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Cooley Hurd

(26,877 posts)
Thu Mar 7, 2013, 08:54 PM Mar 2013

CNN Breaking: 60,000 federal workers responsible for securing borders to be furloughed

60,000 federal workers responsible for securing borders have been told they will face furloughs due to spending cuts.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/07/politics/customs-furloughs/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

(CNN) -- The union representing Customs and Border Protection employees sent out a press release Thursday saying furlough notices are going out to all 24,000 CBP employees it represents.

This comes as the forced budget cuts that went into effect less than a week ago are resulting in "lengthening lines of passenger and commercial traffic at the nation's ports of entry," the release said. The National Treasury Employees Union said it has begun formal talks with CBP over furlough notices. The notices of as many as 14 unpaid furlough days are expected to affect managers and supervisors, as well as the workers the union represents.
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39 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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CNN Breaking: 60,000 federal workers responsible for securing borders to be furloughed (Original Post) Cooley Hurd Mar 2013 OP
There Goes the Neighborhood jsr Mar 2013 #1
NOW the conservatives pay attention steve2470 Mar 2013 #2
Thats the point. Avalux Mar 2013 #6
somehow I don't see the sequester lasting very long after this steve2470 Mar 2013 #7
Nightmare scenario for low info voters. Avalux Mar 2013 #11
GOP is probably happy that now they can hire cheap labor zbdent Mar 2013 #10
+1000. n/t. apocalypsehow Mar 2013 #31
Are you kidding... jonthebru Mar 2013 #39
ALL federal workers have gotten letters... annabanana Mar 2013 #3
Not sure. It was a breaking news banner on their site... Cooley Hurd Mar 2013 #5
What were they doing, making a human fence? lonestarnot Mar 2013 #4
Joe the Plumber will be there to hold off the invasion with his NRA bumper sticker. freshwest Mar 2013 #8
No sweat! Joe's got all the borders under control with his roaming truck and NRA RKP5637 Mar 2013 #12
My only concern is that some of his followers might not stop at that... Joe will stay in the truck. freshwest Mar 2013 #13
Whoa! Just had a thought... Drones are cheaper. The furlough is a scam to sell those things... freshwest Mar 2013 #15
Yep! Well might be what's going on. n/t RKP5637 Mar 2013 #18
drones can't search your luggage or read your passport. dsc Mar 2013 #23
But they can film everyone crossing and beam their location. The GOP only counts illegal humans... freshwest Mar 2013 #24
Yes they will nadinbrzezinski Mar 2013 #27
Quite true. There are bound to be some crazies that are going to do their RKP5637 Mar 2013 #16
Maybe their places will be taken by volunteers from churches and charities. postulater Mar 2013 #9
oh you got Jokes! Heather MC Mar 2013 #14
Cartman takes the job of border protection seriously. MindPilot Mar 2013 #35
My bad, furloughed not layed off. How many people do we need doing this? XRubicon Mar 2013 #17
The furloughs in some states are more than that in other agencies. INS is multi-state. freshwest Mar 2013 #19
I hope they all head for Arizona. UnrepentantLiberal Mar 2013 #20
Message auto-removed valiberal26 Mar 2013 #21
So how is the US going to maintain its sovereignty? alp227 Mar 2013 #25
Post removed Post removed Mar 2013 #26
Out of what? Retaliation for imperialism? alp227 Mar 2013 #28
Um, open borders with regulation, but no soveriegnty. Been here a week, this will be interesting. freshwest Mar 2013 #29
....and the republicans cheered. spanone Mar 2013 #22
Why don't we just take away their trucks and keep paying the people? ThomThom Mar 2013 #30
At least it won't matter. sofa king Mar 2013 #32
This gets fixed in the continuing resolution FarCenter Mar 2013 #33
The border will be fine. We've spent way too much money "securing" it anyway. Comrade Grumpy Mar 2013 #34
Borders going unsecured? Send in the drones! KansDem Mar 2013 #36
Oh not THOSE federal workers! Marr Mar 2013 #37
Heh. blkmusclmachine Mar 2013 #38

steve2470

(37,456 posts)
7. somehow I don't see the sequester lasting very long after this
Thu Mar 7, 2013, 09:03 PM
Mar 2013

Even low-info voters can understand this. I don't care about it personally, but I know the RW'ers are going to be terrified/outraged. Maybe the really hard core Teabaggers will be ok with it. Will be interesting.

