Question: What's the opposite of progress?
Answer: Congress.
I've been furloughed along with my father and sister while Congress works on resolving this problem.
"Resolving." Right.
When I was offered my job within CMS over two years ago, I was excited for so many reasons. I went to grad school to get my MBA since my undergrad degree was in Electronic Media and Film, something that was an extremely niche degree program. An MBA would be much more attractive to employers out there, giving me a multitude of opportunities that my undergrad degree alone wouldn't. I had wanted to work for the federal government eventually anyway, and I had hoped that an MBA would attract interest from a federal agency.
Moreover, I had expected a federal job would be the most stable career path possible. I'd be set for life, in terms of advancement opportunities, retirement, and overall job stability. I wouldn't face being shown the door like I was in my last job.
Until now.
Well, I wasn't shown the door this time, but I am sitting on my bed with my laptop at home, waiting for this federal budget plan to be approved by Congress. And I'm really pissed off about this.
Most of last week was spent stressing out about whether I'd be going to work today. My entire division was sent emails from our directors laying out what would happen in case a furlough did in fact happen. On Friday I got an email labeling me a "non-essential" employee, which meant I would be furloughed unless a budget plan was approved prior to midnight Monday night.
I tried distracting myself last night from watching CNN all night by having Monday Night Football and the Rays/Rangers game on rotation. It didn't help much, and as the clock ticked towards midnight I got more and more nervous. I wanted to believe that both parties would avoid a shutdown at all costs, and somehow they would agree on a plan prior to midnight.
Now I'm frustrated, annoyed, stressed, and pissed off over a proverbial dick-measuring contest going on between the Democrats and Republicans in Congress. I have no faith at all in either side, considering the Republicans waited until the last four days prior to the deadline to start negotiating, and the Democrats refuse to negotiate with them at all, even now. Both sides have so much more to lose in the public eye by allowing this shutdown to happen, and if they stretch this mess out through the rest of the week (which I expect it will), who wins here? I can't believe that either side could claim a victory with a straight face, but I bet a victory speech will go something like this:
"This is a great day - not for [insert political party here], but for the American people. While it was a stressful time in resolving this issue, we [other political party] don't see this as a victory for ourselves, but for our entire country."
Give me a break.
Hey Congress, don't try selling the idea that you're doing this for something so noble as the people of this country. Even though I've never been a fan of Obama or Obamacare, my feeling at this point is that if it does go forward as it is, what's the worst that could happen? It fails miserably? Then guess what - the Democrats would have egg on their faces, and the Republicans could use that as ammunition against them in next year's midterm elections and the 2016 Presidential election.
Oh, but the Republicans are crying out they don't want to dig the country into a hole by allowing Obamacare to more forward. In the court of public opinion, they are making themselves looking like bad guys by fighting this the way they have.
Hell, both parties are handling this like a massive group of 6-year-olds. I'd even wager that if we replaced all of Congress with a bunch of first graders, they'd get this whole thing worked out in time for recess.
But here's the real kicker: we haven't even gotten to the real elephant in the room yet. Let's say that Republicans and Democrats are magically able to put their egos aside and work out a federal budget plan by tomorrow. The government shutdown ends, and everybody goes back to work. Happy ending, right?
Nope. Not by a long shot.
On October 17, the federal debt ceiling reaches its max. What this means is October 17 is the deadline for Congress to continue borrowing money on credit in order to avoid defaulting on its expenses. If the government were to default on its debts, things would obviously go ka-blooey. Increasing the ceiling has been the status quo for most of the last decade or so, but the national debt has soared to over $16 trillion (yes, TRILLION) dollars. Calling such a dollar amount "Monopoly money" isn't even fair since even Monopoly doesn't come close to that figure. Of course, settling the debt ceiling problem can't be addressed until the federal budget has been passed for the new fiscal year.
What we're left with at the moment is a whole lot of finger pointing and blaming from both sides of the political spectrum. Such arguments get nothing done, and really are giant Houdini plays on the American public. It deflects attention away from the bigger problem of how to resolve the problem versus claiming who is strong-arming whom.
I've spent most of today watching CNN, which has been a completely depressing experience. I've been writing sports-related posts lately as a distraction and venue to avoid being a Douglas Downer. But as someone who has been directly affected by this mess along with most of his family, I couldn't ignore it. I just don't see an end in sight.
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