Politics & Government
Speak Out: Did the Furloughs Fizzle?
Workers furloughed around the DC metropolitan area due to sequestration express concern about their plight.
Earlier this month, the Washington Post ran an article saying while furloughs have hit federal government workers due tosequestration, itās not the gloom and doomĀ that the Obama administration was predicting.Ā
āSequestration did hit, on March 1. And since then, the $85 billion budget cut has caused real reductions in many federal programs that people depend on. But it has not produced what the Obama administration predicted: widespread breakdowns in crucial government services,ā according to the article.
More furloughs kicked in July 1.Ā
But while itās not a widespread breakdown in government services, are furloughed workers being heard?
Find out what's happening in Kingstowne-Rose Hillfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
In a recent blog on Old Town Alexandria Patch, furloughed Environmental Protection Agency worker expressed frustration:
āI am tired of reading in news outlets about āno impactā from the furloughs,āĀ wrote Martha Shimkin as she volunteeredĀ to repair an Old Town waterfront park for the second time on yet anotherĀ furlough day with fellow furloughed workers. āThousands of workers are out thousands of dollars.ā
Find out what's happening in Kingstowne-Rose Hillfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
āYou start to think no one cares until passersby offer their encouragement and thanks,ā said Lou DāAmico, another furloughed EPA fed.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) in a floor speech last week highlighted the plights of three federal furloughed workers, including a Fairfax County woman who said she had to decideĀ between paying for groceries or paying for childcare.
Is the furlough a fizzle if it didnāt happen to you?
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