He faked his way into the White House, like he has done most of his life. He has the emotional age of a 5 year old. I blame the GOP and Congress for not having the guts, to stand up to him. we are headed for disaster
29
I'm sorry, but this is what you get when you vote a narcissistic psychopath into office and have the GOP enabling him. If Congress had done it's job, he'd have been out of office by now.
30
No sympathy for federal workers. The federal bureaucracy is way too big, way too bloated, way too inefficient. We don't need them as they currently exist and can't afford them. Anyone really think TSA keeps us safe, or is it just another massive federal bureaucracy to hire the otherwise unemployable? Too bad they all can't be fired!
5
@John Galt:
We can afford them; have always been able to. . . Can you provide a citation which the federal workforce, and not those above them (Congress and those pouring money into politics just to get a return on the dollar) lead to inefficiencies? Just interested. . . I'm not saying Gov't isn't inefficient, just asking you to back up what you have posted, and acknowledge money in politics may ultimately be what causes inefficiency.
Individuals can be fired, but many may want to just leave; would you not do the same if your employer asked you to work for no pay, and also asked you to abandon your ethics?
My guess is that, although you disparage "Gov't" (Post Office, TSA, Nat Park Service, Dept of Fed Affairs, Dept of Agriculture, Dept of Transportation, Dept of Commerce, Dept of the VA, etc. . . .), you may not have a grasp on the benefits they provide all Americans, including you.
Maybe you could develop a case study from your armchair.
35
Dear Sir -- The wheels of society are not quite as you have described. The wheels of society result from each of us caring for each other and paying our way through the days of our lives. Most of us hope that this administration would know how to balance things -- not unbalance them.
15
@JC
When I lived and worked in D.C., a beautiful city, I knew a few people who worked at the zoo. They loved the animals; they will make sure they are fed and have fresh water. The elephants will be bathed; the baby monkeys who routinely escape from their mothers and run outside for junk food will be caught and brought home. Other Federal workers will also go to work. D.C. is a small town with a lot of hard working people. The bureaucracy you disparage work hard; they are proud of their city.
16
Tired of Government Shutdowns? I know I am. At a cost of 1.2 Billion dollars a day. You can make a difference. Support the American People and make sure this does not happen again.
https://www.gofundme.com/the-end-to-government-shutdowns
3
I watched a video a few years back of Trump's private aircraft. It was all gold and glitz everywhere, all front and no core. To my amazement, I could not get over how the pilot kowtowed to Trump.Cleaning the felt interior with a toothbrush! He was a fine pilot, no need to cower under Trump. I was surprised to see an American do that. Trump is like his aircraft, all front (mainly lard) and no core (yellow). How have you managed to get this guy into the Whitehouse? Well however it happened, you need to get him out fast.
He doesn't care, he's filthy rich. Like all those in the GOP (Grand?) all protecting their own backsides. These guys get in through their backers-Nra, Coal Barons and the GRU. So wake up my friends, dump the republicans together with Trump.
23
Trump is skilled at running businesses and countries into bankruptcy and chaos.
23
This distorted incorrect thinking and ill-formed causal connections means we are all headed to a bad end unless the Senate Republicans step up and fix this.
13
Federal furloughed or working without pay employees and farmers impacted by the trade tariffs MUST phone or email their Republican senator and congressperson and let him/her know in no uncertain terms that s/he must vote for a veto proof clean government funding bill. Other constituents of Republican members of Congress must do the same to support their fellow citizens. The squeaky wheel, hopefully, will be greased.
7
So the impetuous toddler in the White House throws a tantrum and 800,000 people lose their paychecks. How many of those people voted for him? He obviously enjoys causing mayhem because his "gut" tells him to. I worry that when Mueller comes crashing down on him, his "gut" may cause him to deploy the nuclear codes, just to distract us. Meanwhile, the Republicans in Congress who continue to enable him are putting us all in even more danger.
What a sickening time we live in.
25
It looks like the Federal workers need a union. Donald gets off on this type of punishment because he has no clue what it's like to live from check to check. He said he "would own the shutdown" and is now blaming Democrats. A bipartisan bill was presented to him before Christmas and he turned it down. This is a continuation of his crybaby fit over the midterm results and he knows that nothing will go his way once Congress comes back to session. I think it is time to go William Wallace on his sorry self.
33
@Michelle Federal workers have unions. It doesn't stop a shutdown.
4
@Michelle Federal workers have unions. This is the largest but not only one: https://www.afge.org/
4
The US does not pay ransom to kidnappers. Why not? Because doing so would tell would-be kidnappers to grab a couple of Americans somewhere in the world to have the US pay.
Similarly, Congress should not give in to Trump's hostage-taking and extortion -- because doing so would encourage more of it.
Plus the Constitution clearly gives the House primary control of funding -- because people pay taxes, not the states that send Senators to Congress.
The President *proposes* spending -- Congress *disposes*. What the House will dispose of, in this case, is any Wall funding -- as is their right under the Constitution.
Just add that to the many things that Trump does not understand or like or whatever about our Constitutional and legal system -- Rule of Law, rejection of foreign money and influence in US elections, democracy based on informed (not disinformed by lies) voters, ...
33
There is only one solution to this tomfoolery.
One person in Washington with a spine to:
1-hand the phone to Trump & have him demand the money from Mexico as he has promised
2-when Trump, like the coward that he is, demurs, call him to his face that he is a coward & a liar
3-play this footage that someone has actually called out Trump to be the coward & the liar that he is non-stop on CNN
All it takes is a spine, which, as any doctor will tell you, is non-partisan.
