Right Hand, Meet The Left Hand

Remember the sequester? That end-of-the-world scenario that would result from federal budget cuts - the same mandated budget cuts that came about because congress couldn't pass a budget? Well, guess what.

Number one, the world didn't end.

Number two, we're not saving as much money as we were told, because people are figuring out ways to beat the sequester. Case in point:

Furloughed federal workers can collect unemployment

Should federal employees on furlough be allowed to collect unemployment benefits? Workers at a Navy engineering station in Philadelphia think so.

The local union affiliate of International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers has signed an agreement with the Navy which would allow their civilian federal workers to group furlough days in one-week blocks. It's a strategy with one key goal: enable those employees to recoup some of their lost wages through unemployment checks.

Wasn't the sequester supposed to reduce expenditures? Doesn't paying furloughed workers unemployment benefits offset those savings?

When will those idiots on Capital Hill realize that no matter how smart they think they are, there's a bunch of people out in the real world who are a whole lot smarter. From Apple figuring out a way to take advantage of that abominable mess called our Tax Code to these civilian naval workers, the clowns masquerading as our elected 'leaders' (*cough choke gasp*) just manage to make things worse. Time and time again we've seen the private sector make end runs around the lawmakers best efforts. You'd think they'd have learned their lesson by now.

Adding insult to injury, the Department of Labor has a website with tips for furloughed federal workers on how to file for unemployment compensation.

Obviously the federal right hand has absolutely no idea what the federal left hand is doing...