Avalux

(35,015 posts)
11. Nightmare scenario for low info voters.
Thu Mar 7, 2013, 09:16 PM
Mar 2013

They don't care about what they should, but an unsecured border??? Now that's serious to them. I agree it will be interesting.

zbdent

(35,392 posts)
10. GOP is probably happy that now they can hire cheap labor
Thu Mar 7, 2013, 09:14 PM
Mar 2013

without those nasty ragoolators snooping around ...

jonthebru

(1,034 posts)
39. Are you kidding...
Sun Mar 10, 2013, 07:19 PM
Mar 2013

They are defeatists, they think the whole destruction of the Government thing is a great idea.
Its a way to hurt the unions in all sectors... Like the poison pill law the Post Office must follow, simply to strangle and kill the largest Federal Union.

RKP5637

(67,030 posts)
12. No sweat! Joe's got all the borders under control with his roaming truck and NRA
Thu Mar 7, 2013, 09:17 PM
Mar 2013

sticker to protect us from them brown skinned invaders.

freshwest

(53,661 posts)
13. My only concern is that some of his followers might not stop at that... Joe will stay in the truck.
Thu Mar 7, 2013, 09:19 PM
Mar 2013

Or wherever the news cameras are...

freshwest

(53,661 posts)
15. Whoa! Just had a thought... Drones are cheaper. The furlough is a scam to sell those things...
Thu Mar 7, 2013, 09:21 PM
Mar 2013

Drones aren't unionized, aren't paid any wages, don't get healthcare or pensions. The GOP is just making killing more competitive for their contractors...


freshwest

(53,661 posts)
24. But they can film everyone crossing and beam their location. The GOP only counts illegal humans...
Thu Mar 7, 2013, 10:33 PM
Mar 2013

High-tech equipment can scan passports with RFID chips and X-Ray luggage. The GOP's plan of action from 9/11 made big money for their friends with DHS contracts. This could be the same thing. I wonder if any of those agents will ever be called back to work after this...

And I'm only speculating. The GOP does not care about keeping people out as they are the cheap labor party. The stuff that they've been selling their fans about crime, etc., was window dressing.


RKP5637

(67,030 posts)
16. Quite true. There are bound to be some crazies that are going to do their
Thu Mar 7, 2013, 09:22 PM
Mar 2013

perceived patriotic duty and take unpleasant action. And hate media will be pleased to egg them on.

postulater

(5,075 posts)
9. Maybe their places will be taken by volunteers from churches and charities.
Thu Mar 7, 2013, 09:12 PM
Mar 2013

Isn't that the way society is really sposed to work?

 

Heather MC

(8,084 posts)
14. oh you got Jokes!
Thu Mar 7, 2013, 09:19 PM
Mar 2013

lol. I think Reno 911 did a few segments about civilians protecting the border, I believe years from now Those episodes will been seen as being historically accurate

freshwest

(53,661 posts)
19. The furloughs in some states are more than that in other agencies. INS is multi-state.
Thu Mar 7, 2013, 09:31 PM
Mar 2013

In my state alone, it was claimed that 41K federal workers would be furloughed or laid off, but the number may have been wrong. The first figures nationally were 750K furloughed or laid off and we need to consider that impact. For each of those families, it's more than just the worker affected. One man I know is going to lose $5K a month total wages and benefits until this is resolved, and others that were planning to start to do the labor he does are not getting to do their interviews. He is a long-term employee and that job insured his wife and children. They all have health problems. Now, because the GOP just had to play 'Obama, the one-termer' this is happening. He said that fortunately he has some money saved up, but the new hires are SOL. Great disruption in the lives of millions of people in the end.


