Furloughed!

We escaped Italy one day before the Italian government went into its annual crisis when Berlusconi's mad men withdrew from the Parliamentary coalition government.  We landed at Dulles airport only three days away from our own government crisis.  So, this morning, I found myself along with 58 of my staff saying goodbye to a skeletal crew of 11 who are charged with keeping the electrons flowing and the core systems operating.

I am now officially unemployed by Congressional decree. It's no longer an abstract issue for me.  It became personal today.  A surprisingly sad and eerie feeling overcame me as I walked to the elevator, watching myself leave as if I was having an out of body experience.  I have no idea when I might return.   I have a job, but then I don't.  Financially, I'm fine, but I do worry about the many staff who are single, or more seriously parents with no other sources of income to assist in keeping it together during the shutdown. 

I fear we are in for a long shutdown.  Neither Obama nor Boehner seem open to compromise, appearing to intensely dislike each other as evidenced by their adamant public pronouncements that make private discussions next to impossible.  When Newt and  Bill went head to head in 1995-1996, the government was out for three weeks -- and they talked with each other daily -- and were careful not to say anything publicly that might harm private discussions.  At our last senior staff meeting this morning, many including myself were not hopeful that an agreement would be reached  quickly and predicted that we will remain shut out until the debt ceiling is exceeded on October 17, pushing the economy back into a recession.

We are hostages in a game not of our own making.  We are the pawns in a grand chess match where  little adult leadership is evident.  Ours lives have been abstracted to the point that the impact of it all on our lives is neither visible nor felt to the game players.  It would have been better if the shutdown had included stopping congressional salaries, the mail and the distribution of social security checks.  Then, at least, the rest of the country would feel what I feel and there would be a realistic incentive to reach a workable compromise.

Where do I stand on the situation? The Affordable Health Care Act should be implemented.  It was passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court. Every adult American should be required to carry health insurance, just like we are required to have auto insurance or homeowners insurance.  Is it a perfect solution?  No--but we need to give the law a chance to become reality and then modify it where the evidence says changes are needed.  Right now it's all about hurly opinions and conjecture into the air. 

The last shutdown cost the US economy $2 billion.  Enough said.  From Washington DC -- the land of much silliness.