Unless Trump knows that someone is willing to stand up to him, he will always get his infantile ways.
35
The depth of cruelty in this administration has no boundary. It doesn't stop at the border ... it extends worldwide. It is wrought from a malignant undisciplined mentality that has been tethered by an even worse guiding hand aka debt, and the ability to influence that that relationship portends. The most difficult part to comprehend is that this administration is not even aware of the fact that they are being manipulated, they are so involved in keeping the rest of us reined in ...
34
"House Democrats are still flatly refusing to finance the president’s proposed border wall with Mexico, and have little incentive to make a deal before assuming the majority next week."
The Constitution gave Congress "the power of the purse" as control over the Executive branch. This shut down is a feature, not a bug, of how our Government is intended to work.
The GOP controlled Congress offered little pushback against an out-of-control Executive. The problems the shutdown will cause aside, it's long past time for Congress to assert itself.
The other issue here is that apparently some 50% of the entire country lives paycheck to paycheck, including federal workers. We're teetering on the abyss. A country where half the population is in precarious financial circumstances could easily lose its grip on democracy.
27
Not to mention healthcare. We are all one health issue away from bankruptcy. And the GOP is sabotaging the ACA.
35
The republicans are still in control...why have they not approved the wall money? Why has McConnell refused to pass something? They know the dems won’t give in. This is a trump “proud to own it” shutdown & gop backed shutdown. They are not making the democrats look near as bad as they look right now for refusing to meet & hold a vote. They went home. trump has not even met to talk to any house or senate members...he just pouts & whines. Bullies never win in the long run.
21
Trump never cared about a wall or immigration before his campaign. Really, he still doesn’t. But politically it helps him.
He lied and lied on the campaign trail sowing fear of immigrants because he knew there was a faction of the US that was disenfranchised after the last recession that could be coerced into believing that the cause of their unemployment was immigration rather than a changing energy and technology sector.
He had the best PR in American history working with him. A Russian army of bots.
39
When there is a shutdown, everyone in the government should not get paid. That should include The Donald, everyone in his family, all the Congress people, the security people that protect The Donald and his family, the people who fly his planes and maintain the mechanics of his planes, etc.
Everyone has to feel the impact, otherwise it only hurts people that The Donald and the Republicans don't care about...
45
@Shelley Diamond what makes you think those millionaires would even blink at not getting a paycheck for a couple weeks? im sure most of them could retire tomorrow id they want.
5
@Ashley There are several members of Congress (mainly in the House, not so much the Senate) who actually do live paycheck to paycheck (yes, even on a $175K salary...see Duncan Hunter). Denying them paychecks would spend things up.
2
@Ashley maybe they should furlough the White House cooks and whoever makes DT's McDonald's runs for him.
11
Hi. I didn't know how that guy could hurt you people in administrative jobs over there.
I thought those shutdowns were like a minor thing.
And I thought they were done only when thing was pretty bad for some reason.
Good luck.
7
The USA has become a banana republic.
17
@Luc But the president said that all the workers who have been furloughed want him to wait until the wall is built. Don't understand that?
6
@Matt
And how much of what Trump says is the truth?
Not much, if any.
11
Hi can a gunner from the Coast Guard who is deployed in the Middle East not get the pay check for January because if the government shutdown? This is crazy how Trump treats American service people.
17
This is insane. How incredibly demeaning and ridiculous, while the cause lives in luxury. Why don’t they suggest selling apples on the street? That could bring in a nice fat income as well.
“...barter with landlords by offering to perform minor repair work like painting or cleaning up”.
16
Had Trump not committed a boldfaced lie to the American people, promising that Mexico would "Pay for the wall, folks," we would not be in this government-shutdown mess. Most of Trump's evil lies have few consequences beyond branding him as an evil narcissist. This lie — the 'Mexico will pay for the wall, folks," lie — is having and will have real ramifications. He is mean-spirited and would rather see hardworking federal employees go without a paycheck than admit that he is insanely mendacious. Time to storm the White House! Can't wait to see the Trump Crime Family in handcuffs and hauled off to Leavenworth.
28
I am a federal employee.
My agency does not allow us to take on another job during the shutdown.
This is the guidance for shutdown document:
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/furlough-guidance/guidance-for-shutdown-furloughs.pdf:
“ May employees take other jobs while on furlough?
A. While on furlough, an individual remains an employee of the Federal Government. Therefore, executive branch-wide standards of ethical conduct and rules regarding outside employment continue to apply when an individual is furloughed (specifically, the executive branch-wide standards of ethical conduct (the standards), at 5 CFR part 2635). In addition, there are specific statutes which prohibit certain outside activities, and agency-specific supplemental rules that require prior approval of, and sometimes prohibit, outside employment. Therefore, before engaging in outside employment, employees should review these regulations and then consult their agency ethics official to learn if there are any agency- specific supplemental rules governing the employee.”
12
@Kate
Kate, we have different job for you. It may contain releasing the Crimea for good russians, as it has always did. And to make butter, non-butter. There is always half. And united, there is none.
I am Four-lough. It is my appointmainte.
There shall be no reason for laugh.
@Kate- Yeah, except the ethics agency is closed due to government shutdown. Republicans would never consider ethical considerations critical to the functioning of government.
4
@KateWhy doesn't this also apply to Trump? He's a government employee-even though he thinks he isn't!
4
Simple solution. BUILD THE WALL!
