Seriously, $1100 every two weeks is considered 'highly paid' in America? I'm quite shocked at the number of federal employees who appear to have zero savings. I'm also shocked that Americans have not marched on Washington in the millions to protest this travesty. The rest of the developed world watches in bewilderment.
283
The United States doesn’t have poor people. It has temporarily embarrassed millionaires.
48
@ Macchiato: People who only make $1100 biweekly most likely CANNOT save money. This woman is caring for her granddaughter.
100
@Kan Right, but the headline characterizes her as highly paid. I was shocked to read her salary.
34
Does the Times have a requirement that every story about people who have trouble making ends meet include the phrase that they can’t afford to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. As a child in the 30’s and 40’s I can never remember my mother buying fresh vegetables. They were too expensive and didn’t last long enough. We ate canned. And to this day I still like their taste. Might even be healthier than fries.
3
That's why it is wise to save, for a rainy day. Yes, they might be struggling but the employees should also broaden their job hunt to online jobs. Unfortunately, after a long time working in one confined place, some people become narrow-minded. That explains why they only fall back to the jobs of their youth.
For now, they can try online writing jobs, if they are good at it. Transcription is also another job they can try their hands on.
They may even find the online jobs so enticing to a point they resign their jobs if called to go back. Anyway, I wish them well, and I hope that they use this period to rediscover themselves.
1
It is criminal that the law prohibits federal employees from striking but is silent about the federal government's obligation to pay them.
6
I'm sure all the driving she did cancelled out the $4 she earned. Trump is a narcissist who cares about no one but himself (and maybe Ivanka a tiny bit). In any other country, people would be marching, but we've been indoctrinated into complacency.
4
Has anyone else begun to wonder if President T and the "Mayhem" guy in the TV ads ("Stealing your car is my job") are brothers separated at birth?
4
Why is it legal for indentured slavery by Trump and the republicans ? There should be lawsuits for making people work without pay. Trump and the republicans are holding workers hostage ... they’re not going hungry and we’re paying their salaries.
7
One man is just as happy to ruin the bureaucrats and bureaucracy as he is to build a wall.
2
I wish those working without pay would all call in sick. This would make Trump end it.
2
I would love to make a donation to a fund to help these people and not allow our government to be taken hostage. Does such a thing exist?
1
@Brenda. You could try Go Fund Me, but carefully check out any story to make sure it’s legit. There’s a lot of scamming everywhere.
1
While we shouldn't dismiss the idea of people living beyond their means entirely, living in the United States has simply gotten more expensive in recent decades compared to people's incomes. That is going to limit people's capacity to save, particularly at lower salary levels.
The problem isn't just that people, including federal government workers, can't pay immediate emergency expenses in the U.S. Most have very little savings for retirement (I hope this does not apply to most federal workers!).
More and more people are paying too much for housing: incomes simply haven't kept up with housing costs. Ideally, per HUD and housing experts, to not be "cost-burdened," most people should be paying no more than 30% of gross income for shelter, including utilities. Renters have it particularly tough. Costs for housing in places like metro Washington, DC, have greatly increased.
Moreover, average student loan debt has increased.
I seem to be unable to include links with some sources.
5
First, many federal workers have a TSP account; however, they are currently ineligible to take a loan from their account because of the terms for a loan/non-pay status. Some may have taken out an earlier loan/have a current loan outstanding-- only one loan allowed at a time.
Hardship withdrawals are available, but come w/significant tax consequences--not recommended, as it could cause greater financial harm.
Ex: Single parent w/2 kids, earning $40k yr. contributes 5% to their TSP-$2k year. Govt match is 100% on first 3% and 50% on next 2%-$1600-agency contribution 1%--ttl annually-$4k. Over 5 yrs, employee has $20k in acct +- any growth/loss. Assuming acct has grown to $25k--eligible loan approx $12,500 (max loan is 50k/requires$100k in acct).
Employee sets aside $2,650 in FSA/pre tax/annual/health/dental expenses.
So, employee brings home $35,350/$2940 month taxable/$680 week. Deduct 10% in tax witholding/FICA/etc--net $612 wk/$2652 monthly.
Mtg or rent $750, childcare/aftercare $500, utilities $200, car pymt $300, car insur $100, gas $100, food $600, car maint $30, entertainment $52---$2652 mthly expenses.
So, the single parent is saving 5% via TSP, getting max match, and has 0 add'l funds after expenses.
Is now required to report to work w/o pay, no access to her TSP to carry her through for awhile, and has mthly obligations to meet-childcare while working w/o pay, gas to get to work, food to feed her children, etc---result, fin'l crisis--forgot health premiums.
4
Trump expects unquestioned loyalty from his workers and staff but in turn he turns his back on them. Mr. Mueller please take this fake president down.
6
These are the jobs they should be doing anyway instead of gorging at the government trough.
1
Meanwhile, Lara Trump, entitled know-nothing wife of Eric, is out stumping saying things about furloughed workers like "It is a little bit of pain, but it’s going to be for the future of our country."
Why we aren't at the point of pitchforks and gallows truly escapes me.
11
I personally work with BLM and forest service employees who have been denied work over Ann Coulter’s vanity wall that Mexico will not pay for. I am disgusted by a GOP that did not have the guts to work this out in December and get it done. I am thrilled that the people I voted for stood up to a limp draft dodger who has bankrupted businesses, stiffed contractors, and assaulted women.
And all this really means is that the GOP holds a weak weak weak hand despite owning the Senate and White House. They can certainly complain with the best of other whiners but can they actually govern??? NO!
These cowards need to disappear in 2020!
10
I sent $100 via GoFundMe to furloughed FTC/FCC officials to track down the roaches who constantly spam call me. I sent another 100 to an SEC official to look into a few cases of obvious corporate fraud, and another 200 to furloughed folks who oversee banks to end blatantly fraudulent banking practices.
If any one of them did squat it might be worth it, but the reality is that whether most workers are at the job or shopping or relaxing at home makes zero point zero difference for most citizens. Sadly, that's the reality.
4
Why can't the USA operate like other countries when it comes to funding? When law makers cannot pass a new budget, we should continue with the existing budget. Anything else is lunacy that allows government workers to be held hostage and provides an oversized lever for unscrupulous and uncaring politicians.
5
I may be mistaken but they will all get paid for the missed days. That is a heck of a lot better than a private sector person who will get unemployment for 26 weeks at 40 cents on the dollar, then nothing after that (and unemployment has onerous reporting requirements and if you slip up you can go to jail). I do hope it gets fixed though and I don't want a wall..
2
@arthur
Granted, everyone will eventually get paid; half the workforce or more are working (not furloughed at home) and working without current pay--an IOU for work performed.
Meanwhile, with rare exception, if essential and working without pay, ineligible to receive unemployment.
So, perhaps 40 cents on the dollar is better than 0%.
1
The legislators preventing resumption of the federal government should lose a day's pay for everyday this shutdown continues without good cause. Even then, many might not care since they are multi-millionaires to begin with.
5
The victims in the shutdown are the USG contractors. For the highly paid federal employee the shutdown is a temporary period to go without pay, pay which they will receive once it's over. Contractors, of which there are far more than federal workers, may never get paid! They are the real victims. Before I became a fed in 2000, I worked as a contractor for the DOE. The federal program manage said to a bunch of us that the feds assign the work and the contractors do the work. So what do the feds do? Once at the Savanah River DOE plant a manger told me after the plant experienced a budget cut in the late 1990s, often more gets done with less. So the real victims are the contractors, for the feds this a temporary predicament.
6
@Southern Boy
Contractors assume the risk, and usually earn more than their comparable fed colleague---trade offs, more pay for increased risk.
More than half the feds are currently working, not sitting at home, so the back pay is earned.
Perhaps we should evaluate the need for contractors and non essential employees--do we need them?
Why are there more contractors than feds?
4
Because of the Firing of James Comey the FBI instigated a counterintelligence investigation of Trump as a Russian asset or agent. I think the FBI didn't go far enough: Senators Chuck Schumer/Speaker Nancy Pelosi/ and PresidentTrump are acting as Russian Assets, Their shutdown of the Federal Government is far more damaging to the U.S. than inconsequential unnecessary spending on a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, is damaging the U.S.'s prestige abroad and will cause a recession in the U.S. Putin must be rejoicing how he has managed to recruit Republican and Democratic leadership to advance the interests of Russia unwittingly or not. In addition to a recession, the fight over the wall may destabilize the U.S.A. I think the bar is low for being a foreign asset: willful destabilization and creation of unnecessary damaging strife and destruction of the economy should quality. Vladimir Putin must be rejoicing.
1
Ms. Kelley takes home $2200 per month,,,far short of the "average" $5000 per paycheck that was discussed in a previous NY Times article.
I suspect that she is like the majority of those who have been furloughed. I can't believe the comments suggesting that perhaps she is a spendthrift because she hasn't socked away 6 months of living expense. Like most Americans, the high cost of rent, food, gas, car insurance, day care, utility bills, telephone take every cent that is made. We live in a paycheck to paycheck society, and for those who are blessed to earn more, keep your snark to yourselves.
13
@Ann
What is your basis for “high cost”?
Food as a percentage of spendable income is at historic lows. Gas is far cheaper than it was several years ago. Heating costs also have dipped significantly.
Or do you mean cable, smartphones, lattes, trips to Disney?
There is zero excuse for the lack of savings by people with these cushy federal jobs. If they need to get roommates or boarders to stretch their dollars, or go meatless, or lose the iphone and Netflix, they should do so. Many people lived/live that way to get ahead.
2
I wonder how many non-rich folks without a college education, Trump's most favored demographic, who are being affected by this senseless shutdown that Trump is "proud of", voted for that...cutout? More interesting still, I wonder how they'll vote in 2020?
2
This all must be part of the social safety net that Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump say is very generous.
Donald Trump could do the right thing and authorize funding of the government tomorrow, but his ego won’t allow it.
He needs to end the shutdown now. If someone tried these tactics on his personal businesses he would have sued them on the second day and claimed they were crooks.
4
This is nonsense. In Seattle the Federal Credit Union will give a 90 day interest free loan to the federal employees. Borrow 100% of your net pay and enjoy your time off. In all the years I worked no one offered me six weeks of time off and then payed me when I returned. The federal workers will still have all their vacation and sick pay when they return. This is a sweet deal for the employees and articles like this are just not accurate or quality journalism.
3
@Jonathan
How about the multitudes of contract employees? Probably more than 800,000 of them are furloughed. No work, no back pay. Not a sweet deal for this ignored sector.
7
@Jonathan - And this is not an accurate or quality comment.
6
@Jonathan
More than half the feds are currently working, not at home, so any forthcoming pay was earned. Since essential, prohibited from taking leave, etc.
Sweet deal uh---working without current pay, and when the govt reopens, those working will get the pay they deserved earlier-every 2 weeks.
Are you working under an IOU?
4
Tell me this is the United States of America, because I’m not believing it. Making people scrape and beg for food is American?
2
Is there is one good thing to come from this. Hopefully right wingers who think government workers are non-essential leeches who cant succeed in the private sector might give more consideration for societies essential need for a vibrant federal work force.
3
I think the shutdown is ridiculous and a shame for all who have been impacted but I can’t believe that so many federal workers don’t have enough money to go a few weeks without their paycheck.
4
Federal Government Workers and private contractors:
- It pays to save for emergencies!
- Get a loan from your thrift savings account!
-Apply for unemployment compensation, food stamps, and other assistance!
5
@Kurt. You mean apply for unemployment, food stamps, and social services that are all closed because the government is closed?
