It’s cold out there

The holidays are over. And a freeze is now upon the land.

Soon the new gang will get into town. Washington, that is. And then the fun will start anew.

When it comes to stability, the good news has always been that your job is underwritten by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.

Now, as a new bunch of fiscal hawks ride into Congress, the bad news is that your job is underwritten by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.

Many (though not all) of the federal lawmakers who consistently come down on the side of federal employees will now find themselves in the minority. For the next two years at least, the main job of fed-friendly legislators (as far as your interests as feds are concerned) will be to hold the line on cuts to pay, benefits and workforce numbers.

Given these developments, we'd like some of you to play pundit for a moment and make a prediction about the federal workplace for the coming year. Pretend you're on the McLaughlin Group line-up and it's your turn to prognosticate.

Long-time feds in particular—those who have seen cost-cutting efforts come and go—may be able to offer some insightful forecasts.

We’re listening…

(P.S. Since we've already discussed the pay freeze six ways to Sunday, let's try to move on from that one.)