5
@Glenn Simpler solution. Raise corporate tax rates and on the .1%. Plenty of billions in added revenue to build that wall.
23
@Glenn The down side to that is Trump seeing, if he bullies he wins-that would then be the thin edge of the wedge.
3
Bst solution...Fire trump so he can get on with his prison time!
10
Don’t worry. Mexico will pay your mortgage and sons orthodontist bill. Winning.
18
One by one Americans are learning that Trump is nothing more than a con man that too many people believed. He has no concern for gov workers not getting paid, no concern for the auto workers who thought he'd miraculously bring back $50/hour assembly jobs when the same task can be performed in Mexico for $10, and the coal workers who refuse to accept that nat gas and renewables are replacing their filthy fuel.
As Trump's base steadily erodes, he will become ever more desperate and thereby threaten world peace & human extinction thru Climate Change.
I'm sorry for the workers who are no longer getting paid. I know what it feels like to be out of work, but hopefully they are joining the ranks who want Trump & Pence out of Washington ASAP.
Americans need to join the Yellow Vests and rid our country of these scoundrels thru massive protests and strikes.
30
I wish the legitimate media would do a more comprehensive job of explaining why trump's $25B+ cartoon wall from sea to shining sea is a pointless waste of money. It does nothing to address tunnels, expired visas, or fraudulent border crossings. And it will waste valuable resources on soaring ongoing maintenance costs.
I heard a recent interview on NPR with a former senior official with the former INS. She said that fences make sense in densely populated areas but that have far more cast-effective security methods in rural areas. NYT had a recent piece documenting where barriers exist today.
13
Seventy seven years ago Americans mobilized for World War II. The nation suffered and thousands of people were permanently injured or lost their lives. We have serious problems in the United States today. One in 20 people in the country are illegal immigrants. We allow in over 1.3 million legal immigrants based mostly on family reunification. We have a trillion dollar budget deficit and a 800 million dollar trade deficit. Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security all face insolvency. One quarter of the workforce are paid the minimum wage. I would support President Trump saying he will shut down the government until we solve all of these problems. Kicking the can down the road is not a solution. Both the Democrats and Republicans are the problem. It doesn't matter who is to blame, we need to solve the problems and a little bit of suffering and pressure from a government shut down is not that much. If you think the shut down is a great sacrifice talk to a veteran who was permanently injured fighting to protect us. Tell him your having problems paying some bills and your vacation is being disrupted. Tell it to the mother whose son died overseas. We need to address these problems now, not some day.
7
@Mike
Our idiotic President and Greed Over People party just blew up the national deficit and gave away a trillion-dollar tax cut to billionaires and rich people.
They did the opposite of the responsible thing....just after a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress cleaned up the last Great GOP Bush-Cheney Depression.
We have a Republican wrecking ball problem.
Thanks for the false equivalence.
70
@Mike
Yes, and two of those vile “family reunification” immigrants were DJT’s father and mother in law. This whole charade is a manufactured crisis by Republicans and DJT to roil up “the base” and hopefully get votes. The GOP has exploded our national debt for decades with reckless tax cuts, that never have paid for themselves. Tell me, when you have debts to pay, do you insist on a pay cut? Pretty stupid if you did. But it’s the go to GOP strategy. DJT hires hundreds of immigrants, both legal and illegal, at his resorts. Let him lead the way and hire Americans. DJT is the worst money manager the country has ever had - worse than Hoover. 64 visits to his golf clubs this year alone, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. $72million so far for his election stunt of sending troops to our southern border, where they are wasting their time doing nothing. This shut down will cost millions, perhaps billions of dollars, all for nothing at all. I hope the Democrats in the House send a bill to the senate on January 3 to fund the rest of the government without any new money for the wall and pay the workers and contractors who bore the brunt of this idiocy. Shoot, they should get a bonus! As for the gratuitous sop to WWII veterans, my dad did not serve in the Pacific theater so that a draft-dodging, cowardly, narcissistic nincompoop can waste our time with a colossal temper tantrum. It is a disgrace!
44
@Mike If Donald's actions were of any consequence that would be one thing. Adding on to the Southern wall is a non-issue. Donald made it an issue when running for office because it was the only thing he could think of. For decades border patrol officers have done an amazing job and hiring more would help a great deal. The wall is a complete waste of our money.
16
The repercussions will go far beyond furloughed federal workers and those working without pay. South Carolina has already said that there will be delayed or slowed processing of SNAP nutrition benefits, for example. SNAP is a federal program processed by state employees who, I assume are paid using federal funds.
Local businesses will also suffer as people tighten their belts. If Trump tries to close down the southern border, many will suffer as employees cannot cross the border to get to work.
All for a unnecessary wall desired by an uninformed president.
41
Reading about the plights of federal workers living paycheck-to-paycheck reminded me of the wisdom of saving ahead for rainy days. For those who don’t yet have one, establishing an emergency stash equivalent to a month or two of essential living expenses would make a great new year’s resolution. Sure it can be tough to save; but it’s tougher to be fearful, hungry, cold, deeper in debt, etc.
3
@RR
How much would you like them to save while they're being paid nothing by the Dirty-Diaper-In-Chief ?
Thanks for nothing.
29
@RR We paid ourselves first and a percentage was matched by our employers. It has been scary to watch all the markets go down at the speed of light this past month.
5
@RR And how much could you save if working at the GS-3 or 4 wage after rent, food, utilities and transportation?? These people without a paycheck are not all thoughtless spenders.