6
TSP loans--not eligible to take a loan if more than 30 day shutdown--legal language loan docs--as repayment is through payroll deduction--go to tsp.gov for insight.
Essential employees ineligible for unemployment---essential are working without pay--working on an IOU.
2
How is it that the federal government has come to marginalize it's best, it's brightest and most it's productive resources? Stiff the workers for wages owed, and now, ostracize our transgender soldiers? Do we think we get more value from congressional hacks or the nearly 1 million workers (not to mention the countless impacted businesses and vendors) and who-knows how many service members.
What is wrong with us?
5
Do we need more proof that Trump is in the pockets of Vladimir Putin? This story about federal workers in dire straits will not soften Trump's heart, but it spoke to mine.
Who benefits most from an America in chaos, from an America reeling from one disaster after another? Russia is the obvious answer.
Is anybody else out there angry and itching to do whatever it takes to end Trump's Shutdown? I think you are there, and I think you probably number in the millions, but maybe like me you have no idea what to do to show your rage. Protests in the street come to mind, but they aren't happening. Last weekend's Women's March wasn't directed at Trump's Shutdown, but it should have been. I can't think of a worse national crisis in our history than this unfeeling, unhinged, and unpatriotic president.
The comments section of the NYT might be a good place to announce the Kickoff of the "Shutdown of the Shutdown." Anybody interested?
4
@TinyBlueDot Yes I agree w/ you. Trump's shutdown needs to be attacked before it destroys all of our intel departments. Their personnel get background checks on a regular basis. W/ the extended shutdown they could fail the checks due to bad credit/financial checks. Our government "cracks" are turning into fault lines. The U.S. is going to get attacked by terrorists since we are falling apart.
3
Yes, just like people in the private sector who get laid off. Yet I don’t see this same gnashing of teeth and wailing when it happens to people in the private sector. By the way, there are lots of jobs in the private sector, maybe some of these folks would be will advised to seek full time employment there.
22
@Thomas Smith
Are you aware that almost 800,000 people are not being paid? Since that's quite a bit more people than are involved in most "layoffs," perhaps that explains the "gnashing...and wailing" that seems to disturb you.
And even if they were interested in any of the "lots of jobs" (entry-level, low-paying, I presume) in the private sector that you've alleged, many of these folks are still ON THE JOB, working without being paid! Those that aren't at work are trying to find alternate means of income.
37
@Bruce Z
And untold numbers of contract employees are not being paid.
In early 2000s it was estimated that there were 2 million contract employees. There’s been no attention paid to the enormous impact on this sector of the federal government nor an estimate of how many are working without pay or not working at all. Unlike federal employees furloughed contractors most likely will not receive back pay for not working.
Nothing like private sector layoffs.
13
@Thomas Smith The private sector isn't the federal sector. They have not been laid off, and as a result, many are not legally able to seek employment utilizing their skill set. Most federal jobs prevent you from seeking outside employment unless you have special permission from legal or HR.
17
It ought to be illegal to shut down the government like this. Federal workers have NOTHING to do with a border wall.
I think more people would relate to how crazy this is if Trump had shut down the US Postal Service. EVERYONE would be affected by it, and would realize how it makes NO SENSE.
41
@Jodi. That’s no doubt why Trump is making postal workers work without pay.
2
@Jordan F. That is incorrect. They are getting paid.......the USPS is fully self-sustaining. It does not receive any federal funding....except for a small amount in reimbursement for low-cost postage that is given to the blind, and for overseas absentee ballots.
6
It is a sad state that substitute teaching is on a par with driving an Uber to make ends meet. It's been said before, I will say it again. Put the kids in prison where nobody scoffs about the per person/day price tag, and put the prisoners in our education system where we spend less time and care.
17
To all you affected federal employees that voted for trump and or McConnell, if it isn't apparent to you that your chosen leaders don't care if your children have nothing to eat or if you live or die, you are truly incapable of any rational thought. You got what you wanted but your choice is harming innocent people.
5
Yet another piece illustrating how so many American's have an entitlement mentality. As in they should never have to worry about anything.
People who are stupid enough to believe that they got it easy deserve what they get.
2
How About some Federal Workers Aid Concerts!!!! across America!...…Springsteen-Nelson-Guthrie-Dylan-Melloncamp-Young!!!! Push Back!!!!! Save this Republic!!!!!
2
If there are any state or federal Congressmen, Senators, or Governors who have any further political aspirations they should create some type of revolving line of interest free credit to help out these workers now when they desperately need someone to step up to the plate for them
3
Some people that have been working for the government have been living above their means thinking that they were entitled to a paycheck every week, 2 weeks or month no matter what. Not saving or putting anything in a nest egg for rough times. Some government workers that I know are having a great time because they put some money back for just this type of occurrence. There are too many people gorging at the government trough and now is a good time to find out who is needed and who is dead weight.
4
It should be patently illegal for the government to require people to provide uncompensated labor. That should apply to everyone - not just those covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act. It is shameful the way our dysfunctional government has degraded - using people as hostages to a political promise. Today the Office of Personnel Management issued guidelines warning people not to call in sick if they were being required to work without pay - they would be considered AWOL. How do you have the nerve to threaten people about showing up to work when you REFUSE TO PAY THEM. People who entered government service did not agree to a vow of poverty, to uncompensated service, to being pawns in a vanity project. Congress needs to pass legislation outlawing this ploy. Otherwise it will become routine, and our democracy will continue to degrade.
14
I can’t fathom that Trump has an inkling of empathy for furloughed employees. I can imagine him blaming those without emergency funds for being irresponsible or unworthy - “too bad you didn’t have a sugar pop.” He has absolved himself of responsibility for the fed employees as soon as he signed the retroactive pay law for those working without pay and those not working.
What seems to be missing from all the human impact articles is how federal contract employees are suffering.
The government has no idea how many contractors’ employees are out of work.
Many employees of contractors are low paid, low skilled, lack job security and benefits and highly likely will NOT BE PAID for not working.
Think about janitors, groundskeepers, laborers, maintenance, administrative support staff who are not on the GS pay schedule, who are not working and without emergency funds.
Both feds & contractors can apply for unemployment benefits. Feds will have to pay back benefits since they will receive back pay but can use benefits as a cushion. Not contractors. Their financial suffering will be immediate, drastic and longlasting.
States manage unemployment benefits. Each has its own set of rules (waiting periods; paperwork: etc.).
We will not know the magnitude of shutdown unemployment filings until mid March when both the Jan& Feb labor reports will be published.
NYT: Please start focussing on contract employees. They are suffering just as much if not more.
7
Federal workers enjoy unprecedented job security, private sector do not, a disparity worth exploring,
5
As someone who has worked in the private sector but whose family worked in the federal government, the tradeoff is the former often receive higher salaries and sometimes better benefits. How much higher? In my field. I earned 50% more and if I had wanted to sacrafice quality of life, 100% more. For many government positions, there are salary caps.
8
@brad lena
Do you know about civil service reform? Do you know that prior to that, elected officials routinely fired a bunch of civil servants to make room for their cronies, friends, family, etc.?
The turn over could be horrendous. The loss of expertise and experience along with the hiring of incompetents resulted in a loss of efficiency and effectiveness.
The government is paid for by taxpayers. We need rules in place to keep unscrupulous politicians from taking advantage of us and wasting our resources.
I have no problem with a private sector firm wasting its own resources, unless its gone public.
2
I'm having trouble feeling sympathy for federal workers. Many of us don't enjoy security -- while we pay for their security. "[E]nsconced by office plants and the security of a federal job that Ms. Kelley believed would always provide for her and her family". It is interesting to see that the country functions without the bloated federal bureaucracy -- who will indeed be paid for their prolonged vacation.
5
@DeKay - Well, we’ll be sure to have trouble feeling sympathy for you when something terrible happens to you professionally and it whittles down your bank account, particularly if that something is completely out of your control. We’ll just tell you to enjoy your prolonged vacation, even though you can’t pay your bills or buy food. It’ll be the least we can do for you, after all.
9
@DeKay
Did you bother to read the article? If you sincerely believe that any of the details of these federal workers' lives resemble a vacation, congratulations. You have scored zero on the Trump empathy scale. Take comfort, though; his score is lower.
6
It's always a shock when public sector employees get treated like private sector employees. Luckily they get pensions and are nearly impossible to fire. I'm sure this experience will make them appreciate how good they have it.
3
Will the NYT also focus on the millions who are NOT Federal employees but whose revenues depend on the federal government? Our situation is much worse because we will never see that lost income again, unlike federal workers. There are contractors like me and there are the millions of businesses like cab drivers, restaurants and services affected by this situation.
8
I think almost everyone I know including myself would have a problem without a steady paycheck, but a problem a few weeks in? I am amazed that people don't have a cushion of a few months expenses. It is scary to live that way. Downsize, cut expenses, do whatever you need to do to save up this cushion for such times.
4
@Deb
According to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, 40 percent of Americans have less than $400 in cash reserves. To-thirds have less than a thousand dollars. "So what that means," he told NPR. "is that if they miss a paycheck or two, they're in deep trouble."
What happened? The Crashof 2008. Before that, he said, "many Americans thought they were setting aside money in the form of their house. House prices were going up. That was their reserve for their retirement. But, of course, we didn't manage our monetary policy well. We didn't curtail the housing bubble. And when that bubble broke, an awful lot of Americans saw their entire life savings going with that. And so that has had a significant effect on the increase in the number of Americans without reserves and with very low net worth." Your amazement should be limited to the admiration of suffering people doing whatever they can to survive without a job. Try walking in their shoes before pontificating about how people should live their lives.
5
@Deb - They’re a month in, with no sign of letup. And once again, people have expenses: daycare, mortgages, healthcare, elderly relatives, bills, student loans, car insurance, food. Even the best-planned emergency funds can be drained quickly by such things. I’m sick of everyone acting like these federal employees were just laying back eating grapes instead of saving their nickels in the event that crazy Donald Trump decided to shut down the government for an indefinite amount of time, as though it’s somehow their fault that this happened to them. And for God’s sake, how much do you think the grandmother in this article can reasonably save when she’s trying to raise her granddaughter on about $28,000 a year? That’s about her after-tax take home pay. Stop telling people like this woman to downsize because, at $28,000 a year, I think she’s already downsized enough. When she does start getting paid again, what do you suggest she “downsize” on to prevent future calamity of a rich man’s making? Her granddaughter’s daycare? Treatment for her bad knee? Three meals a day?
Federal employees aren’t the problem here: none of these people are taking extravagant vacations or living lives of gold-plated luxury, although the man doing just that, who has apparently lived beyond his means or he wouldn’t have had so many business failures and bankruptcies, is squatting in the White House holding back money from these people’s wallets. It’s disgraceful. Put the blame where it belongs, Deb.
4
Some of the dismissive comments blaming the federal workers for not planning for the shutdown and saving several months-over of living expenses merely highlight the smugness of those commenting.
They remind me of a boss who, several years ago during the Great Recession, commented on the economic plight of those who were struggling or even failing that - some people just need to learn to stand on their own two feet. This comment from someone (as was widely known) whose parents paid for his college (and all his living expenses while there), gave him a good-paying job in the family business, gave him the down-payment for his house, paid for his children's private school tuition and set up trust funds for each of the children. I didn't know which was worse - my boss's lack of empathy or his appalling lack of self-knowledge.
I continue to be appalled by people who attribute their good fortune (secure jobs, good health, no divorces or deaths and even loving generous parents) to their being better at handling life. Essentially to their being better human beings. They're not. True - maybe they had parents who could give them a head-start. True - they may have worked hard and were successful. No one should begrudge them any of their good fortune.