Response to Cooley Hurd (Original post)

alp227

(31,959 posts)
25. So how is the US going to maintain its sovereignty?
Thu Mar 7, 2013, 10:36 PM
Mar 2013

and how will terrorists be prevented from coming in?

Response to alp227 (Reply #25)

freshwest

(53,661 posts)
29. Um, open borders with regulation, but no soveriegnty. Been here a week, this will be interesting.
Thu Mar 7, 2013, 11:58 PM
Mar 2013

I understand in a generic way what the open borders argument is. But the RW wing nuts scream NAUnion, etc. In terms of trade, there aren't borders.

We have thoroughly ignorant people here in the USA who don't see the short or long picture. Nor do they care about technicalities. This is a leftover from the Bush 'just do it' era.

I don't know if the poster will return... wait, he can't return on this thread... but will probably explain what he said in another thread.

That is the libertarian viewpoint and it appeals to some. They can go at it in a positive way as a human rights issue in a wonderfully free world where everyone that crosses a border at will which would be great, or cast it negatively as if it's all a police state tactic to have a border control or a policing of anything.

DU only forbids America hating, which this sounds like, but perhaps that was an overreaction on his part. We've got a ton of newbies here.

ThomThom

(1,486 posts)
30. Why don't we just take away their trucks and keep paying the people?
Fri Mar 8, 2013, 12:32 AM
Mar 2013

Why is it the jobs go first? If we have to cut back lets find a way to protect the workers. How about no gas or oil changes for a month?

sofa king

(10,857 posts)
32. At least it won't matter.
Fri Mar 8, 2013, 01:30 PM
Mar 2013

From the time the Homeland Security law was drafted, Indian tribes were specifically and quite deliberately treated as local governments, so that Jack Abramoff could make money off of tribes by pretending to try to get them federal funding.

But Abramoff got busted instead, and the GOP ran like hell from the crime scene, never fixed the problem, and refuses to acknowledge that all of their supposed work improving border security is completely undone because a grifter's operation was suspended in mid-snooker.

As a result, the two dozen Indian reservations that border on another nation or the open ocean have never been secured, which of course has been perfectly well known to everyone wishing to enter or leave illegally for the past twelve years, which is why not one actual terrorist has been apprehended entering or leaving the United States in all of that time.. The border patrol thing was just a sham.

It never had any real purpose or importance because nobody with an actual plan would make the mistake of wandering into the areas of strong security, not when they can move a few miles over and evade a single overworked Tribal Police Officer covering a dozen miles of wide-open border.

 

FarCenter

(19,429 posts)
33. This gets fixed in the continuing resolution
Fri Mar 8, 2013, 01:44 PM
Mar 2013

There are specific new funding figures in
113TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION
H. R. 933
Making appropriations for the Department of Defense, the Department of
Veterans Affairs, and other departments and agencies for the fiscal
year ending September 30, 2013, and for other purposes.

 

Comrade Grumpy

(13,184 posts)
34. The border will be fine. We've spent way too much money "securing" it anyway.
Fri Mar 8, 2013, 01:46 PM
Mar 2013

And a lot of it was a wasteful boondoogle. Maybe we could cut back on all those billions we're giving to folks like the sheriffs in Arizona and Texas, whose deputies now have two vehicles each, and they still whine about how Washington is ignoring the problem.

KansDem

(28,498 posts)
36. Borders going unsecured? Send in the drones!
Fri Mar 8, 2013, 02:01 PM
Mar 2013
...where are the drones?
There ought to be drones
Quick, send in the drones!

 

Marr

(20,317 posts)
37. Oh not THOSE federal workers!
Fri Mar 8, 2013, 02:05 PM
Mar 2013

I mean the USELESS ones, like... eh... uh...

YOU KNOW! The useless ones!

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