6
so, now we know.. it needs to be written into the Constitution that we will no longer allow anyone to rule by hissy fit, or baby temper tantrums.. shame we need to do this in the first place
30
Trump never had the delusion that Mexico would pay for the wall or even that the wall was important. It was just another fear mongering campaign LIE. And this shutdown is a political stunt.
Trump phone call leaked Aug 2017 from Mexico President Nieto:
Trump seems to acknowledge that his threats to make Mexico pay had left him cornered politically.
"But the fact is we are both in a little bit of a political bind because I have to have Mexico pay for the wall – I have to."
Trump asks that they avoid publicly disagreeing over how the wall will be funded.
"We cannot say that anymore because if you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that."
Trump describes the wall as “the least important thing we are talking about.”
"Believe it or not, this is the least important thing that we are talking about, but politically this might be the most important talk about."
Trump tells Peña Nieto to stop saying publicly that his government would never pay for the wall.
"But you cannot say that to the press. The press is going to go with that and I cannot live with that."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/politics/australia-mexico-transcripts/
19
@SSGeir It's the only "issue" he knows because of his fear. I don't know why he is so fearful of who is coming across our borders but he is. He needs to be informed that MS13 started in LA in the 1980s so that boogeyman was already here.
3
I think the Border Patrol & Secret Service should all just say, "Hey trump, if you won't stop insulting us & our doing our job for nothing, we will not seal the border & we will not accompany you outside the White House." "Sir, you are on your own."
What can he do other than hold them all in contempt of his ego?!!
I feel most of the furloughed & unpaid workers are trump supporters & republicans...hope they are happy with their prez (who is not a prez).
Unemployment offices will be mobbed on 12/31 & 01/02/2019...get those benefits flowing before you lose your homes.
10
I’ve enjoyed the NYT for years relying on what I consider to be accurate and unbiased accounts of news stories.
As a Canadian, I continue to be dumbfounded by those Republican congressional leaders that sheepishly support what can only be described as a lunatic occupying the Office of President.
I would be very interested in a synopsis of who these men and women are. What are their names, what is their political history and what districts do they represent?
History could potentially hold these individuals complicit in aiding and abetting this madman ruining your country.
20
@Steve
These are Vichy Republicans, Confederate Republicans and various other Grand Old Plantationers that don't have an American ideal or bone in their wretched bodies.
They have no interest in democracy, representative government or the majority of the American people.
They repre$ent money, ca$h and power...nothing else.
Nice GOPeople.
23
100% of Federal workers support this shutdown according to Fox News. Sean Hannity puts the number at 110%
4
So Hannity says the 110% of federal employees supporting trump & the shut down are all multimillionaires who really don’t need the jobs? I have never known any employee, federal or private sector, who supported being off work for weeks with no income. Of course, they can go file for unemployment benefits & live on $200 or so a week while sitting around waiting on someone to change d’s diaper. I worked as an intermittent USDA inspected& drew unemployment half the year, it was not the same as paying bills with a $700 checks a week.
I am so glad people working for trump government like having no money & no security in their lives. I’ll bet the payday loan places are busy, busy during the shutdown.
trump is a real estate man & he would be making a killing filing defaults on government employees’ homes & cars. Kick the bums out of their rentals & get someone in who has steady benefits, like welfare checks or bank employees.
7
Why doesnt Trump just say the Wall is already finished and Mexico paid for it?
17
Um, not really. My first hand experience with shutdowns was pull up a lawn chair and enjoy the view. You knew you were going to get paid for the time off. What you needed was a heads-up as to when it was going to end. Returning to work encroaches on your beach time.....
2
@Mike
Mike, my first hand experience as a federal employee was the shutdown was a huge waste of money. Nobody I knew went to the beach or took vacation because we could be summoned back at a moment's notice. Sure, some of us spent more time with our kids, fixed things around the house, etc. What were we supposed to do?
And not everyone has the financial luxury to ride out a shutdown as you so blithely may have done. Single parents and others who don't have financial reserves need to eat and pay rent. Other folks are affected too such as contractors, private businesses who rely on people coming to their town.
Whether it's unemployed coal workers, oil and gas workers, contractors or whatever, it's never good for people to lose their jobs, even temporarily. Your holiday spirit seems to only extend to "let them eat cake."
13
@Mike Perhaps a course on financial planning wouldn't be a waste of time for you. I'm not my brother's or sister's keeper. Good luck.
1
@Mike The "Let 'em eat cake" mentality fits in well with the majority of our senators and representatives who don't have a clue what it's like for the majority of their constituents. After all, the majority of their constituents are not rich, so why should their senators and representatives care? The other Mike is merely taking his cues from them, and the President and Vice President who obviously care even less.
1
I little reality check here:
I am a fed. My full paycheck was in my account this morning as expected. Feds who were supposed to work (or actually did work) on Saturday, December 21st, got a smaller than expected amount, but the Monday to Friday crowd got full pay. If this isn't resolved, the next paycheck which is expected to be deposited on January 11th or 12th will be zero. Nothing. Also, the Washington Post reported earlier today that the Coast Guard will be getting their January 1st paychecks. Nothing after that.
Around half of the workers not getting paid have to work as usual. More have to come in to do the portion of their jobs that are time sensitive, but aren't allowed to do any of their other functions. We are guaranteed pay for the hours actually worked on authorized activities, but any thing else is up to Congress and the President.
Contractors whose functions aren't funded don't get to work and don't get back pay no matter what. I hope the money my floor collected for the cleaning crew got to them before the shut down.