But, often, likely, they were lucky in life, and they should recognize that not everyone else gets a dose (or two) of luck to augment their efforts. A lesson in "there but for the grace of God go I" is desperately needed here.
28
@HYT thank you for your comments. Most don’t realize that many people don’t have a financial cushion. It’s really hard for most Americans to sock away money for emergencies when there is a mortgage/rent of $2,000 or more depending on location, childcare costs can exceed $2,000 per child in the big city, student loans, food, utilities, etc.
7
It is tragic that government employees, individuals whose service is often taken for granted, are in economic peril.
And these employees — TSA, FBI, and other agency’s must be exhausted from the expectation that many serve overtime.
The effects of the widely publicized shutdown have made us vulnerable. Mr. Trump may have to attempt to rationalize why the shutdown led to a disaster: a plane crash, a terrorist attack.
3
Inspiring to see these Americans finding new ways to survive. Once more Trump's actions have positive outcomes: people learning to be nimble and to improvise under challenge. It will make them stronger.
3
Stop paying Mitch and and his cronies. Oh wait, their salary is paid by the Koch brothers and NRA.
2
I fly frequently, very frequently. But I'm deferring air travel during the Trump shutdown because I will not be a party to making TSA agents work without being paid. As well as anything I can do to increase the ancillary economic impacts of the Trump shutdown.
16
@DWS. Heck, I’m deferring air travel during the shutdown because I think we have an increased chance of a terrorist attack, increased chance of plane accidents due to not getting enough current data, and a significantly worse experience going through airport security. But yes, I really feel for the TSA workers, being forced to work without pay. Who cares if they might get their back pay in 6 months—they have to pay their bills now.
4
Well, most of them probably voted for Donald Trump, so this is what they get.
2
Really. Northern Virginia where many Federal Government employees live has been heavily Democratic in recent elections. 1
7
I’m waiting for the blue tsunami.
5
Trump is truly an amoral person, not really deserves the description of a human being! Remember, he told Chuck and Nancy that he would be proud to shut down the government. I asked a Brit colleague if the British government had ever shut down in its history. The answer was “no, we are smarter than to shut down the government”!
14
The malignant narcissist/sociopath in chief does not care about the Federal workers. He cares about no one but himself. He doesn't really care about the wall for national security either. For him, the "Wall" is a vanity/ego project. It's to build a monument to himself. It's outrageous that he is holding Federal workers hostage so he can oxygenate his frail ego and demand that we use our tax dollars to support his mental illness. Plus, I thought Mexico was paying for the wall..LIE. It's pathetic to see Congress running around in circles for this con man (with McConnell leading the pack of enablers) and so sad knowing that 800,000 Federal workers are suffering due to his heartless cruelty. He simply DOES NOT CARE.
18
Anyone who doesn't feel heartsick over this suffering is abnormal.
(Do ya hear that, Trump and McConnell???!!!)
13
The shutdown makes no sense. If labor laws
prevent government workers from striking the President and Congress should realize that not letting people work is crippling our country. Spending money on a wall should not be tied to essential services like keeping our parks open, working in the National Archives or Ellis Island, or the FDA or the White House.
65
@E Bayer They should all strike anyway.
Everybody gets arrested and the blame goes to Trump and Congress.
Any Ralph Waldo Emmerson readers? Civil Disobedience...
I have a dream that every government worker should get paid!
2
@E Bayer
To add to your comment. Shutting down government agencies that have responsibility for the safety and security of the homeland while claiming there is a humanitarian tragedy and an alien invasion someplace in the country is insane.
8
This is truly devastating to read about.
This should be a lesson to everyone not just government employees to GET YOUR FINANCIAL HOUSE IN ORDER! I used to think Suzie Orman was crazy until the shutdown of '13 now I think 3-6mo reserve principle should be a baseline for all households. I know it may seem impossible but it's doable. Cut every unnecessary expense, sell things, live as frugal as you can bear. It will pay off in the long run.
To those heaping scorn on the affected, please keep in mind life happens. Disabled child, addicted child, car accident, divorce etc life can through curveballs and it takes time to recover from situations.
Unfortunately there will be another hostage taking situation that may surpass this current one. Prepare or not at your own risk...
57
No. This is unacceptable. We have an economy where the wealth of 24 individuals now surpasses one half of the planet's population and you dare to suggest our lives become even more meager. No. No and no again.
23
@Snarky So glad you wrote this, as I was about to write a post saying similar. I'm stupefied that just missing 1 or 2 paychecks is making so many people scramble for dollars??
Yes, I get that times are tough...salaries have remained stagnant, etc. But I think another piece of this puzzle is that far too many Americans live lifestyles that are above their means...they don't want to sacrifice...they live for the moment...instant gratification, etc. Every adult must own their own private vehicle...ride-sharing, public transport, walking or cycling being 'unrealistic' or too inconvenient. Every child must now have their own bedroom, their own iPad, their own iPhone. No more sharing of bedrooms for kids. Garages, basements and attics are full of 'stuff'. Apartment dwellers rent out storage space to store their 'stuff' (granted, typically not at the same level as those who own private homes, but still...) Folks need to learn to live within their means.
So many Americans have zero savings in the bank or in other liquid financial products?
I also couldn't help but notice the mention of Ms. Kelly raising two daughters as a 'single mom', and now she herself is raising her own granddaughter.
If people have no savings, and it's been a lifelong pattern, they need to make some really hard, difficult decisions if they want to change their lives. Many immigrant groups know how to do this only too well, through sacrifice, patience, and self-control.
10
@Snarky Suze Orman is a scam artist. Dave Ramsey is who everyone should be listening to. But they're both right in having a 3-6 month savings. A $1000 emergency fund etc...etc...
2
My Oh My - everyone wants to blame Trump. Very tempting but remember - it takes two to tango. When I hear Pelosi proclaiming "No Wall, No Compromise", I see an individual who is nothing more than a power drunk politician who recently regained that power. She is no better than the President who at least is trying (clumsily) to curb illegal immigration. So far all in this sorry cast of characters are pretty disgusting - with emphasis on those who appear to support illegal immigration by blankly opposing any attempts to stop it - even clumsy ones. We should be strengthening our immigration system to expedite entry for those trying to build a better life (this has always been a tradition in the U.S.) while keeping the illegals out. Lastly, who are the people paying the most for this political impasse? The people who are being required to work while their pay is deferred. So far, I haven't heard any politician propose that interest should be paid on that deferred compensation. It is the very least they could do. Does anyone in either party care for anyone but themselves especially long-term career politicians like Schumer, McConnell and especially Pelosi? I don't think so. I can’t include Trump because although bad, he stands little to no chance of becoming a long -term politician.
8
A wall will not keep out most illegal immigrants.
1
@Richard B President Trump: "I am to shut the government down (over funding for the wall)." "Mexico WILL pay for the wall."
Who did you say was to blame?
3
How about they hold hunger strikes outside of McConnell's office door? And how about if the entire TSA staff in the DC area join them?
10
The longer the shutdown goes on the more spineless federal workers appear to be. What a lot of neutered victims. Not one single coherent national protest at their despicable treatment. No wonder that US working pay and conditions are some of the worst in the developed world.
11
Hmmm, I wonder why I haven't heard Trump bragging about the number of federal workers he is helping by creating part-time jobs at his golf courses and other properties?
3
When one of our brave Fed. Workers dies due to lack of meds., stress - heart attack, or some other very sad affect of the Shutdown what will WE THE PEOPLE do? When we get the facts (after courts open) that the ACLU is trying to obtain; and we know about the thousand(s) more immigrant children taken from their Moms in 2017, what will WE THE PEOPLE do? It's time to take to the streets, scream and yell. Trump has got to go, I say start IMPEACHMENT hearings in Congress. The only other way out is to let this Monster keep ruin all he sees until his base calls his bluff and doesn't vote for him in 2020; if we survive until then. He will take everyone, everything down with him, yes he will.
3
@KatieBear
I wouldn't wait for the lack of meds to kill a furloughed federal worker; many have zero deductible medical policies that cover virtually anything a doctor writes. Try that without a government policy.
2
Is this what the middle class in America has become, miss one paycheck and get on the breadline?
11
Unfortunately yes. Thanks to corporate America and out of control income inequality.
6
It’s truly amazing. This little hearted man “comes to power” in the most Hitlersque fashion stating, among other things, that’s he’s “building a big, beautiful wall and Mexico is going to pay for it”. Now here we are, two years later and hundreds of thousands of US citizens are suffering and held hostage while he pushes to use our tax dollars to build this hideous wall. Pathetic. America’s worst and probably most evil President ever. ( Who lost the popular vote by a few million... ) waiting for 2020 and the hopeful end of this nightmare.
7
Federal workers cannot repay withdrawals from their retirement savings. I phoned my Congressman today and requested exception for the furlough. I also asked if all employee benefits remain in effect. Neither of my senate offices answered the phones. My Congressman's office did.
I detest this foolish shutdown.
6
Nancy Pelosi just visited Jose Andreas' World Central Kitchen in DC to thank the volunteers for providing meals to laid off federal workers and to thank those workers. Across the street, trump International Hotel isn't offering even a cup of coffee.
My thanks for Jose Andreas, and I hope he wins the Nobel Peace Prize that trump craves; given trump's treatment of immigrants and federal employees, his chances for the Prize are nonexistent.
7
Maybe she could that some of the $70k she was going to spend to go to the Davos conference and order a few pizzas instead.
3
@Margo - Speaking of pizzas, George W. Bush ordered a bunch - and personally delivered them - to the beleaguered Secret Service. I have yet to see Trump do that, although I heard he is taking time out to meet with the dirty rotten scoundrels of Covington Catholic High School. Because you know, priorities.
I think Nancy Pelosi has her hands full trying to convince the mercurial Trump to do anything that’s even remotely of value to the people of this country but go ahead and sling some mud, Margo. If you’re still fixated on the fact that no one’s buying the federal workers enough pizza, you can get you credit card out and order them some. I’m sure there are furloughed federal workers in Atlanta who will eat it.
3
So all those former federal workers who seek (and probably find) private sector jobs will leave a bunch of vacancies and our government will either be understaffed and not work as well or be forced to try to hire people to replace them, have to train the new people (which may cancel out or partially cancel out any salary savings of employing less senior people) and be less able to find good people due the government's damaged reputation as an unreliable employer.
6
@Letitia, well, that’s one reason Trump proudly owns the shutdown. He and the GOP want to shrink government (even if it’s not a good idea, and even if it really hurts millions of Americans at once).
1
I take issue with the headline stating federal workers are highly paid. The woman in the story takes home $1100 for two weeks of work. That would mean a gross income of around $37,000 annually. Hardly “highly paid”, not quite middle class. It is exceedingly difficult to save money with an income of that level. How about some compassion?
15
I don’t understand why US sovereign debt has not received a credit downgrade, If the government shutdown were happening anywhere else, S&P, Moody, and Fitch would decrease that country’s credit rating on sovereign debt because of political turmoil
3
Watching from the U.K. and got to say these folks have my deepest sympathies - they don’t deserve to be pawns in a silly game. I feel your sympathies will soon be extended to my country, when we get Brexit in all its pains....
I have to ask though, what is the attraction of government jobs if you can be treated like this? Better pay? Better pensions? Only jobs available in some sector or areas?
I ask because my company employees lots in the US and some get 20 days paid leave and some are even still on final salary pensions (if they have been there over 15 years). If this is normal in US, why would you work for an employer - the government - if they treat you so appallingly? Or is my employer unusual over there? Genuine questions, not any sort of judgement.
