Just saw the pie chart on Lou Dobbs. Trump is cutting funding for the EPA by 25% haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa CUT THEM ALL the way OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Federal workers are growing increasingly anxious at the prospect of massive budget cuts President Trump proposed this week that would pave the way for increased military spending.
Employees who list endangered species, collect taxes and distribute aid to foreign countries are fearing for their livelihoods as they sift through rumors and wait to see whether their offices will be targeted for steep reductions.
The president said he’ll call for $54 billion in reductions to offset new spending for the Pentagon, and it should not come from veterans’ programs, law enforcement or entitlement programs, the biggest drivers of federal spending.
The math seems clear: To shrink government by that much, layoffs are inevitable, say federal officials, unions and budget experts. The White House already is eyeing deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency that could slash the agency’s career staff to 12,000 from 15,000, largely through buyout offers and layoffs. The State Department also could be in line for a big reduction, which some estimates peg at 37 percent.
“I don’t think there’s any way around it, this level of cuts will almost certainly lead to layoffs,” said Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents 150,000 federal workers across 31 departments. The union plans a rally on Capitol Hill on Thursday to highlight the damage to public services that could result from budget cuts. Meanwhile, Reardon said: “Our members are very, very concerned about job security.”
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said a voluntary buyout program across the government may be a more palatable option for reducing the size of the workforce. But lawmakers may not be receptive to paying employees to leave.
“It’s something we’ve been contemplating putting together,” Chaffetz said. “We have not yet figured out the final equation.”
The steep reductions the administration will formally propose to Congress later this month are unlikely to be adopted in their current form. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said this week, for example, that proposed changes to foreign aid and the State Department are unlikely to clear the Senate.
But the expectation of some cuts is nerve-racking to civil servants already shaken by the arrival of several Cabinet secretaries hostile to their missions, a hiring freeze and pledges by Republicans to upend job protections.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/federal-workers-grow-increasingly-nervous-about-trumps-proposed-budget-cuts/2017/03/01/39178724-fe90-11e6-99b4-9e613afeb09f_story.html?utm_term=.a75842316d2a
Realist - Everybody in America is soft, and hates conflict. The cure for this, both in politics and social life, is the same -- hardihood. Give them raw truth.
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