This is not a vacation. I'm pretty sure that the Democratic House will have our backs, but the President is signalling that he considers our pay raise (already agreed upon but not passed) part of the negotiation. On vacation I get to relax and I'm sure I will get paid and I don't have to worry about getting called back with 4 hours to show up.
I'll fine for however long this takes. But not everyone is so lucky. "God help us," Bloomberg
20
@Polly
Thanks to you and 800,000 other dedicated federal civil servants who didn't deserve to be shafted like this. And thank you for your compassion, even during your own period of uncertainty, to your office-cleaning contractors who were about to be stiffed even worse than the direct federal workers. You all deserve better from the administration and the American people.
23
@Rita Rousseau
Rita, I'd love to say that we collected the money for the cleaning staff despite our own uncertainty, but most people in my office thought that this would be resolved as late as Thursday night before the shutdown. By Friday afternoon it was starting to sink in. I was on the more skeptical end of the spectrum.
We collect money for the cleaning crew for our floor every single year around Christmas. And we start collecting well in advance since some people take "use or lose" vacation at the end of the year. Almost no one saw this as inevitable in early December.
Anyway, we are in a privately owned building with mostly government tenants and the landlord contracts out the cleaning. Maybe our crew will get reassigned to a different building. Maybe they won't. But I still hope they got their Christmas thank you from us before we got stuck on furlough. They probably can use the help even if they are working.
3
@Polly I would be making daily phone calls to my elected officials. Tell them you are just punching your time card. I am so sorry I can't imagine how difficult this is. God bless you.
1
Our government is supposed to work for the people. This includes government employees. Maybe we should mandate that the banks and other creditors have to take vouchers as opposed to people relying on credit (often at 20% or more) in case of a shutdown. Otherwise it is a reverse Robin Hood move designed to hurt those who are mandated to work for no pay. After all, slavery is not legal.
17
@PLB Oh, I love that last line. I will call and email my congress folks with that next week.
4
Trump took an oath to uphold and defend the constitution. His role as president includes insuring that the federal government is running. Apparently, however, Trump is unconcerned because he thinks most federal workers are 'Democrats'. But, the percentage of federal employees that are Democrat or Republican shouldn't matter. Trump is still the leader of the federal government, of all its employees without respect to party. Trump has show time and again he does not think of himself as the President of the United States so much as he thinks of himself as the leader of HIS Republican Party.
14
As a public sector employee for 26 years, 16 of those years my salary was frozen by repeated budget constraints that included furloughs. My last project, I was furloughed every Friday for a year. My salary was reduced while the cost of living continued to increase. It's not just the expenses that eat away at less income.
If you pay for your own healthcare or other insurances, you may to forfeit payment and subsequently be terminated for non-payment - reinstatement is very expensive.
Your social security is calculated against your top 35 years earnings, adjusted. For 16 years, my wages were less and therefore my social security benefit was less.
If you are attempting to contribute to a 401 or 457, for 16 years my ability to participate was zero, reducing my ability to save something for a future. If you are a single parent, and/or a single wage earner, your life is negatively impacted in such a way that you can never recover.
To use the public sector employees' wages as a negotiating pawn should not be allowed. Instead, let's level the table.
Rather than making those who have NO ability to influence the budget suffer no income, let's pay rank-and-file and hold those whom we elect fully accountable instead.
The President, Senate and House members whose job it is to lead and legislate should not get paid.
29
@LivingWithInterest wouldnt make a DENT in the lives of those responsible who are all millionaires, but would only hurt those new to the job who dont have resources (for example, AOC) and are actually trying to represent regular people as opposed to corporate interests.
1
This could be bigger than the Wall. Eventually workers who have to show up due to national security but who are not getting paid will be forced to quit and look for paying jobs. If Trump can cause enough employee loss then he can turn around and offer federal contracts to his donors who would love to charge us top dollar to do things like keep airports safe or inspect food. This could be part of a plan to destroy the federal work force. And eliminate the pesky federal safety inspections that hamper the ability of uncrupulous businessmen to sell adulterated milk and keep work sites unsafe. We could have the fox guarding the hen house—-and charging the chickens for its work.
17
Border security people. They are not in Washington. They are at our borders. How long can they go on without pay? These are the largest groups in Homeland Security. Interview them and find out what they are thinking. Do they stand with Trump? Do they want to keep the government closed until Congress approves $5B for a border wall? Are they willing to pay this price?
8
Paul Ryan, former leader of the House of Representatives, apparently doesn't know the difference between Mexico and Wisconsin. Trump said Mexico would pay for the wall. Well, apparently Mexico isn't going to pay, so I would recommend that the citizens of Wisconsin pay.
11
It's long past time someone called the shutdown what it is: extortion. Trump is holding the government and its employees hostage to get what he wants, and he is more than willing to destroy it and them if he doesn't. He's doing this because he can't get what he wants any legitimate way.
The Democrats can't give in to this. Once they do, Trump will know he can always use the same tactic to get what he wants. And then we'll be in even bigger trouble than we are now.
34
It's time for Congress to be the "adults in the room" and pass a veto-proof budget without a wall. We can no longer afford government by an autocratic president who uses blackmail and hostage-taking of federal workers who serve "We, the People" including Congress in order to get his way. It's time for Republicans to step up and finally supervise, as the Constitution mandates, an overbearing, overreaching, and out-of-control president rather than abet and enable his every tantrum and tweet. In other words, it's time to govern as in the recent show of bipartisanship that passed the farm bill and the First Step criminal justice reform program.