Questions don’t distract from my sympathies for the way these employees are being treated, it’s nothing short of criminal in my eyes, to ask people to work for no pay.
5
@Cattydcat government jobs generally provide good healthcare insurance and you can normally retire earlier than private sector. They oftentimes come with defined benefits pension packages too, and other retirement benefits. They have good vacation times per year too. Let me give you an example in my own house: there are four adults in my house (sister and her adult son, my husband and myself). My sister, husband and I are all government retired. I retired at age 43 (military), my sister and husband retired from a state jobs in their 50's (teacher and maintenance mechanic). We all have good defined benefit pensions and were able to retire relatively early in life. Additionally, we all paid fully into social security and can start drawing that at age 62 (my husband has already started his).
2
@Cattydcat "what is the attraction of government jobs if you can be treated like this?" I have several acquaintances in government work, and what mostly attracts them is job security. Government jobs have (had?) the reputation of being safe, stable positions once you've got them. (Looks like it might be time to reevaluate that idea.)
2
If the Air Traffic Controllers walked off the job (they're not getting paid) this would be over in an hour. I hope all the federal employees who are furloughed and working without pay remember the GOP, who supported this crime in 2020.
9
@John See PATCO 1981.
1
their biggest concern with the shutdown is that virtually no one but them actually noticed a difference.
5
Wow, and how is this a "good thing"? The gig economy - no benefits,no pensions, low wages, no security, the only ones getting RICH from the gig economy are the shareholders of these companies...
2
I just left a morning Bible study - we were studying 1 Kings. Not much has changed since that time, but governance has gotten bigger, faster, and scarier.
Whatever happened to the main message in the new Testament: love God, and love your neighbor.
We have gone far astray from this 2000 year old wisdom, and we will pay for it.
1
I don't remember the shutdown in 1996 which lasted 21 days getting this much attention. What's the difference now and then? Thank you.
7
@Southern Boy
If you're seriously asking, there are two differences, just off the top of my head:
first, this one has already lasted longer;
second, the president then was interested in negotiating and ending the shutdown as soon as possible.
2
@Southern Boy - Because this one has now gone on for longer than 21 days.
Because there seems to be no end to it in sight.
Because we have an intractable, volatile, vindictive president backed up by Fox News and that old worthless turkey in a tie, Mitch McConnell.
Because everything in politics is now divisive, and no one wants to reach across the aisle anymore to do the right thing for the American people.
Because our government today is full of selfish men and women.
Because the last long-standing shutdown was nearly 25 years ago.
Because we’re now living in a different, post 9/11 world.
Because, because, because.
Please stop trying to make this seem like it’s not a big deal, because it is.
And please, stop thanking us.
3
There is an article on the front page of Fox News as I write this, offering advice to furloughed workers who are struggling financially. Here's the first sentence of the article:
"If you are among the 800,000 federal workers who have been without a paycheck and don't have the proper emergency savings to fall back on amid the longest partial government shutdown in history, it may be time to get a personal loan, says Ted Rossman, industry analyst at CreditCards.com."
The first thing that caught my eye and turned my stomach was the "proper emergency savings" - passing the blame to federal workers for not having "proper" savings - and then came the kicker: advice to take out loans to cover expenses from a source that did not even attempt to hide their conflict of interest.
8
It is outrageous that a sitting president should hold over a million of his own citizens hostages over a policy issue of his that has over 60% of the population opposed to it. I wonder if this hasn't been a suggestion of Putin's?
4
When this is all over, I hope that laws are passed to prevent it from EVER being allowed to happen AGAIN!
(Along with so many others, so many weak spots in our government that Trump has exposed.)
4
Federal workers should take note of the success of the various teacher strikes across the country, including the recently settled strike in LA. A two day sick out or a real strike, by all federal workers, would bring a quick re-opener vote in the Senate, the House already believes in you. And if there is a mass sick out or strike, you would not be fired, it is just not possible.
1
The Legislative pay was approved. Border wall or no border wall. Let's face it people. There is only one party and none of us has been invited to it.
2
Sure they are never going to shut down the military and not pay the 1 million US soldiers.
It is better to humiliate the US citizens who do a practical civil job.
1
What really bothers me is not just the relatively short-term hurt federal employees, their families, and those in the public they serve are experiencing.
I'm also aghast that federal workers may end up having enough financial difficulty due to the shutdown, that their long-term credit worthiness will be impacted for the remainder of their lives and due to no fault of their own, preventing them from accessing financial instruments needed by most of us to buy a house, to send a child to college, or to buy a car to actually get to work.
12
Yes, it is criminal of Trump and Congress to let this happen.
1
Educators do not get paid for the summer. Federal workers take their jobs for granted and for life. No one has that luxury. I suggest they babysit for cash, etc. In the future, save more and do not complain. Many private sector people have endured their company's going out of business, merging, etc. From the majority of stores of these people, dining out, etc. and living beyond their means is the true problem. Everyone should have 6 months savings for an emergency.
10
@Jan. The point about having 6 months savings is excellent advice though for many lower income people it is very had to achieve since day to day expenses eat up most of their income.
24
Remember that these people will be paid in full for all the time they are not working, the only question is when.
7
@Jan that is highly unrealistic in today's era of stunted wage growth. If you can do it, great, but you are in the vast minority. What happened to being able to thrive and enjoy a middle-class life in America?
8
Why aren't they protesting? Anywhere else in the world, people would be rioting in the streets.
28
@McDiddle - Many federal employees have stipulations in their employment contracts that prohibit them from boycotting/striking against the federal government. When I was a federal employee, I had to sign paperwork that said I wouldn’t do this. I was told that in 1981, a bunch of air traffic controllers went on strike: saintly President Reagan responded by not only firing all of them, but forbidding them from working in federal service ever again. If today’s federal workers want jobs to go back to once this is all over, they have to sit tight and basically keep their mouths shut, and we all know Trump is definitely capable of pulling a Reagan. (Reagan, at least, immediately hired a bunch of new air traffic controllers: Trump doesn’t have anything close to those sorts of planning skills.)
I understand your point, I truly do, but federal workers don’t have the option of striking, to say nothing of rioting.
3
Federal workers are speaking up as they are allowed according to their agency policies. There were protests over the weekend and Jan 9/10; they aren’t getting a lot of coverage for whatever reason.
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/federal-workers-rally-across-the-country-in-protest-of-shutdown/
2
@McDiddle Eventually there will be rioting but it will be the Trump loyalists that start the riots. That will happen if he is removed or we go into a serious recession. With him it’s always somebody else’s fault. These folks have the serious weapons - so watch out!
2
Sept. 11, 2001: New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., over 3000 deaths and lots of damage to the economy of the USA.
At least the institutions of the federal government were not crippled. The Coast Guard, the FBI, Border Patrol, IRS, and the Dept. of Agriculture were up and running at full force.
What I'm getting at is the idea that Trump and McConnell's federal government shutdown is causing more damage to the USA than the Saudi terrorists did on 9/11.
Trump is making America Great, isn't he?
19
@John. 3,000 deaths ? Where and how were they caused by the shutdown?
1
@John Trump is toxic!
1
@Thomas Smith - For God’s sake, read the comment. He didn’t say the 3,000 9/11 deaths were caused by the shutdown, he said they were caused by Saudi terrorists. What he did say was that when 9/11 happened, we still had a fully-functioning federal government ready to attempt to deal with the unprecedented crisis. Had we not had that, the country would have dissolved into chaos. John’s point is that Trump and company are doing a lot of damage to our national infrastructure with their vindictiveness and, if we should have a national tragedy or a situation of 9/11 proportions while this shutdown is still going on, we literally won’t have the manpower to respond to it.
4
Prepare For Two Year Government Shut Down according to C. Rich at America Speaks Ink:
"President Trump will never give in on this border thing. People need to be prepared that he will never reopen up those parts of the government. He will go the whole two remaining years highlighting that the Democrats won’t compromise. The president will leave it up to the voter in 2020. I’m telling ya, he’ll never give in.
Trump will send in his State Of The Union in writing, he’ll do all sorts of stuff, but he will never reopen the whole government. He’ll crash his own economy, he does not care, he knows he can’t keep the base together if he fails at this one thing. People just need to know this and be prepared.
The way this is going to look over time is as soon as the Democrats took the House back, total dysfunction blanketed D.C.and government went off the rails. It will look like the left cares nothing about DACA and all sorts of stuff they could get if they compromised. Trump has already moved from a wall to a fence, so Americans can see it is not him that is creating this ridiculous situation..."
4
@Walker What is the technical reason by which this has happened ? Can you explain ?
Do you even know the political process of your own country ?
1
@Walker trump has not compromised. If he accepted Daca and other things, the Democrats would find his silly wall. People see this.
Still, it’s true he is doing Putin’s bidding to derail your country....
@Walker Such a stubborn move by Trump would put this country in total jeopardy and give Putin exactly what he has wanted. Perhaps this shut down was really Putin's plan all along.
3
The premise here is inaccurate. Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin both earned outside income while working for the State Department, so it's clearly not illegal.
4
@PC1615
Unless you know that they really did earn outside income and unless you really know the specific circumstances of what they purportedly earned - as well as the specific circumstances under which various classes of federal employees may or may not take certain types of jobs outside of the government - you're just making a blanket statement that is almost guaranteed to be inaccurate and is clearly partisan. One or two examples do not demonstrate the rules for millions of employees in hundreds, perhaps thousands, of job classes...so it's clearly not all black and white like so many people apparently think life is.
3
@PC1615 As a government employee, I can tell you it is much easier for the higher-ups to do this: they just have their lawyers work out the logistics with the Ethics Office. If I wanted to do outside work, I'd need (at least) my supervisor's approval.
The wealthy create the rules; if they sometimes work for us little people, well, that's just a bonus.
5
It's amazing how much Americans will take. I heard one furloughed worker exclaim on CNN that we don't want a handout but a paycheck. He was trying desperately to separate himself from those others--the undeserving, the mythical layabouts.
Why aren't these folks descending on DC in droves? trump is an extortionist of the highest order and how do furloughed worker react? With shame and embarrassment. YOU'VE DONE NOTHING WRONG.
Americans are wondering aloud (including that horrid financial columnist from the Washington Post, Michelle Singletary), why do these people not have six months to a year's salary lying around? What's wrong with them?
Don't dangle the American Dream out there if you don't expect people to attempt to achieve. Don't have a recession in 2008 and then expect people to recover by the time the next recession is upon us in 2019. Don't vote for welfare for the rich (have any of these megamillionaires and billionaires offered to give back that nice, fat tax cut the middle class is financing?) and then ask, "Why can't the president have is wall?" Don't pretend that a grandmother, raising a grandchild on $28,600 a year is living high on the hog.
Revolt, people.
59
Today, the executive and legislative branches of our federal government are leading “we the people” into a period of federal worker exploitation by a partial government shutdown. The lines are drawn, and the derogatory names called out.
I see a political system of argumentation over power and policies that has stripped 800,000 federal works of their wages. The dysfunctional leadership of both political parties and our President are so locked into systemic conflict that they fail to grasp the possibility of long-term economic pain, and to grasp the the lessoning of employees’ value.
Do we truly believe all men and women are birthed as equals? Are federal workers not our neighbors in need who serve and protect? Then why don’t “we the people” and our political leaders name the exploitation, elevate the dignity of workers, beat our chests in sorrow, and send federal workers back to work?
