To the Editor:
If you think the local economy is looking anemic now, just wait until we get Sequestration (the legal inevitable result of our legislators reaching no agreement about our national budget).
In Sequestration, all federal agencies will be forced to reduce their
spending by 10 percent. And since military personnel will likely be exempt, DoD civilians will be trimmed by 20 percent. Layoffs, pay reduction, forced unpaid leave, and hiring freezes will all play a part in reducing the civilian workforce.
Think this is crying wolf? If it is, why are all major DoD
contractors pressing now to resolve the budget issue? It is because
funding too many programs will take a big hit if no deal is reached, and they will have to start issuing layoff notices (which they must do 60 days in advance) to their private-sector workers early this
fall. Sequestration will likely make many federal contracts impossible to execute.
Just imagine all the people out of work in the D.C. Metro area alone.
Except for the top 1 percent (who have enough money to fund Tea Partiers' elections and buy their yachts), sales of all big-ticket items will stop. Then employees on car lots, in grocery stores, and in the offices handling the paperwork for them will have no jobs either.
As the Tea Party Congress's primary goal is to show that government doesn't work, it will make sure no budget is
agreed upon prior to the November election. And then let the fun begin.
Dianne Thomas
Fairfax