11
Ronald Reagan: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
Donald Trump 2016: We'll build a great big wall, and Mexico will pay for it!
Donald Trump 2018: Democrats, pay for the wall, or I'll shut down the government!
This reminds me of when Bush said the Iraq War would pay for itself. $10B was his estimate. He was only off by $1.5 Trillion. I wonder how much Trump is off by.
17
Forcing your employees to work for free. I thought we have an Amendment to the Constitution to prevent this type of an action.
18
I'm happy about this shut down. Why would we continue to pay for nonessential work if we can't actually afford it in the first place? Government employees seem to think they're above losing their jobs. They shouldn't.
2
@Fred
Yo Fred, what constitutes non-essential work in your mind? Collecting the garbage at national parks? Handling billions of dollars of contracts to the private sector? Processing loans to farmers? Handling grants to states for all kinds of things? These shutdowns have repercussions that reverberate up and down the public and private sector.
Maybe you've lost your job in the past and if that's the case, I'm sorry about it. That's no reason for your apparent glee at the misfortune for government workers. They are not "above losing their jobs;" they're tired of being political pawns by a dysfunctional Congress and a maniac president.
8
@Fred I wonder if you'll still be happy when the TSA employees stop showing up at the Atlanta airport. Maybe you think their work is nonessential. Superficial thinkers don't consider consequences at all, only to tout their biases and contempt at the people who keep our country solvent.
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@Freedom
The private sector keeps our country solvent, not the endless waste of government jobs. And yeah, the idea that a unionized government workers' group would lose their jobs would be absolutely fine with me, although I doubt it would happen. I suspect there is a LOT of waste in the TSA. When Reagan fired the air traffic control workers for striking in the early 80s it worked out pretty well. The government is a massive, wasteful monopoly that churns out the worst type of product because they have no competition to keep them accountable and honest.
In an article describing the anxieties of unpayed federal workers, there's one paragraph about how the shutdown came to be:
"Still, there was little sense of urgency to quickly resolve the stalemate. House Democrats are still flatly refusing to finance the president’s proposed border wall with Mexico, and have little incentive to make a deal before assuming the majority next week."
Good work, Glenn Thrush, Mitch Smith, and Kate Taylor, and the rest of the NY Times staff. You could have written something a bit more even-handed. You could have said that a border wall is opposed by a significant majority of voters. You might have said that Republicans are in charge of the Congress, the Senate, and the executive and have been for the past two years, but at least I should be thankful that you did not blame Hillary Clinton's e-mail server for the shutdown.
20
For those who have bought into to the Reagan-
Trump Republican fantasy that government should be run as a business, Trump has pushed this to its ridiculous extreme.
Trump is acting like an unadulterated capitalist - control a resource, and then force others to buy it at a price far beyond its worth. If you have a good product, dominate the market. If you have a bad product, control the market through financial manipulation or by racketeerism.
Government is not business. It is the policing of business to allow for a fair civil society where the individual - whether a farmer in Nebraska or an inner-city child in Birmingham - can attempt to live a fulfilling and meaningful life, protected from organized crime, discrimination, and oligarchical subjugation.
If citizens of the United States can that grasp that truth, this country will be sold to the highest bidder.
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For God's sake, stop acting like cattle going to the slaughter!
If you aren't being paid, go on strike, and see how the nation likes having no airports or Coast Guard.
People have all the power, if they're willing to use it.
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federal employees are prohibited by law from going on strike
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@GMooG
Yeah, and slaves are prohibited by law from escaping.
What are they going to do, throw everyone in jail?
8
Spot on Josh.
No pay no work.
7
Reagan's war on government and government workers metastasizes -- like so many other "Republican" causes and positions -- into something far uglier: a war on government employees and their very livelihoods.
Shameful---except that Trump has no shame as we've seen over and over again.
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Trump has spent his entire life not paying for things and stiffing workers.
Why would he act any differently now ?
Workers working for free.
Asking others to pay for his dumb wall when he said someone else will pay for it.
What did you expect from a career grifter, swindler and bankruptcy filer ?
Trump has mastered the art of personal irresponsibility.
Everything is someone else’s fault.
Trump University remains open for business nationwide.
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And now Trump apparently has just frozen federal employees’ pay for 2019, thus axing the 2.1 % pay raise Federal workers were to receive. His premise: we can’t afford it. Seriously? Then we can’t afford his $5.4 billion downpayment on a ridiculous vanity wall that, much like Trump himself, will be inefficient, wasteful of taxpayer dollars, and will not get the job done.
To all Federal workers: thank you for your service to our nation and the work you do. You deserve better.
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My spouse is a federal employee currently on furlough. To add insult to injury, Trump just signed an executive order freezing federal worker pay, a purely punitive move designed as more political theater for his nasty, revanchist base than any real cost-saving measure. Our family survived the GOP shutdown of 2013, a measure that accomplished absolutely nothing (except revealing that Paul Ryan would vote to allow the country to default rather than opening the government). We'll pull through this shutdown as well, although a lot of my husband's co-workers--many of them military veterans--find themselves in extremely tenuous financial positions. Guess who won't survive this latest shutdown? The Republican party of Virginia and any GOP presidential candidate who hopes to win this formally purple state in a general election.
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Taxpayers are paying BIG BUCKS for security and party tents at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort for his new years eve party - All while he shuts down the government, and federal employees go unpaid. Disgusting !