Over the years I have grown to recognize my own culpability in group conflicts by paying attention to those on the periphery of a conflict who suffer anxiety and fear a breakdown that affects their lives directly. Occasionally a quiet voice will say, “It’s not so much who’s right or wrong, it’s the hate between leaders and factions that’s tearing us apart. I don’t know what I’m going to do if this keeps happening.” Federal worker exploitation is a serious matter.
Roger Rice
Ellicott City, Maryland
Retired Clergy, Family Therapist &
former Peace Corps Volunteer
10
As much as I deplore this mindless Trump-tantrum shutdown I believe it features some unintended positive effects. One is getting some federal office workers out of their monotonous bureaucratic overhead paycheck worlds and into the real world where you have to actually earn income. It can only leave a positive tattoo on their perspectives when they return to their comfy office bureaucracies.
14
@Ken. There’s not a lot comfy in a job that pays at least 50% less than a private sector job. Where are you all getting the idea that a government job is “cushy” or “high paid”? People take pay cuts to work in public sector jobs because they want to serve their country, because there usually is more job stability, and because it’s one of the vanishing few jobs with a pension.
1
Don Trump has never had a real job in his life; daddy was his lifeline to unearned wealth. He knows nothing about working people; one of his former casino bosses said yhatvTrump treated his casino employees as mere servants who could be replaced. This former boss said Trump probably feels the same way about the 800,000 federal workers out of work due to the partial shutdown- they are replaceable.
One wonder if Barron Trump has ever missed a meal, His Daddy is a real piece of work!
14
Go on strike, for crying out loud! Jeez, how docile are American workers? Is there another country in the world that is not an authoritarian tyranny where workers would continue to toil for weeks without pay? Weeks!
It truly is unbelievable. No wonder oligarchs run the show in the US.
14
It is illegal for federal workers to strike. It is grounds for immediate termination, as proved by Reagan. Despite the many disparaging sentiments held and comments made against them, the majority of federal employees want to uphold their end of the agreements they made when they took their job (e. g. not going on strike). It would be nice if their employer held up their end (e. g. letting them work and/or paying them on time for their work).
5
I guess you never walked a picket line. I did. In NYS SSR, working for a NYS agency. Lose #two# day's pay for every day you're out. If you are still working in conditions like this, you are working without a paycheck, but not without pay. You get it all back in back pay. Just don't get that back pay all at once, or IRS will take half of it. You'll have to wait until next April to get back.
2
“the majority of federal employees want to uphold their end of the agreement”
If that is indeed the case, then that is precisely the problem, and points to the docility of a large portion of American workers. There is a tried and true resource when an employer isn’t upholding their end of the bargain - it’s a strike. Nowhere else but America is that a radical concept, and look at the results: stagnant wages, ever-decreasing worker protections, and docile workers toiling for weeks without pay! Insane.
I’m aware that it’s “illegal” for federal employees to strike, but so what? You mean to tell me that the government will fire all 47,000 TSA workers and 15,000 air traffic controllers? How long would that halt air travel in the country? Weeks? Months?
There’s power in numbers, until American workers realize that again, they’ll continue to get the short end of the stick.
Trump has no shame,no humanity either. I feel for these people. Maybe while they're trying to get by,they should call their reps and senators daily and tell them how much money and food they have on hand. It's also time for TSA workers to pull a nationwide sick out. The fact that these underpaid,under appreciated workers are legally forced to work without pay should be a law quickly changed.Ask yourself if you would be willing to be a legal slave,forced to work for no money. If they had a big enough sick out, it would cripple the country and force the end to this immoral shutdown.
15
Oh, please. They'll be paid if they work.
@fFinbar. Not while the shutdown is underway, which could be 6 months or two years. The government contractors will never get back pay, nor will the many hurting services like restaurants.
1
Truthfully, government employees that are essential and are working must be paid. The government has not shutdown essential workers, it simply refuses to pay them. It is immoral that legislators continue to be paid during this wage hold back.
American government is now something worthy of ridicule by the rest of the world. The American federal government is a complete failure and nothing short of mockery as a dumpster fire.
11
The latest Pew results show the support from Trump’s so-called base is declining due to this shutdown.
What is interesting is that every time
Trump finds an out, Coulter slams it shut. With a single tweet.
It’s almost as if Coulter wants to skewer Trump the slowest, longest way possible that would also hurt the most by turning away from him his MAGA crowd one man/woman at a time.
Trump, the stable genius, will never realize that Coulter has now been batting for the other team ever since the wall was not built during his first year as president.
Coulter can do this—demolishing any Trump exit strategy—because she has figured out correctly that Trump is a coward.
14
Some news agency (Hello NYT?) needs to look at the long term affects of this shutdown. More and more people will be forced to live on credit cards, and when those are maxed out will need to apply for even more. Vehicles will be repossesed, but after the government opens for business and pays its employees, folks will be so deep in debt, credit ratings destroyed, that buying a new-or used-car may be near impossible because of the ridiculous interest rates you will pay because your once solid credit rating has been flushed down the toilet. Lenders don't care why your credit score is low. And when fewer folks buy cars, fewer folks will be making cars. And cars are just 1 example. Think about homes, appliances, etc. The long range ripple effect on our economy is potentially devastating. And an aside to the person who called for a general strike. I can only speak to my profession, but if Air Traffic Controllers went on strike they would be fired immediately and replaced by military controllers. When taking the job you sign an oath to never strike, understanding you WILL be fired if you do. And think about this: all of those controllers who run the busiest and safest system in the world are not getting paid. How long before missed car payments, unpaid bills, etc. start to creep into the back of their mind when they are working?
9
@Billy. SOME of them are, in SOME cities and states. And for a limited time period, no matter how long the shutdown lasts.
1
trump always has job openings for scrubbing his toilets at Mara Lago. Does anyone for a minute think that trump even gives a passing thought to any of these workers, their families or communities.
6
How do you negotiate with a pathological liar? You can't. Unfortunately these federal workers won't see a paycheck until impeachment or Trump is voted out of office.
8
What a shameful time for our country.
10
Why do Federal workers deserve special treatment and even special levels of press coverage? Plenty of people unaffiliated with the government have always struggled and done so without things like free food, letters to their landlords explaining the circumstances and requesting deferred payment, or even levels of sympathy from the public and media remotely approaching what is currently being seen because of the shutdown.
10
@Edward Because they’re people too and struggling just like the rest of the world. Medical bills, student loans, rent, childcare.. it all adds up. My sister literally will have to move in with my mother if this does not end soon and she cannot just became unable to afford costly prescriptions. Even with insurance, there are still copayments. It’s not like she doesn’t have empathy with others who struggle, but in her reality, she’s just trying to survive while working without pay or having the ability to find other work to help out the situation.
17
Many reasons. Here's a big one: because they are being asked to work without pay. If any corporation that employed millions did the same, I assure you that would be covered in the press too.
14
@Edward 1) They are serving the country through their jobs, 2) This affects people all over the US not just because people don't have jobs and can't pay their bills. but also because that lack of income will reverberate throughout the community and the economy 3) It is directly caused by the President so it is of interest to everyone in the US 4) there is no good reason for this shutdown. It's a manufactured crisis that is affecting hundreds of thousands of people at one time.
10
"Squeezed into a booth, they talked about canceled vacations, dreading their mortgage payments and which colleagues were struggling the most."
Sounds like a lot of groups of laid off colleagues.
As difficult as they have it today, the Federal workers do have paychecks coming, with back pay. That is unlike virtually any other group of furloughed workers anywhere. This is not to minimize the pain that they are feeling right now, especially those people who are required to work without pay, and therefore lack the time to pick up the side gigs. But let's put it in perspective. The furloughed federal workers do have their little pots of gold at the end of their rainbows. A lot of others do not.
10
Seems there should be some solid data on certain aspects of the federal workforce not necessary. One positive thing about the shutdown?
3
If this were a full rather than partial government shutdown that had gone on this long, I do not believe these types of comments would be made (or at least not nearly as many). That is one fact that makes the majority of the public feel there is not much effect from having hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed. Another is that employees of agencies like TSA, to use an obvious example, are still working (despite not being paid until the shutdown ends, and most likely not immediately after that!), which keeps the most noticeable public services such as air travel running smoothly or close to it. Yet another reason the majority of the public "doesn't see it as that big of a deal" is again because the partial nature makes it so that limited segments of the population have been affected by lack of services. As just one example, farmers are one group that has been impacted greatly by the closure of the Farm Service Agency during the shutdown; but most Americans probably haven't even heard of the FSA or would ever realize how devastating this shutdown might be or has already been to thousands of farmers in the country. Finally, in previous shutdowns, employees deemed essential at the beginning (such as TSA) were kept working throughout, and those who were furloughed were kept furloughed throughout. What is happening this time like bringing IRS employees back (again without timely pay) proves the leaders do not want more of the public to "feel" the shutdown's effects.
3
@Alice's Restaurant This view of things is completely wrongheaded because it mistakes being not available a few weeks without a complete disaster with not being available permanently. (In various cases temporarily being not available is a frustrating inconvenience, but being permanently unavailable would be an utter disaster.) In a bunch of cases the consequences may actually be much more severe, but since it takes time for the full impact to be revealed we are not yet fully seeing them.
1
Question?
Where is a SCOTUS public advisory regarding the Constitutional lawfulness of some Federal employees working without pay. Given the Federal as well as Sovereign State governments have contraints and privileges not afforded to private business entities and individuals. Such as employees cannot lawfully strike, public officials are legally public fiduciaries and governments have the power of taxation etc.
Sorry, my bad!
I forgot they’re GOP dominated also, whereby public matters should be altered into private affairs for profit making opportunities. After all, “public government is the problem” and The GOP’s Slogan. And they’re all working hard and together to make that belief an indisputable fact we should welcome and patronize.
2
The inability of both parties to reach a straightforward compromise that provides for partial funding of a physical border barrier (which should also include the other 3 parts of the 2017 immigration proposal) should make all of us (except the wild-eyed partisans) yearn (and vote) for a 3rd party candidate.
I urge the Times to run some articles devoted to the Congressional Problem Solvers caucus - rather than the extreme plans of either major party candidates.
4
The sad part is that, based on decades of prior experience, the people who are impacted by this shutdown - feds, contractors, aid recipients, etc - won't be more motivated to vote in 21 months.
Americans have the memory of a goldfish when it comes to political wrongs.
8
@Mtnman1963 "aid recipients", "won't be more motivated", "memory of a goldfish"
mhh it's almost as if there might be more than just a correlation there...
Let's not blame the victims for now. Let's have empathy and kindness.
And push our Senators and Representatives!
1
Could some leader tell the common citizen exactly what to do to help these great Americans? Ignore Washington. Lets figure it out locally - community by community. Is it better to set up some kind of employment system, loans, days of public protesting by both federal govt workers and concerned citizens, all of the above.
The federal government is failing us. So lets be resourceful Americans, ignore the govt and help our fellow citizens.
1
...Then Trump and his republican enablers will audit them and make sure they pay tax on this additional income. When do we get to see his tax returns?
3
@EPMD nah that's the IRS' job. you know, the one governmental body that won't ever shutdown.
1
As progressive talk show host Thom Hartmann has outlined, Trump's real goal has nothing to do with the wall. He is following the Koch brothers blueprint of dismantling the administrative state.
His government shutdown is starving Mueller's team and grand jury, destroying the EPA, FDA, USDA, national parks, and other regulatory and public quality of life agencies.
He is trying to destroy the watchdogs and guardians who have protected us from the corporate and royalist billionaire elites since the reform movements of the early 1900s.
