A Threnody for the Victims of (March First).

So I realize that we haven't updated this thing in months. We're making it a point starting... now... that we're going to start updating it again. It's been a long, cold, wet winter and we're ready for spring. It didn't snow a lot, just often. But according to Kim's recent sneezing, spring is on the way. On a rare day when the sun is out, if you stand still and the wind doesn't blow you can just barely feel the warmth of an early spring sun on your face. The sun is starting to show on my morning drive to work and daylight saving time is one week away. We have made it a point to start seeing some more sights as we can around the area, feeling like we didn't capitalize on all the opportunities we had last summer. We started with a quick trip to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum last weekend. Hopefully we'll have some picture up in the next week or so.

I wanted to share with everybody some thoughts I've had recently regarding my job and politics. I know we've avoid heavy subjects on this blog so far, but I thought I would share. As a federal employee, the recent political posturing and subsequent failures have had a direct affect on our lives. I don't think people are always aware that what you see on the morning news during your coffee actually affects "normal" people. But I'm here to say it most definitely does. Sequestration has "happened" and for people like Kim and I it is almost entirely negative. After the jump I get political and opinionated. You are forewarned.

I was first introduced to Mario Cuomo's speech from the song above (and check out the band The Ascent of Everest if you enjoy post rock like me). It struck me as so relevant to the times we live in today that I was surprised to see this wasn't from 2012 or 2008. It wasn't even from 2004. It was from 1984. That our politicians have failed us, that we live in a country deeply divided by socio-economic status, that there exists a tale of two cities and not a shining city on a hill is a sentiment that has echoed through the modern era of the United States. Of course, in the original Speech, Cuomo was referring to President Ronald Reagan. Now I see this as a much broader proclamation that applies to all our politicians today.

There exists two very distinct governments. The one that aims to serve the public and the one that aims to serve itself. Although the latter is much smaller, it is much more visible. I am of course referring to our esteemed elected officials. There is a much larger contingent of the government which functions in near obscurity. We are your neighbors, your family, and your friends. We design your roads, maintain your access to public lands, we find innovative ways to protect you from outside forces. All in ways that you normally don't see. I think most people work for the government because it is a form of public service dating back to the beginning of the nation. When there is a major decision to be made that affects the future of the entire nation, most public sector workers would not go home for a long weekend. But, therein lies an obvious difference between the government you see and the government you don't.

You may or may not think that the government is too big. You may think it is time to make cuts, reduce spending, reign in out-of-control spending (if it even really exists in a depressed economy). But for many people who don't work in or for or around the government, it becomes easy to fall in behind party lines and try to scream louder than the other group about obscure concepts like "deficits" and "entitlements" and "cuts." But, for those of you avoiding the news for the past 3 months, this is all falls under the overarching banner of Sequestration. In short, Sequestration is a budget plan so heinous, so idiotic, and so poorly designed that it was supposed to act as a time bomb incentivizing the creation of a logical and compromising budget that incorporates well calculated budget cuts and targeted increases in revenues. It exploded March 1st. Many of us are now reeling from the shock, and trying to put together new financial and life plans before we see a large percentage of our pay disappear.

What drew me out of public silence on this issue isn't an attempt to make an argument for which side is right or wrong, though I think it is obvious that a certain group of people are unwilling to compromise with another group of people in effect protecting a very small contingent of people who don't need it while neglecting a very large contingent of people still trying to make it through a still difficult economic time. My goal is to put a face behind the victims of Sequestration. It is me. It is Kim. It is thousands of other individuals who have done nothing wrong but chosen to serve their country and fellow citizens by becoming a federal employee. It is millions of private sectors workers who will face the same fate or worse. I want to make people aware that while they can hide behind abstractions like "reducing big government" and "reigning in spending", what they are really calling for in the sequester is cuts to people.  Their friends and family members. Their neighbors. For many, it means putting life on hold for an uncertain future.

So, whether you're happy with the results of Sequestration or not, be aware that you haven't won. There are only losers here. Thousands of people are collateral damage in what amounts to a political pissing contest between elected officials. While they argue, they completely miss the point of protecting and serving the very citizens that put them in office. Next time you hear budget cuts, sequestration, debt ceiling, or even government shutdown, realize that thousands of lives hang in the balance.