Government Shut Down 2013 In the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area there are three major types of people that drive the economy. They are Government Employees, Military Personnel, and Contractors (better known as Beltway Bandits). Without these people for the most part Washington, DC wouldn’t exist. So when the United States Congress says that it will shut down the Government on Tuesday October 1, 2013 because they have a problem with the president of this great country, they are only talking about one type of person. So far here in Washington I haven’t heard anyone from the mainstream media talk about the far reaching hurt this budget mess is going to cause. Government Workers make a nice big number of the people that would be effected because of the lack of a budget spending resolution that would provide funding to perform the countries business. They are the highly visible folks that will be effected due to the actions of Congress. Already a lot of them have been laid off due to Sequestration (rolling forced furloughs) over the summer months. And now they are looking at furloughs again due to the actions of Congress regarding the slower than a turtle establishment of a spending budget for the 2014 fiscal year. Sure I feel bad for these people and I don’t feel that it is fair to use them as hostages because the Republican political party can’t get along with themselves let alone with any other political group. A lot of the work performed in Washington, DC and anywhere the Federal Government has a facility is performed by contractors. Yes the Beltway Bandits are in if not all Government Owned facilities outnumbering (in some cases there combined numbers) Government Employees and/or Military Personnel. When Government Employees and/or Military Personnel don’t go to work neither do the Contractors. The big difference here is that when the Government Employee and/or Military don’t go to work, they will eventually will be paid (for doing nothing), thus not really losing any money. On the other hand when the Contractor (your family, friends, and neighbors) doesn’t go to work, that is money that they cannot make up or get paid at a later date. There are a certain number of Government Employees who are classified as being essential. No matter what happens with Congress they will continue to show up on the job without pay. The same holds true for all of the military not only here at home, but around the world will work without pay as well. The only difference is that these people will be receiving well deserved back pay for their service. The domino effect that has a real possibility of happening is far more reaching than just the folks in Washington, DC. Right now the City Detroit, Michigan is poised to receive about 100 million dollars of Federal money to help avoid declaring bankruptcy. If the Federal Government shuts down, that money will not be delivered thus forcing the city closer to bankruptcy. So the bottom line is that people who wouldn’t normally be faced with the results of a Government Shut Down could possibly really see how their elected officials work. The point to this essay is that the Federal Government Shut Down about is more than the laying off of Government Employees. Federal Government contractors and a lot of people who depend on the military and Government Employees are going to get hurt, all because our Congress can’t talk to each other. I don’t want to see anyone furloughed (laid off) from their job. All of us here in the Washington, DC area and around the country work very hard to keep and make this the greatest country on earth. People from all over the world sacrifice to come to the United States of America in pursuit of a better life. And before you get upset with me for using the term “Beltway Bandit”, stop right there! For thirteen years I was a Government employee working side by side with the Military and Contractors at the Defense Logistics Agency, the supply component for all of the United States military branches. Since leaving the Federal Government I have been working as a Contractor for the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Treasury. Yes I am one of those “Beltway Bandits” and I’m talking about myself.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 00:42:34 +0000
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