The Sequester Strikes its First Victims!

[footfootfoot]

"Loved her, hated him."

[IamSam]

Here's another coming whammy as a result of sequester cuts to the extended unemployment benefits - supposedly kept in place by Congress. I got a notice in my e-mail today from the Colorado Unemployment office informing me to expect my benefit to go down - maybe even vanish by April 1. April fool, suckers! And you thought you were going to be able to pay your rent next month!

I'm only getting my extended benefits starting on March 25. That's an entire week's worth. Whoo Hoo! Thanks so much, you worthless group of sleeze bags who pretend to be our "Representatives."

[xoxoxoBruce]

Life is tough on the fringe.

[IamSam]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Life is tough on the fringe.

Especially the lunatic fringe!

At least this time around I'm prepared and I've cut my bare bone budget down to the marrow.

On the good news front, seems like a few of the hotel/motels around here are accepting Front Desk Applications just in case the economy is getting better in the rest of the world other than the Four Corners. I'm dropping off resumes/applications to them first thing in the am.

The bad news is that many managers want to hire cute young things for the front desk jobs. Older applicants don't even get their resumes read. Then again, it's not everyday of the week that they get an applicant who has worked at the Bates and lived to tell the tale!

[xoxoxoBruce]

The good news is, the recession is over. The bad news is, (besides the lunatics are still running the asylum), unemployment remains high and probably will for awhile.

[Griff]

I got an email last night from an administrator at my non-profit. One Early Head Start room and one infant and toddler room are closing. 4 teachers will be laid off. Head Start and on-site UPK are closing 2 weeks early. My department relies on HS to provide "typical" children for 2 integrated rooms, no word yet on that, but we contracted to provide integrated services which you obviously can't do in a non-integrated classroom. We don't know if my site will close early. Our organization is losing 5% of its Head Start budget which was already disbursed and must be paid back.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Griff

which was already disbursed and must be paid back.

That right there is total bullshit.

[xoxoxoBruce]

That's truth, justice, and the Teapublican way.

[infinite monkey]

From my national association newletter:

How does it impact the Federal Student Aid Programs?

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has announced that sequestration will cut overall ED funding by $2.278 billion. For federal student aid, the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Federal Work Study (FWS), TEACH Grant, TRIO, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), and Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GANN) will each see an estimated 5.0 percent cut during the first year of sequestration.

Stafford Loan origination fees are expected to rise from 1.00 to 1.05 percent and PLUS origination fees to rise from 4.00 to 4.20 percent. Annual or aggregate loan limits would not be impacted.

The Pell Grant is protected from sequestration for the first year. In years 2-10, (Award Years 2014-15 though AY 2022-23) Pell will be subject to cuts as a result of sequestration.

The specific long-term impact on Department of Education (ED) contractors is unknown.

When will I know how much was cut for the student aid programs at my campus?

Hopefully soon, but it could take several weeks to find out what the new campus-based allocations under sequestration will be for your campus-based programs. Using ED's institutional-level formula elements for the 2013-14 tentative campus-based allocations, NASFAA has created a list of estimated campus-based reductions on an institutional basis for both the FWS and FSEOG programs as a result of the impending sequester.

What should I tell my students?

For schools preparing award letters for the 2013-14 award year, we advise that award letter language include clear caveats that award amounts for FWS, FSEOG, TEACH, and loan origination fees are subject to change based on federal funding.

It's always fun telling students "I don't know nuttin'" when we're waiting on the feds. It's also fun for me when loan fees change midstream. Reporting nightmare.

Just a view from this side of the sequestration. The More You Know.

[Happy Monkey]

From the news I've been seeing, the only effect is the interruption of White House tours.

[xoxoxoBruce]

That's because you live at the epicenter, damage grows as it radiates.

[Happy Monkey]

I was watching CNN, and they seemed to be treating the cancelled tours as a scandal of some sort.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

That's because you live at the epicenter, damage grows as it radiates.

We're still recovering from the Reagan administration here. I suppose we all are. Never mind.

[IamSam]

We're not recovering from a damn thing out here. Although I hear that cases of the plague have gone down in the ground squirrels.

[IamSam]

From the Cortez Journal:

One of the first effects of sequestration to become visible locally is U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton's decision to close his local office.
When Tipton went to Congress, the opening of his "home" office, in the historic Stone Block building on the central intersection of Cortez's downtown, was delayed by renovation and design considerations. A year ago, he relocated upstairs in the same building to save on rent. Now his field representative will see local constituents in a "mobile office."

No longer maintaining office space in Cortez will help him save some of the $98,000 in budget cuts brought on by sequestration - automatic cuts totaling $85 billion in this year's federal budget, part of a failed plan designed to force legislators to counter with reasoned budgetary decisions. The Obama administration has claimed the cuts would be disastrous; Republicans countered that they would barely be felt and certainly wouldn't hamper the operations of the federal government.

I hope he takes his $98,000 and jams it where the sun don't shine. He was next to impossible to get a hold of before. Now like the negleted kid who creates an imaginary friend, poor old Cortez will get an imaginary Congressman.