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Let's hope for torrential rain and high winds.
10
Trumps threats about funding the idiotic Wall and shutting down our government are a typical display of his constant need to stir up the rabid hatred of his followers. However, the biggest threat that the United States faces is the power of the extreme right wing Republican Party. They have taken over our government through corrupt electoral practices with the willing help of the Russians. They have absolutely no regard for democracy . Although the Republicans are a minority of Americans, they have a significant loyal base of aggressive low-information followers combined with the so-called "religious" fundamentalists.
The midterm elections gave us a glimmer of hope. Voters must turn out in even greater numbers going forward to say No! to the extreme right wing, anti-democracy Republicans, their hard-right Roberts Court majority and Donald Trump, the most ignorant egotist to ever hold public office.
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The first thing House Democrats should do is propose paying all federal workers immediately. It will force the Republicans to assume full blame for Trump's debacle.
The last thing the House Democrats should do is is give in to Trump. Doing so would set a dangerous precedent - in effect, ceding all power to the executive branch, and laying the groundwork for autocracy... Definitely not what the founding fathers had in mind when they crafted the Constitution. (No matter how the GOP and FOX "News" try to spin it).
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@Jeff "Groundwork for autocracy" - Shut down the government and furlough civilian employees (and he will probably oppose ever paying for that time, worked or not), then freeze the civilian pay raise. He wants to discourage people from wanting to serve in the civilian sector. Next he'll probably just start slashing positions. On the other hand, he is increasing military pay. A fine idea under normal circumstances, but very dubious here.
1
The president should introduce all those irked and anxious workers to all those Fed workers who keep telling the president to hold the course with his demands for border wall funding. They do exist, don't they?
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I do not believe there are many. Trump is saying that, but it is another gross exaggeration/lie.
6
Are we still the greatest country in the world (to live)?
When did other countries become better?
I enjoy the numerous NYTimes articles highlighting how my country is falling behind others.
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I don't think the USA was ever the "greatest" country in the world. Each country has its plusses and minuses. Since the end of the Second World War, the USA has had the top economy and military force. However, Canada, Australia, and about a dozen European countries typically outperform the USA in providing its citizens with social services like universal healthcare, pension benefits, paid maternity leaves, sick leaves, vacation leaves, free or affordable post-secondary education, minimum wage, etc.
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@Luc
Thanks. Exactly my point
3
This is what you get with a child like President who has lead an entitled life and is alone at the center of his own universe. The Senate passed a reasonable continuing resolution and a spineless Speaker of the House followed the President's wishes and left town without bringing it up for a vote. There is no crisis at our Southern Border except the human one created by the administration's child separation policy. Illegal immigration is down and high tech solutions are available that are far more effective than the 12th century wall the President wants. (See China for how that has worked out). As he stated on TV with Pelosi and Schumer .... 'he owns this' and hundreds of thousands of good federal employees are about ready to feel the consequences while he celebrates the New Year at his Florida resort. Great image...right?
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What do they have to worry about? They shutdown will end sooner or later and every time the Congress has voted to pay all of them who did't work.... Nice job if you can get it!
4
Last time I checked, credit card and utilities need to be paid on a monthly basis and families still need to be fed. Retroactive salaries don’t really help with any of that.
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@Kevin Blitz, Most of us need our paychecks on the expected dates to pay the mortgage, keep the lights on, fill the gas tank, buy groceries, etc... It’s terribly unfair for federal workers to be used as pawns over an idiotic wall. If the Administration and Congress had their paychecks withheld, this debacle would have been resolved before the holidays. Shameful.
17
The government contractors most likely won’t be paid.
9
What is astonishing is the ease with which Trump metaphorically shoots the innocent in the back on Main Street to get his way over babyish and ill-conceived uses of the tax money he contributes zero to. It is difficult to understand how his backers can look at themselves in the mirror.
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President Trump’s corporate contractor buddies and Republican Governors are going to start feeling the financial stress of lost federal revenue pretty soon. Maybe if he approve’s DACA Pelosi can give him a few bucks to keep building wall prototypes .. Ha!
8
Build the wall; problem over.
1
Building the wall is a waste of tax money, ineffective as a deterrent to illegal immigration, harmful to the environment, and involves forcibly seizing property from US citizens. I’m thankful to the Democrats (and a few Republicans) for standing against this nonsense.
12
@GoldBeachBiker
And when he then wants a billion dollar upgrade of Mar-a-Lago for his retirement and threatens to shut down the government, we could do that to.
And then when he wants to sell New York to Putin, we could do that...
9
That will not happen. It is another Trump lie, like "lock her up" was or more recently when he lied to the soldiers and said he gave them a raise. Keep dreaming though.
6
Mexico. Trump campaigned on Mexico paying for the wall, His crowds cheered and voted accordingly. He owns this. Why are the Democrats giving him a pass and not hammering him each day?
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@kat perkins - Legislators are on vacation will not be inclined to come back to Washington before 01.01
3
@kat perkins
The Dems don't yet control the House, and anything they do once they do control it - heaven help us if they give in on the wall. Trump will be a dictator unless the Dems hold firm.
Blame the person who caused this mess - Trump, and his lies. He's worse than Ryan, or McConnell - and I didn't think that possible.
9
Republicans would rather drive off a cliff with trump than admit they were wrong. Too bad we’re all in the car
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@AJ: We're not wrong. "Progressivism" is wrong.
By definition Progressivism is a belief that societal progress or improvements should occur. You are saying we should do nothing to improve society. That means no improvement to border security, education, health care, etc. You sir, are Regressivist.
