Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Yosemite, Congress & Sequestering

tdtz: I'm always a little leery of these memos that show up in the conservative press. It's not impossible and could be that some departments are toeing what they see as a company line, but I doubt it's very widespread.

I know there's now a hiring freeze in NPS. That's for both permanent and seasonal. The hope, of course, is that it's just temporary until they get budgets figured out but this is now the main hiring season for us summer workers -- the majority of field staff in summer. Also, to correct a comment above, the cut is not 2%. Because the cuts are hitting halfway through the fiscal year (which ends on Sept. 30th for the government) it's at least 5% and actually higher in many cases.

Anyway, if we seasonal types are not there, and not hired in a timely manner before some take other jobs, then a logical conclusion is some areas would have to be closed because there's not staff to handle restroom cleaning, operating campgrounds, emergency response etc. My guess is that some areas may cut right now and try to save for when they feel the need is higher later on. For instance, the White House (operated by NPS) stopped giving tours for the moment. As I said, this is a slow moving train wreck.

If anyone can stand yet another reference, there's actually a fairly good -- and mostly civil -- discussion between Krugman and Joe Scarborough (Morning Joe -- never heard of him before last week) on CharlieRose.com. Pretty good explanation of both sides of the debate; the difference between debt and deficit; why spending cuts now are a bad idea (and Scarborough seems to agree with this); projections for SS & Medicare debt and why they're important -- or not. I actually didn't see all that much difference between their two positions. So, since both "sides" are well represented, I think it could serve as the semi-last word -- in the factual debate here anyway.