The new deal... isn't
I'm seeing a lot of celebration on the news that there's a Senate deal that's going to fix the mess this country's in. First of all, it's a no-deal until the House blesses it... not that Boehner's got a lot of alternatives, considering that this is the second time he's tried to grandstand with a Republican alternative at the nth second and gotten cut off at the knees by the Tea Party.
Second and far more importantly, look at what the Senate's proposing. Reopening the Government until mid-January. Raising the debt ceiling until mid-Feb. This isn't fixing anything, it's not even deciding anything - it's just kicking the can down the road a few more months.
Nor, even if this does pass and the Government reopens Friday, do the repercussions in my life magically go away. Government open or not, because I used up all my leave, I'm going to have to take the upcoming federal holiday Veteran's Day as yet another day without pay (see previous post about contractor holidays =/= Government holidays.) And because I'm in the hole for leave *and* not earning any back with every day without pay that I take, I'm probably not going to have anything earned back by ChicagoTARDIS, meaning *that* will be without pay, with all the ramifications of that.
And boy howdy, is that going to impact Christmas. Do you think I'd even consider lavish spending on presents under these conditions, with pay lost and a potential repeat of this nonsense right when the bills come due? No one with brain cells would go on a spending spree.
Second and far more importantly, look at what the Senate's proposing. Reopening the Government until mid-January. Raising the debt ceiling until mid-Feb. This isn't fixing anything, it's not even deciding anything - it's just kicking the can down the road a few more months.
Nor, even if this does pass and the Government reopens Friday, do the repercussions in my life magically go away. Government open or not, because I used up all my leave, I'm going to have to take the upcoming federal holiday Veteran's Day as yet another day without pay (see previous post about contractor holidays =/= Government holidays.) And because I'm in the hole for leave *and* not earning any back with every day without pay that I take, I'm probably not going to have anything earned back by ChicagoTARDIS, meaning *that* will be without pay, with all the ramifications of that.
And boy howdy, is that going to impact Christmas. Do you think I'd even consider lavish spending on presents under these conditions, with pay lost and a potential repeat of this nonsense right when the bills come due? No one with brain cells would go on a spending spree.