If Trump and the GOP have their way, America will return to the late 1800s, the robber baron era.
8
@Steve Davies here we go, yet another pundit "familiar with Trump's thinking". or maybe you could have just read his campaign promises and noticed he's on a course to fulfill every single one of them. something establishment lapdogs wouldn't be able to recognize, having never witnessed something like it before. but let's keep acting surprised as he keeps checking these boxes one by one.
@Josh. Oh please. Like “Mexico will pay for it”, “I’ll replace the Affordable Care Act with something that provides even better coverage and lower premiums.”, “I will bring manufacturing jobs back and coal jobs in particular” and “I will drain the swamp of Wall Street and billionaire politicians in Washington, and replace them with people who care more about the average American, not just their own profits”, for starters?
4
Interesting state of affairs currently: (1) Administration lifts sanctions on Russian oligarch and gives him a free ride on hundreds of millions of dollars in debt; in the meantime, (2) American federal workers living paycheck-to-paycheck are ordered back to work for no pay.
11
How can an employer; in this case the United States Government; tell an employee they cannot strike and at any time can simply not be paid but must continue working? Congressmen and Senators will be paid. It’s time the Air Traffic Control employees ‘sick out.’ When airlines traffic comes to a screeching halt; and Superbowl fan can’t make it to their game, perhaps Trump won’t be so proud of shutting down the government and starving its employees.
8
@Jerry Sturdivant "must continue working" there is no obligation if you quit. a very foreign concept to some, I realize, but valid nonetheless.
There is no middle class anymore if you have this many federal employees living paycheck-to-paycheck.
8
Please keep in mind that around Dec. 19 before the shutdown there was a deal worked out that Trump originally agreed to where he would get over $1 billion for border security. That was until Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh said Trump was weak and caved.
So Trump, so fearful of appearing "weak," reversed his position and dug his heels in demanding $5.7 billion for his wall that is mostly symbolic, won't really provide security as well as other options, and is a waste of taxpayer money for what we get.
Don't for a second think that Trump--who has stiffed many a worker and investor during his real estate deals--spent any time worrying about the economic plight of unpaid federal workers who can't pay their bills because of Ann Coulter's taunt to Trump and Trump's fragile ego.
Let's put federal workers back to work, furlough Trump, and him drive for Uber, work as a greeter for Walmart, be a nanny for rich people's children, and forage for meals at a food bank.
16
There is I believe a quick way to end this madness: All of the TSA people need to call in sick. If air travel were to come to a halt nationwide, even two hard headed people like Pelosi and Trump would find a way to agree.
Compromise: "An agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions."
5
It’s a risk of the job. Plan accordingly. And if you haven’t saved enough for a few months then that’s on you...no one else. We should fault people for making bad choices and spending more than they make and not having security nets. It is only the result of poor choices by these workers.
4
@Simon Wonderful approach you have there. Workers who are earning about $25,000 per year should have saved thousands! And made sure not to get sick, have unexpected bills, etc. If we could all have your positive attitude!
5
@aoxomoxoa
Everyone make choices. We make both our own misery and happiness. We should all be held personally responsible for our actions, and inactions.
1
Yeah, I'm in California and you know what our two senators, Feinstein and Harris, think of the shutdown of the federal government. Maybe this shutdown would come to an end, sooner rather than later, if the commenters would write their congressional reps and support the furloughed federal workers.
5
No words can describe how disgusted I am that innocent workers are held hostage to the whims of Don the Con.
Every member of Congress should be voting to end this shutdown before they go on to any discussion of any further business.
And Ann Coulter, the Trump Whisperer, is as guilty as anyone in this abysmal situation.
10
It should be mentioned that most people have income sources to help them get by. Many have spouses, most have unemployment insurance, a good number are eligible for tax refunds, and average savings amount to $5,000. So the average furloughed employee is good for 3 paychecks or 6 weeks.
There are always some who come up short, of course. But the average is important to understanding. The story told here is worst case scenario. It tends to make the furlough seem worse than it is by concentrating on the minority with little or no resources available.
6
I guess it depends whether you live paycheck-to-paycheck, or if you have liquid savings you can rely on. I have fed employee friends who happily took off traveling to wait this out. I'm not furloughed yet, but if that happens, I'll just go traveling, or work on my house, or whatever. Of course those who live without any savings is a different story. Anyone working for federal government should try to have at least a few months worth of short-term cash, because this stuff does happen from time to time; unfortunately that's the nature of these jobs.
47
@MarkR This might be fair enough if there were a predictable duration to the shutdown. If I knew I had a month, I could assess my savings and determine whether I could relax, travel, etc. How many weeks or months can you afford to kick back and pretend you're on vacation before you've done real damage to your finances?
74
@MarkR Yeah, well, it shouldn't be"nature of these jobs." This whole mess is a travesty that should not be allowed to happen. Instead of taking it like little lambs sent to slaughter, these folks should be doing a massive sick out! Shut down the airports says I!
68
@MarkR
did you see the $ she makes ?
40
"America Held Hostage - Day "32"
Not only federal workers joining the gig economy, it also looks like that employers are listing less jobs around here. These are private employers, not associated with the federal government. However, a number of employers, around here, exist because of needs by the federal government, research labs and defense contractors.
So, as this continues to drag out, more and more employers will stop hiring or let people go. We are talking service, retail and restaurant jobs.
Boulder County current has a 2.8% unemployment rate. It will be interesting to see what it is when the numbers come out next month, fro January.
Meanwhile, our state GOP reps and Senator still back what Trump is doing, and are silent on this growing economic problem. Never the mind, that more and more Coloradoans are losing jobs, and the state economy is starting to take a hit.
How worried are people?
This was in this morning's Longmont paper call in line:
Does anybody out there know whether this government shutdown is going to eventually affect Social Security payments to us people that are retired? It's my only source of income and my only means of survival. Maybe somebody at the TC could answer that or somebody out there could call in.
Editor's note: According to factcheck.org, Social Security is "fully funded for the year" and "fully operational."
What was not noted, this will be a problem come debt ceiling rise time or 1 October, when the fiscal year starts.
8
@Nick Metrowsky
"Does anybody out there know whether this government shutdown is going to eventually affect Social Security payments to us people that are retired? It's my only source of income ..."
Me too, and have no idea. It wouldn't be an issue if the idea/ideal of a "Social Security lockbox" wasn't a bad joke. Those words were last spoken with a straight face in the 2000 presidential election. W said he'd respect the integrity of that lockbox unless a national emergency. Uh ...
It seems to me that the only people who can end the shutdown and reopen the government now are the federal workers themselves. Mitch McConnell announced that the Senate would vote on Mr. Trump’s proposal on Thursday, knowing that it will not pass either the Senate or the House, and the shutdown will continue.
If the federal workers declared that they will not show up for work if they are not being paid and announced a general strike beginning Friday midnight if the Senate fails to reopen the government on Thursday.
27
Agreed. When are the federalworkers putting yellow vests on? It seems like mass action is the only way to get what they need and to stand up to political bullying. I'll stand with them in a heartbeat.
5
If this country were to go into another recession and/or depression to know that well paid federal workers are 1 paycheck away from the bread lines makes me wonder what the rest of the country is like. It seems that all those "wants" that were "needs" then take on less importance when it comes down to cable TV or eating. Obviously this country needs to rethink its priorities.
14
The Federal workers have joined the ranks of the rest of Americans who don't have a job due to layoffs or business closures. They, like the rest of middle America, don't have a cushion of emergency funds because the wages are still too low in the US to save due to high health care costs, child care, mortgages or rent, transportation and on and on. The middle class is slowly drowning.
81
"Have You No Sense of Decency, Sir?"
McConnell and the Republican Senators are spineless and afraid of The Con Man in Chief. The Senators could all vote today to open the government and tell the liar in chief that they will work on border security when government workers are paid so that they can feed their families, purchase medicine and gas , and pay rents and mortgages.
Everyone must understand that this incompetent con man in chief (and Mitch and his Republican jelly fish)are making our country weak on the foreign and domestic front fulfilling the desire and direction of his puppet master .
Remember it is not only 800,000 federal workers but more like 3 or 4 million when you include their families plus all thee others not paid including restaurant owners and workers, landlords, child care workers, and the ripple effect throughout the economy. The New York Times entire front page should be a picture of the real culprits the Republican Senators who put the liar in chief ahead of our country. Shame and disgrace
77
Welcome to the real world, folks. I have never, once, read statistics in this newspaper about how many Americans work more than one job but I'm sure many NYT readers would be surprised.
No one who works minimum wage works only 40 hours a week. Nor do they make overtime pay at their jobs. Instead, they have to have a second job to make ends meet because outdated laws "protecting them" forbid working more than 40 hours at a single job unless the employer pays time and a half.
This is an antiquated regulation from back when unions controlled our government. Now the majority of unionized jobs are government jobs -- also one of the last bastions of the 40 hour workweek. We need a whole new set of labor laws to adapt to the realities of working in the 21st century.
24
Throughout all of this is one question that can't seem to be answered: if all these federal jobs are so stable and well-paid with top of the line benefits, why are so many of these people one paycheck from disaster? I don't understand.
29
@Todd
Because the media has decided to report that all Federal workers live paycheck to paycheck and they cannot afford to buy their next meal. I can understand this because there are truly hardships with low paid Feds. The media is not going to run a story on a 50 year old couple who are both GS-14's who have worked for the Feds for 25 years and are on a forced furlough but will be paid in full once the furlough ends. Maybe they could profile a couple who took a trip to Europe during the shutdown.
7
@Todd I haven't seen anyone say that all federal jobs are well paid. I've actually seen the opposite that most of them pay pretty low.....meaning just enough to cover basics which is why they are paycheck to paycheck and it's difficult to save up enough for several months of emergency funds.
4
@Todd People who count on a federal or state govt retirement don't always see the need to save more. They didn't think they would join the little people in being laid off, RIFed or having hours reduced, as has happened on a large scale since the early 90s. Thus they spend their income as it comes in.
2
Here is how to quickly and effectively end the government shutdown:
All TSA workers should commit not to show up for work (blue flu) for a 24 hour period commencing in 3 days unless
the government is reopened.
This effective shutdown of the air transportation system would reck havoc on the country and would have global consequences.
The detergent effect should be sufficient to end the shutdown promptly.
34
I wonder how many of these furloughed workers voted for Trump? Will this experience open their eyes to the fact that he does not have their best interests at heart? That the middle class and below are of no interest to him? People vote with their pocketbooks; wake up America, wake up.
22
I strongly suspect this entire fiasco stems from buyer’s regret on the part of Ann Coulter and Rush. They now realize they supported an incompetent and are looking for a way extricate themselves. Holding Trump to his wall promise is a way to go on the attack - instead of being stuck defending the indefensible.
I believe they care about border security. I don’t believe they care enough about the wall to justify a shutdown. This is about keeping the outrage going - as a distraction.
1
If you are 51 years old and have had a steady federal job for years like Ms. Kelley, and you can’t get by on one or two missed paychecks, you are doing something seriously wrong financially. And this free vacation (they get back pay) is a great opportunity for you to evaluate your financial plan.
20
@Jay Lincoln without knowing the details of Ms. Kelley's situation, nobody is in a position to criticize her financial management.Because someone lives pay check to pay check does not mean that they are living beyond their means or spending on unnecessary luxuries. And even if this is the case, it is not the time to criticize. Many furloughed workers will not be getting back pay and many of those who do will struggle a long time to recover.
9
@Jay Lincoln
Did you see her income? It's $2,200 a month.
