The End Is Near (again)…

If 60 is the new 40, then August may be the new May. Because…

By some predictions the world was supposed to end May 21. Apparently it didn’t, because if this is paradise it’s a lot hotter than most of us were led to believe it would be.

In fact, if this is heaven I for one will be calling one of those law firms that advertise on cable TV. Somebody owes me big bucks. For grief and suffering. And to help with my PEPCO bill too.

Last April, a month before the predicted end-of-the-earth, the government appeared to be on the brink of a shutdown. At least 600,000 non-postal federal workers were slated to be furloughed without pay until Congress and the White House agreed on continuing resolutions to keep unfunded agencies running. That didn’t happen. But the threat – at the time – was very real. Also there was the distinct possibility that furloughed feds might not be paid, retroactively, as has happened in all previous shutdowns.

The crises de jour – this time the debt ceiling debate – may be settled today. Or over the weekend. Or not.

The folks fighting over the problem – which many of them helped create it – appear to have spent more time figuring out how to make sure the opposition gets the blame than in figuring out how fix the situation and, maybe, avoid similar action in future.

As often happens when the rich folks fight, the household help (that would be you) get caught in the middle.

Early in the debt limit chess game, President Obama warned that if the issue wasn’t resolved by August 2 he “couldn’t guarantee” that Social Security payments due to go out on August 3 would make it to your bank or mailbox. Since then, nothing.

The lack of official information on what federal workers – and by default us – would experience/lose if Uncle Sam defaults has been frustrating.

Federal unions, all of whom endorsed supported President Obama’s campaign have been, as one official said “gob-smacked” by what has happened. “After a great year in 2009… (when feds won a number of long-sought goals in Congress) it’s been pretty much downhill,” the official said.

Last week the Federal-Postal Coalition sent a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury and Director of the OMB. It asked what the 5 million feds, postal workers and retirees it represents, could expect from a partial shutdown. What about pay, benefits and vital programs. No response.

On our Your Turn radio show Wednesday, coalition spokesman Bruce Moyer said the silence is deafening. “We haven’t heard a thing from the administration,” he said.

The lack of response to friendly federal-postal unions prompted this comment from a reader/listener: “What I find funny,” he said, “is that when election time comes around, the unions will still go in lock step along party lines with the very people who turned their backs on, and spit in the faces of federal employees. And, true to form, the members will go along with it. I think that the only way change can ever happen is when people start acting like wild horses instead of sheep. – Still Under the Bus

The good news is that the debt limit situation may be solved, or deferred, before anything too serious happens. The bad news is that even if it goes away we have the end of the world coming up on December 21, 2012. You may want to check this out before starting your Christmas shopping.

Meantime, try to stay cool.

To reach me, mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

NEARLY USELESS FACTOID

On game days at full capacity, Memorial Stadium at the University of Nebraska has the third highest population in the state of Nebraska.

MORE FROM FEDERAL NEWS RADIO

What happens to feds on Aug. 3?
If the government defaults on its debt, what happens to feds? Steve Bell, senior director of the Economic Policy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, tells feds what they can expect.

Bill protects military pay if government defaults
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has worked to put legislation in place that would guarantee soldiers’ pay, regardless of the looming debt ceiling crisis.