Layoff Notices

This is old news in and of itself, but given the possible consequences it should be getting more coverage. The budget process is rigged so that the country won't run out of money until after the November elections thanks to a generous move by house speaker Boehner.

The resulting The resulting hot steaming pile of budgetary legerdemain calls for sequestration of spending, mostly in Defense, if nothing has been passed by mid January. If the Dems take a beating this year, which it increasingly looks like, you can bet that nothing at all will pass either house before February when the new crop of do-gooders arrives.

The effect of the sequesters will be to bring a lot of defense work to an immediate halt, with large scale layoffs all around. Think Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, and others. The WARN act, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act,demands 60 days notification of large scale layoffs or plant closings. This would be November 2 if everything goes according to plan. Rotten timing if you're in a close race.

Never fear, the Labor Dept. has issued an opinion that such notices need not be sent out if the loss of funding is due to a sequester. Most corporate attorneys disagree, so the pending addition of about 1M new unemployed on Jan 3 will be something the next president can look forward to.

Update: Yup, here they come.