9
Do the math. She takes home 28k a year. The average rent for a one bedroom in Milwaukee is between 9k and 15k, then add utilities like electricity, add car payments and insurance or some form of transport, plus groceries, clothing and day care. Doesn't leave much over does it? It's amazing that a person who is working and raising a grandchild is denigrated for not saving enough.
16
Employers must be rubbing their hands in glee. Loads of desperate people looking for at least temporary work.
3
@MTB. And loads of employers in services or restaurant industries laying off staff because people are spending less money in those areas. Everything has a ripple effect through out the economy.
1
A lot of people live like this all the time
25
The cruelty of the Trump regime is in full throat, with Federal employees being held hostage by the shutdown over an imaginary crisis, Dreamers being used as pawns in a power struggle over the wasteful border wall, and transgender troops being disqualified for service. We should all be asking who will be the next group targeted? Seniors, the disabled, legal immigrants, women, is anyone safe from the man with no conscience?
37
Financial advisors suggest having a cushion of three or more months of salary, up to almost nine months. What is wrong with this picture that we can’t pay these workers enough to save that much? They seem to be mostly middle class, but because of medical bills, tuition for their children, childcare, and elder care, any retirement or emergency accounts are almost non-existent. And if they do have them, dipping into 401Ks or taking social security at 62 just to survive will incur steep penalties that cannot be regained. If you consider what they are making to be a living wage, I have a very nice bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
44
@Frau Greta Most workers can't do that.
Most workers don't have the many benefits and rights that the Federal workers do. Most workers can get laid off and never know that they will get their job back. Most workers don't get great retirement packages.
I'm furious with Trump for the shutdown, and Pelosi for not compromising.
9
Please include McConnell in your fury.
6
It's a pity to see it has had to come to this. Private pays better than science or public, but doesn't always answer the calling as much. Anyone who can move to private will move if this continues.
8
@MD - Indeed. As a former federal employee, I can confirm that private sector work does pay more in some instances but, depending on the work in question, it’s not always as rewarding. I worked with some great people in my time in federal service, many of whom were highly educated and very dedicated to their jobs. It would be such a shame if Trump’s massive selfishness caused many of these people to leave federal service for private sector work, but at the end of the day these employees need to eat and pay their bills. They aren’t going to be able to afford, quite literally, to hang on much longer, and the loss to our federal institutions will be enormous.
102
@Lindsay K
I think its rare for private sector work to actually pay more for the same skills. Fed and state positions usually offer better insurance and vacation benefits etc. There is little or no job security in the private sector when a boss or mgr. of your position decides he wants to let you go. Job security is a huge benefit for employees in public employment.
Trump has upset the applecart , along with everything else, as he likes to do repeatedly by removing that "secure" asset for Fed. employees.
2
@Steve. The data does not support your first sentence. And everyone I know who works in the public sector will tell you they had to take a significant pay cut when they went from private to public.
1
Why not invite charitable organizations to allow monetary contributions for government workers in need? How is this situation not different from other national disasters?
4
This situation is different because it is an entirely manufactured crisis by our Commander in Chief.
27
It's not a hurricane - it's deliberate. The GOP would be only too happy to further deplete the functions and ranks of government.
21
@Susie Q, the results are the same (economic hardship, suffering), plus a government - a government! - in crisis.
1
The Democrat approach to the shutdown is proving what conservatives suspected for years: The Federal government IS about 25 percent over-staffed. There may have to be a few adjustments in support for air travel, but in my neighborhood (which in not near Washington) everything is running smoothly. Is the shutdown a calamity in yours or not?
While I feel sorry for federal workers who aren't paid, that WILL eventually be rectified. There are plenty of jobs open in the private sector for them--given that the President achieved such a roaring economy with a low unemployment.
The irony is that President Trump is trying to end the shutdown by offering a meaningful compromise. Schumer and Pelosi don't even give a flying flip for the federal workers or DACA "kids." This is a startling lesson about un-compassionate, spendthrift liberals in Congress. As long as THEY get paid, they don't care about anyone else.
13
@Micoz Many companies would run smoothly for a while if you cut out all the support staff (analysts, accountants, middle managers, etc.). Not sure if that proves they are 25% overstaffed. (Not disagreeing the gov't could be more efficient, btw.)
11
@Micoz In that low unemployment number maybe you could answer a question re those employees working but not receiving a paycheck. Do you list them under employed or unemployed?
3
I believe one of the reasons Trump created this crisis was to demonstrate that government isn't really needed. For this of us who are not personally affected it is easy to say that things are going well. This is unfortunate and unwise. The reality is that all kinds of things are being left undone and the cost to us and our kids is high,not least because we are allowing our Commander in Chief to bully and gaslight the country in pursuit of his aims. Not since slavery have so many people been made to work without pay. It is an appalling precedent and he should not be allowed to prevail.
45
Holding Federal employees as hostages to a political dispute is wrong. However, we have found out that many of these employees are one paycheck from poverty and that is scary and a big story.
On the first day of the shut down, we heard and read stories from across the country from employees who would not be able to pay their mortgage, car payment, buy food etc. How does this happen? Federal employees are well paid and have superb medical coverage and benefits unmatched by most corporations. And yet, before they had missed one paycheck. we heard cries of financial desperation from office workers to professionals .
Why are so many of these employees one pay check from financial disaster?
10
@Lola
When there are ~3m federal employees, and out of that population, let's say only 1 in every 10 has a life situation that causes substantial financial stress upon a missed paycheck. Note this is much better than the average, which is ~70%. Yes, ~70% of americans live paycheck to paycheck.
Anyways, pretend it's just 10% of the federal workforce that's living paycheck to paycheck. 10% of 3m people is still 300,000 people - the size of a a small city like Saint Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Newark. That many people headed to homelessness due to this shutdown is bound to get attention.
If the federal workforce is instead representative of the american population, we're looking at 7x that number - a whopping 2.1 million people living paycheck to paycheck. That would be the fifth most populous city in America.
16
@Lola: "Federal employees are well paid." That is clearly not true. The woman profiled makes $2200 a month and supports her grandchild. You live in NYC. Last I looked, It's hard to find a 2-bedroom apartment in NYC for under $2200 a month. Could you live within your means on that salary? Have medical insurance, buy food and clothing, pay for transportation? Most of it would be gone in a flash the minute you paid your rent. Other American cities are not far behind NYC in high rental prices. Very few can survive and SAVE on $2200 a month.
12
@Allison: It's difficult to find a studio apt. for $2200 a month in many parts of NYC let along a 2-bedroom apartment! Many people are hung up on credit card buying, often for impulse purchases. Other people manage their spending and saving better on the same salary and expenses. Very few Federal jobs pay only $2200 a month and despite this obscene shutdown, Federal jobs offer almost 100% job security--unlike the millions of jobs lost in recent years caused by globalization and technology.
2
The shutdown is a horror show but it's not as bad as a layoff.
It's not as bad as being stranded without health insurance and facing insurance options that are cost that prohibitive. It's not as awful as being laid off short of retirement and now on the age discrimination market.
Let's keep perspective. The government workers will get their lost earnings.
These folks are in a very tough position. Government workers are among the nation's most dedicated because they believe that their work is important and their mission matters. This is a true fact.
But there are millions of Americans living a horror show with no relief in sight, especially because of the reckless Trump administration that wants to sabotage the safety net and destroy health care.
44
@Patrick
all 100 % true esp. ageism !!
Get involved in Kentucky politics and fund Mitch's challenger.
He's up in 2020.
Strike him out.
105
@Lawrence
Best suggestion I’ve heard all year.
8
@Lawrence. Great idea!
It should be illegal to do this to federal workers. All his professional life, Mr Trump stiffed employees. contractors, lawyers -- even banks. He is a selfish, cold, calculating huckster, who many times, before this shutdown, said he wouldn't mind shutting down the government when warned not to. Now he's shafting 800,000 workers. They, their families and friends, will not forget. My son serves in the US Coast Guard. He is the sole provider for his family of 6. He is working and not being paid. He and his fellow Coasties are really scared. Shame on Yrump. Your stupid shutdown is making this country less safe.
135
Making matters worse, many federal employees are restricted from taking any outside employment without applying for and receiving agency approval. The approval process can be cumbersome in normal times. And, at least here in New York, one must be available for and actively seeking work in order to be eligible for unemployment benefits. Those who can be recalled to duty at any time will not qualify.
26
@Working Mama Some agencies/departments have waived the requirement to get permission for outside work; my agency has. We have to read the ethics guidance and avoid conflicts of interest, and use our judgement. But as you and others have said, we're not truly available for work.
10
"I’m sure that the people that are on the receiving end will make adjustments — they always do — and they’ll make adjustments."
- Trump
11
@Blue in Green
A Trumpectomy is the bestest and bigliest adjustment.
Can't wait! Trump and his minions have done world-wide damage.
In solidarity with the hostages.... please help each other, and stand strong!
4
I worked for 43+ years for the SSA, retired a year, but still active with AFGE. Lived through all the shutdowns, and I was fortunate to have some money set aside. I can certainly sympathize with anyone who through no fault of their own, doesn't have the resources to sustain themselves. If you're not in a good locality pay area you're likely underpaid and if you're in a high locality pay area the cost of living is still too high. It is of small comfort to know that eventually they will be made whole with respect to their paychecks, but what about NOW, when the bills are due.
I'm tired of reading how "This happens all the time in private industry. People get laid off. Get used to it". Private industry jobs hustle extraneous goods and services. Public employees passed a test and took an oath to provide worthwhile and essential services. There's a difference. This should NOT happen to those who swore to serve.
76
@Retired Fed hmm.. I don't remember taking any oath. To me it's a job just like the corporate jobs I had before. It pays a bit less, but there are other things I value about it.
3
@Retired Fed hmm.. I don't remember taking any oath. To me it's a job just like the corporate jobs I had before. It pays a bit less, but there are other things I value about it. I don't know, some kind of oath might have been part of the training.. but I didn't give it significance, not anymore than a basic understanding that I will do a good job, if I take one at a private company.
@ retired Fred. Public sector jobs are only about extraneous goods and services? What a laugh. Talk about an inflated sense of self importance.
The permanent damage is already hitting.
All of the young scientists and engineers I've hired into my fed lab in the past 6 years have told me they are leaving, and several have job offers. I broke the law to give them references.
As my research program is now shattered, I'm moving up my retirement. I've seen 7 shutdowns, 6+ years of next to nothing raises, and 28 years of being spat upon by Reflublicans. I'm done.
Your accidents and disasters will have to be investigated by someone else. Who? Beats me. I'm sure not encouraging anyone to become a fed anymore. I chose to serve rather than double my salary in the private sector. It was a mistake.
279
@Mtnman1963
Not for the rest of us. Thank you.
23
@Mtnman1963 I am a young scientist in Canada - 24 years old, just finished a MSc and now working in an analytical chemistry lab. I too chose this over a job in the private sector, prioritizing my quality of life over my paycheque. This shutdown is starting to affect my lab now, too. Some of the necessary materials we need are made in American labs that can no longer function. I sympathize with the young scientists you employed and I really respect you for providing them references when they chose to leave. Science in America has taken a huge hit with this shutdown and it is such a terrible shame.
23
Sadly I’m almost there with your colleagues. After this I’m seriously eyeing offers close to double my current salary with paid relocation.
No worries about job security as long as Congress sees fit sell out our society to shovel money down the throat of DoD, or more importantly the military industrial complex
5
There is another, and very direct, way for real Americans to end the shutdown: Recall petitions. With very little money, why not target Mitch McConnell. Laid off federal workers could go door-to-door in Kentucky. The message, not just to the Senate majority leader, would be powerful. And this need not be limited. There are some easy targets among GOP senators.
