies live high and wild off the fat of the land.
It isn't going to change until (1)congress takes charge, (2)Zer0 and his ilk get voted out of office, or (3)this country suffers so bad that the credibility and support for Zer0 and his ilk melt away.
I'm not optimistic about (1) given the capons we have in the GOP leadership. Neither can I see (2) happening as long as the enemedia can lead around the low information voter by the nose.
That leaves only (3). It is, by far, the least desirable option. But is there any other?
Maybe you should.
My average take home salary will decrease $4800 a year and I only make $21000 a year. I fail to see what's fair about that.
Many folks fail to realize that most federal workers are not "fat cats."
See Post 26
I agree, Lurker. My company put us on a 32-hr work week for nearly a year in 2008-09, when most of us were getting about 50+ hours/wk (10+ hrs/wk OT).
The boss said the alternative was to lay-off 25% of the employees and he’d be going after higher paid hourly first, as being a more efficient cut. It sucked, but the alternative was going to be suckier. Nobody got laid off.
Meanwhile, attrition has reduced headcount appreciably, so we currently right-sized.
Try the same thing is a bloated gubmint. I’m sick and tired of being made to feel guilty because our elected representatives aren’t doing their jobs. It’s all baloney.
Everybody I know, being effected by this, is looking at zeroing out their savings and facing $3k-$6k of debt just to make basic living payments (rent, min food, utilities, and commuting costs,...nothing for clothing, car repairs, or medical exp).
Our larger fear is that since nobody thinks this is such a big deal, that Obama will then continue the lack of budget into FY14, followed by random RIFs.
We all know the contractors still face new contracts and the new expenses developed over the past 20 years aren’t being reduced to the 80s levels, but instead, we’ve already been cut in half to 2/3, had salary freezes when utilities and rent have increased and gas costs have doubled. Still there isn’t any intuitive public sense of outrage except in areas where there should be no outrage.
Lots of people are either retiring, leaving service, looking to move out of the country, or are simply ignoring it thinking it isn’t really going to happen.
“But the difference between you and me is that I see that punishing hard working people who build ships for our military is not a good thing. “
Huh? Again, like another poster pointed out, you seem to want to give these people a pass because of what they do. As far as “punishing” goes, it could be a whole lot worse. I mean “no more overtime” is punishment? From the picture of this woman in the article, she could stand to miss a few meals. Maybe FUBO can send Mooche up to help her!
So you’re gonna hope that the “2” get hurt because the “3” voted for O? While I agree that there is waste in the federal government, what you’re advocating is vile and hateful.
I don’t know what happened with my post...
Lost myself as well...
There's little empathy here for federal employees.
“While I agree that there is waste in the federal government, what you’re advocating is vile and hateful.”
No it isn’t! Let’s face the fact that the government has become so large that it, in and of itself can elect a president. I know for a fact that this is already the case here in California. Government employees ( and that includes government contractor employees too) are probably responsible for Obama being re-elected. So I’m with Lurker, the sooner these people get a serious “taste” of their own medicine, the sooner we will have a fighting chance to save our country. These people didn’t give a $hit about the rest of us. They continued to vote their own self-interest. I hope we have hoards of them in the streets out of work, and the sooner the better for us all!
At best Federal workers are like ticks on a dog. As long as there aren’t too many, no big deal for the dog. The problem is that the ticks are so numerous they are killing the host. And that host is us.
I no longer care which Federal ticks are getting squashed.
Since these people are working on my dime, I am for it. Many of us in the private sector have been doing this for 5 years now. “Welcome to the party pal”
Still bemoaning self-inflicted wounds?
Pretty little graph you put out there.
Lumping in Medicare and Medicaid increases was... interesting.
The Feds are promising all fifty states multi-billions of new dollars to increase every states Medicaid numbers,(before Obamacare kicks in) but somehow THAT is all the fault of currently or soon to be retired, taxpaying Medicare recipients and/or Republicans.
Frankly, I would very much prefer to RIF the Feds by 10% across the board, starting at the top salaried echelons of appointed managerial tiers.
That’s not going to happen though, right?
Because all the poor union government workers need all those useless redundent managers to protect their own formerly secure “jobs”.
You have obviously picked a “side”.
I eagerly await your OPUS, and am only curious if it was be before or after you donned the brown shirt.
From all across AMERICA, I think it should be in UNISON, the CRY of all people for the President to take a wage cut. LEAD, show us how to cut back, travel less, buy Michelles clothes at Goodwill, like the rest of us do. PLEASE. Let’s hear it from all over. CUT the pay of the CEO’s of American politics. They’ve done a HORRIBLE job and need a pay cut.
I was unaware that 1% could “loom”.
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