Sequestration Update

For John, BLUF:  While Federal money is being sequestered, the Federal Government is hiring folks.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

One would think the DoD News Clipping Service, The Early Bird,♠ would provide URLs with its articles, but apparently not.  And, now the article itself is behind the paywall of The Washington Times.  I should have acted more quickly when my Brother John forwarded this to me on 28 May.  The subject and subject matter are interesting—"In Time Of Sequesters, Uncle Sam Is Trying To Hire 27,000".

The story sub-heading is "200 openings at bowling alleys".  Actually, I wonder if the bowling alley openings are for non-appropriated funds (NAF) activities.  The pay of NAF employees is governed by Federal Law (Title 10 USC § 1587).  Basically, the bowling alley pin setter is paid from money generated by the bowling alley, plus the commissary and the base exchange.  So, out in Minot, North Dakota, where most of you gentle readers don't wish to spend the next three years,♥ those who are out there pay for the pin setter out of the money they spend around Minot AFB.

The reporter, Mr Luke Rosiak, does give us some examples.  Some hirings make sense, such as:

In Omaha, Neb., alone, Veterans Affairs is looking for 12 nurse anesthetists who would make between $126,000 and $198,000 - an annual salary not out of line in that in-demand field.

Some not so much:

In February, Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, wrote to the Office of Management and Budget to point out that "at the same time the administration is warning sequestration could force laying off or furloughing U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, Defense civilian employees, or food safety inspectors, the federal government is also soliciting applicants for numerous lower priority jobs."

Mr. Coburn pointed to positions including "a counsel for the Morris K. Udall Scholarship Foundation, salary range from $130,000 to $155,000 per year," as examples of what could be eliminated to allow the required cuts to be as painless as possible.

The interesting thing is that Sequestration is now a fact of life, except for the "balloon payments" at the end of the fiscal year,♦ when bad planning and wishful thinking collide with reality.  How long will that be in the news?  Perhaps not very long.  It may be smothered by other stories or it may become part of a larger meme about the failure of this or that.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  When the Air Force ran the operation the paper, printing on 8 x 10.5 inch paper (which at some point changed to 8.5 x 11 inch paper) was known as "The Yellow Bird", in that the top sheet of the stapled dozen pages, take or give, was yellow.  Then that became environmentally unfriendly.  Do we still worry about yellow paper and recycling?
♥  While the Summers are mild, the mean January Low Temperature is -3.2 degrees fahrenheit.  That is 3 below zero.  If it is the average, there is a suggestion that some days are colder.
♦  The Federal Fiscal Year, which within my lifetime used to end on the last day of June, now ends on the last day of September.  This move was done to make it easier to get out a Federal Budget on Time.  No impact at this end.