Bet on the Shutdown, Be the Only Budget Winner

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You can place your bet on when this shutdown will end  in a fledgling futures market in government

policy outcomes. Operation is similar to a betting parlor, reports NextGov. It’s all play money right now, but as the partnership awaits approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the company is ginning up interest with a $100 prize for the right guess on when the shutdown will end. The average bet predicts October 18th.

DoD civilians return to work following an expansion of the government’s definition of essential, which now includes “employees whose responsibilities contribute to the morale, well-being, capabilities and readiness of service members,” DefSec Chuck Hagel says in Defense.gov. Employees began learning over the weekend if the reclassification included their positions. Defense News reports 90 percent of the 350,000 furloughed DoD civilians could be impacted by the return-to-work reclassification.

The House unanimously approved a bill authorizing back pay for furloughed workers, which CNN reports is supported by the president. Video includes House Majority Speaker Eric Cantor calling for agency-by-agency budget approval; Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi calling for a straight budget vote; talk of a six-week budget funding proposal capped with raising the debt ceiling as a route out of the current budget impasse.

Even more good news, the shutdown does not prevent the United States from making money. Gov Exec reports, the General Services Administration, as the government’s landlord  is required to honor contracts for private events scheduled after hours in public venues. Upkeep of the buildings, janitorial and so forth, is thus deemed essential and exempted from furlough.

None of this is good enough news, according to Forbes contributor Mark McSherry who sees disastrous global financial collapses without quick action on passing a budget, reining in spending and raising the debt ceiling.

The day before DoD announced the reclassification of its civilian employees, Lockheed Martin announced 3,000 employee-furloughs to begin today, Oct. 7, as a result of the government shutdown. The company said more furloughs were likely to follow. The National Defense Industry Association, in a letter to Congress, warns of thousands more industry furloughs to follow, reports Defense News.

Aviation Week reports, by the end of fiscal year 2014 it will take five years for the Navy to return to its “normal” operational levels as a result of the budget impasses in Washington D.C. (Paywall.)

CNN Security Clearance reports, the weekend raids by US forces into Libya and Somalia netted at least one al Qaeda operative and puts world on notice, said Secretary of State John Kerry, the US will “hold those accountable who conduct acts of terror.” The near simultaneous timing of the Navy SEALS raid in Somalia and American troops strike in Libya was coincidental, reports The New York Times.

Homeland Security signs an MOU with the Security Industry Association to bolster the exchange of information between industry and the federal government, reports Defense Watch.