76
@fred
just wondering if there isn't another little clause in their federal work contracts that would FORBID these workers from doing the very smart action you propose...
7
@virginia
Thanks Virginia. The wives and husbands of federal workers are not bound by the Hatch Act, even if it applies.
9
I wonder how many of these are Republicans and whether they are still Republicans knowing that Republicans cannot govern?
19
Well, why is this allowed ?
If we had a 3 or 4 party system do you think this would be allowed? This is an example of palsy-walsy government between two that know that they both will survive to blame the other.
If babies and monkeys inherently understand fairness, why are we doing this?
Omitted from the article is a visit to Naive American health clinics, shut down, food distribution, shut down, day care, shut down, elderly visits, shut down, payments to keep the heat on, shut down.
As for the supposed compromise, the documented immigrants Obama rounded up are going to be the sacrificial goats to pump up the economy when the stock market falls. Their homes and jobs will be hyped by our Prez as evidence of his successful economy and the rest of us will breath deeply knowing we have just evaded the guillotine.
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"Anything connected to an employee’s area of expertise is unlikely to be allowed under federal rules, which require approval for jobs that could conflict with government work."
Congress people to lobbyists
Lobbyists to the EPA, etc, etc
happy trails to many of the connected
and the "little" people aren't allowed to take work in
"their area of expertise" because of "government rules"
Am I missing something here? overreacting...????
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@virginia
update:
"Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is heading to Washington to take a new post with a leading lobbying firm." (headline to story from my local FOX affiliate)
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@virginia
No, Virginia, you're right on the money.
9
These temporarily unemployed workers, most of whom will eventually go back to their jobs and receive back pay, are experiencing some of the pain that privately employed people experienced during the recession when they were permanently laid off. During the recession even gig jobs were scarce. Fortunately the temporarily unemployed government workers today can quickly find jobs because unemployment is at its lowest in decades. Local fast food restaurants are offering $12/hr to start. Several employers offer $15/hr to $19/hr, part time, no experience needed. An interesting article in a year will explore the after effects of the shutdown on the workers. Did any benefit from the extra income? Did any continue their part time job in addition to their government job? Did any find a new career?
30
And your point is? They should feel lucky? And disabling local economies around the country on a whim and breaking the trust of our employees is good policy? This is an irresponsible attitude.
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@Robert Window As mentioned in the article, and a lot of news coverage if you bother listening, is that though there may be part time jobs, most employers don't want to hire someone who will be leaving as soon as the shutdown ends. There may be jobs available, but that doesn't mean these people can GET them. A quick glance at someone's resume clearly shows if they're affected by the shutdown, even if they never verbally say it.
Aside from that, these furloughed workers who are managing to get some new supplemental employment are not getting "extra income." When you're not making the money you make normally, it's not even supplemental! Yes, the recession of 2008 was bad, but not only are you comparing apples to oranges, but you're belittling those suffering now by saying "well, others have suffered worse!" This is the type of mentality that is putting our nation in this desperate situation in the first place.
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@Mary T
Thank you a million times over, Mary! I'm so tired of people preaching from their high horses about these Federal workers being dumb for not saving their money for a rainy day, or for finally "feeling it" like other workers in the U.S. have felt it. This is a false equivalence, and it must stop now! We need to empathize, not criticize.
25
Please, if you have the means available to you, donate to the gofundme accounts supporting these people. Every little bit helps.
The sad truth is that democrats cannot agree to any wall under these circumstances. They cannot come to the table to negotiate until Trump and McConnell reopen the government. It's not to prevent Trump a win. It's to ensure that Trump and republicans won't continue to use this same tactic every time they don't get exactly what they want.
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@Patty O. Thank you for your attempt to remind everyone what’s really going on here.
Although I do think Trump would be perfectly happy if the shutdown lasted to 2021.
2
Federal salaries are NOT competitive in urban areas. There is no tuition reimbursement program, no dental or medical unless you pay comparable to working in any big company . State and city is where to work, never feds. TSA needs to go out sick to end this all. It’s the only way to effect the one percent.
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@Bill Lombard Unfortunately the 1 percent have their own planes. And Trump and Melania and Republicans still are flying around in government planes (but not Speaker Pelosi!).
2
How can a biweekly take-home pay of $1,10 be counted as “highly paid” even in Milwaukee? $1,10 every two weeks is $28,600 per year, which is less than half the $58,328 per year needed in the Milwaukee metro area for a household of one adult and one child (based on the family budget calculator created by the Economic Policy Institute: https://www.epi.org/resources/budget/) If this is typical of the federal employee’s pay scales, no wonder missing two paychecks has been so disastrous; they have been living on the edge for so long.
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@Clio
take-home pay does not include some categories that epi.org's calculator includes, such as:
- taxes
- health insurance
and other things, such as transportation, 401k contributions are tax deductible and directly deducted from the paycheck.
After all the deductions, 1.1k per pay period in Saint Louis and other cities that aren't top-tier like NYC metro is just fine. I personally wouldn't say it's highly paid.
12
What's Trump's take on his wall? 20 points? It's plain to see that the wall scam is just another Trump criminal enterprise trying to get paid. What is surprising to me is that the GOP is turning a blind eye to the wall scam.
14
Your article takes a disturbingly view of these struggling federal workers. “Side hustle” is a rather pejorative term to apply as people are struggling to survive. Had the press covered the negative impact of this shut down from week one maybe this would be over. Again the bigger story going uncovered is the long term potential damage to the entire federal work force. Those lucky to be getting paid have anxiety and low morale as they wait for September and a bigger shutdown.
22
Written by millennials for millennials. I’m sure it was meant to be cool and relatable for them, not pejorative, but I agree it comes off as flip and insulting.
8
Why would the dems harm their own voting base just to prevent trump from a wall? Dreamers deserve citizenship and this is a democracy last time I checked...
5
@Chas Zimm Trump is not offering citizenship to the "dreamers", only bait, and switch, as he holds many people hostage.
Second, how are the Democrats, many who are opposed to the Trump Vanity Wall, harming their base?
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@Chas Zimm keep checking in on the democracy thing. It can disappear quicker than you think.
17
As a different clueless president once said, “there’s nothing more American than having two jobs.” He was right, although blissfully ignorant of why.
26
Federal workers are caught in a kind of horror show especially furloughed workers. They can't go out and get a job that will pay the bills. They're trapped in a nightmare that Trump has created so he can have his 'win.' A win that was ordered by Ann Coulter. A win that is aided and abetted by Mitch McConnell who will break every democratic norm and historical precedent to win himself. Meanwhile, where are the rest of us? Have we become a 'don't know, don't care' nation? In Europe they would have stopped the whole country by now as people poured into the streets. Us? Well we had some kind of women's march last weekend totally divorced from this issue and of course, the Patriots and Rams won. I guess that's what passes for caring in America these days. Meanwhile, Trump continues to hold the entire country hostage because Congress won't pay his ransom.
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@Wayne Fuller Totally agree, especially with your final observation about our becoming a "don't know, don't care nation". I arrive at work each day -- amazed and discouraged that no one is talking about the pain & anguish this shutdown is inflicting on furloughed federal workers. Sometimes I think the entire country is suffering from some form of mass depression resulting in a paralysis of apathy in both action and feeling.
15
There is a powerful lesson here and it is not about politics. Everybody should do all in their power to have a rainy-day fund. Get rid of cable. Take Bag lunches. Skip the iphone. No fancy vacations. None of that until you have 6 months living expenses socked away.
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@Paul Ruszczyk that’s trite advice. My wife and I combine to make 6 figures. We have two small children. Childcare alone is more than most people’s mortgages (~3K/month and that’s *after* tax deductions). I use a smartphone not for entertainment but to do my job. What’s needed is not so much individual change but major structural adjustments in how our society interrelates people.
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@Disillusioned
It might be trite but it’s also true.
11
That's a lesson. But not "the" lesson of the story.
12
Where's all the winnings that Trump promised Federal employees? instead of honoring our services with a paycheck, we get Uber gigs and bread lines?
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@John Jones How many Federal employees that voted for the grifter are now regretting that vote.
Trump has a sordid history of no empathy for those who have worked for him as direct employees or contractors, in the past.
But, if you are a furloughed employee or an employee working without a check and support the grifter's vanity wall, well, you broke it and now own it...
24
@Dan I can't tell you how many Feds voted for him. I'm sure that many did, and are now regretting it.
1
Why haven't one or more unions representing unpaid federal employees sued the federal government on the basis that the 13th Amendment prohibits slavery? That's what these employees are being forced to endure while they are compelled to work without compensation.
61
@Richard There is at least one union suing the federal government for this reason.
28
The unions have sued on many grounds. But the cases are still pending. But the federal courts will mostly close by this Friday if the shutdown continues. They’re also running out of money and are going to prioritize criminal cases when funds run dry.
14
@Richard umm they have... But American legal definition of slavery doesn't cover blackmail and threats of future unemployment
15
Put this energy into helping make sure he and others like him are never elected again!
144
The New York Times and many other media sources ran articles ten years ago claiming that the Republican Party was dead and that Democrats would rule. What happened? Or was it wishful thinking and fake news?
3
absolutely disgraceful that trump would hold American citizens hostage for illegal immigrants....democrats have submitted many bills to reopen the government, yet the gop won't even consider them, much less bring them to the floor for discussion or vote.
93
When trump was a private citizen, I was disgusted by him and his antics. Now that he is president, I loath him for all the harm he is doing to my country. But for what he is doing to these people, I don't have the words to describe my feelings. This is all on him; he owns it.
339
@sjs
He's just the symptom not the source of the infection - which is the GOP.
35
@sjs
Yes but among the 63 million Americans who voted for Trump in 2016 was 58% of the white voting majority including 62% of white men and 54% of white women who love rather than loath Trump.
Trump did not run a covert stealth subtle campaign. Trump's base is disgusted with people who are black and brown and African and Asian and American and Mexican and Muslim and Arab.
Because Trump is the one and only Article II executive office President of the United States that we have this is all us aka the American people. He " owns" us. He is "on" us. We are not "on" him.
2
Trump owns it. But you know who else is a co-owner? The tens of millions of people who didn’t vote. Let me repeat, tens of millions.
That surely includes millions in Pa, Florida, and Wisconsin. You know what else? Of the 800,000 federal employees who are out of work, a couple hundred thousand of them AT LEAST didn’t vote, including those in decisive states.
Elections have consequences. Trump is doing what he said he would.
10
Hoping the President reads this and that this shutdown ends today.
20
He doesn’t care.
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@Bruce
No, it's how he gets his jollies.
9
@Bruce
"...don't care...do you"
(quote from the back of an infamous jacket)
20
Every day is a sad day in the era of Trump!We are sad for children separated from their parents at our southern border and now every day we grieve for families working for the government and not being paid.In this great country we should not have to live under this pall-never before have so many suffered unless it was depression or war. The country voted in November -we sent our representatives to the House and Senate- they, not Trump , should end this government tragedy.
104
@Janet Michael And those Reps and Senators can end it...but they won't because the political posturing continues on ALL sides.
14
@Janet Michael
That requires McConnell to bring a bill to the senate floor for a vote. So far he refuses to bring anything that Trump doesn’t support.
55
@Janet Michael Trump proudly stated that he would do this and that he would proudly own the shutdown. Why would you give him a pass? The House has passed several bills designed to reopen the government. The Senate has refused to take a vote on them. Call Mitch McConnel's office to complain.
95