20
@GoldBeachBiker It's a Republican shutdown they had a complete majority. Trump is acting like a 2 year old.
10
The House Freedom Caucus and their Russian friends are responsible for the government shutdown.
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Trump can spin his shutdown all he wants inside the Fox 'news' bubble, but out here in the real world the majority of Americans know the truth. Like a toddler, he's throwing a temper tantrum to distract people from the the realities of his crumbling, criminal administration. His 70 year-long con is coming to an end.
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@markymark - President Trump will be in the White House 6 more years.
2
@RenegadePriest
The country could not last that long.
5
@RenegadePriest has someone organized a cadre of pro-Trump stooges to monitor and respond on this thread? Sure seems like it. All the responses are middle school level one liners. Seems like true Trump supporters to me!
12
Those who voted for Trump should realize that they voted for a swindler and traitor. He is now stabbing the Nation in the back, He should not only be impeached but tried for tax cheating and treason and put away in jail for a few years. He should not be Khassoggied as that would be showing him mercy. Instead he should be made to live and experience others suffering.
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@S.Jayaraman
Donald Trump was not a covert subtle stealth candidate. Those who voted for and against him cannot claim betrayal nor surprise.
The 63 million Americans including 58% of white people voted for a white supremacist nationalist misogynist xenophobic racist prejudiced bigot. They voted for their perceived color aka race, ethnic sectarian national origin caste advantage over their socioeconomic educational class interests and values.
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@Blackmamba Absolutely. Well said. Trump's presidency and continuing (white) voter support is so entirely disgusting and dismaying that I have virtually ceased socializing as a white woman. As "staff" for five cats, I terminated from their vet this summer when a member of his staff declared support for Trump. Gave her my blunt opinion, walked out, emailed my termination, and never returned. Disconnected from what was left of family as well as some "friends" and acquaintances.
10
Trump should pay these workers and costs out of his own bank account. Like Melania said, the two of them don’t care. Just offer a trump monument at the border and this will stop, you know like a life size statue that will scare all from the border.
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Thanks for this article. It’s important to know how this shut down is affecting individuals across the broad spectrum of government workers. It affects the rest of us with relatively little impact. For their sake, I hope this ends soon.
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@Mak
Except it will affect us (and Trump's base) if the Dems who will be taking over the House in 2019 don't stand firm on us taxpayers NOT having to pay for Trump's wall.
Enough already! Get this would-be tyrant out of a job and let's get back to being a representative republic for all of us!
4
Trumpism is DOA.
Trump has made it clear that he intends to shrink the "unnecessary" federal government, no work and no pay and no expectation of a raise, ever. Like all of Trump's ideas it relies on chaos and destruction. He has nothing constructive to offer...but Newt, Sean and Ann are happy. What else could possibly matter?
The rationale is that "we" should not rely on federal "entitlements" (you know social security and medicare that we have paid into our entire working lives-such that we DO have a reasonable expectation of seeing those dollars again). Instead we should rely on local government and businesses.
(Ignoring for the moment that business has never seen itself in this role and business schools try to make their students' greed ethically palatable...)
Let's review. Many local governments, proud that everyone in their community works, simply deal with homelessness by helping the homeless move to warmer states. State governments prefer charities to provide food banks and don't want involvement in medicine. States currently exert little control over medical costs, but that could change if they just began charging the billing departments with fraud and RICO violations. Big businesses prefer robotic warehouses, self driving trucks, self service checkouts, etc and do everything in their power to avoid paying the minimum wage, avoid providing benefits, and avoid paying local and payroll taxes.
So, Trump continues as a chaos machine and the US will shortly be BK.
32
Isn't that special. Trump yapping along making his base laugh hysterically as federal workers enter the second week without a paycheck. All because Trump can't get his Republican-led House and Republican-led Senate to agree to fund a non-essential wall that Trump promised would be paid for by Mexico.
Trump's Office of Personnel Management noted on Thursday that in order for furloughed federal workers to pay their rent, they should barter with landlords and offer to perform repair work like painting or cleaning up.
During his next campaign stop using taxpayer-funded Air Force 1, as the base laughs hysterically at Trump's jokes about the furlough, Trump should shout out at the top of his lungs that welfare checks will not be processed by federal workers since those furloughed federal workers are busy cleaning landlord toilets.
Maybe that will wipe grins off of the merry cadre of U.S. folks who provided Trump with more than 50% of the votes he got a little over two years ago.
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@Ed
Wait a couple of weeks when those same voters realize that the shutdown will affect the processing of their tax refunds.
8
One of my take-aways from articles about the shutdown is how many government employees live pay check to pay check. What should be, and once were, considered "good" jobs either do not support workers or we are a nation of consumers ignorant of basic economic principles. I suspect it is the former with a smidgen of the latter thrown in.
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@carr kleeb, you are at least partially correct. Compared to 1975 federal salaries are now about 20% less (accounting for inflation using the consumer price index). 2019 will be the third of the past eight years with no cost of living increase for fed employees.
5
@carr kleeb, consider also that a few decades ago people with college degrees (a large part of the federal workforce) had little or no student loan debt. Now many people do, and it is a drag on their ability to make ends meet.
4
As though Trump has not created enough offensive dysfunction, we now have governance by extortion at the expense of putting nearly a million federal employees between the financial rock and the hard place.
They are left to hope that somehow sanity will prevail over Trump’s brinkmanship and indifference to their plight.
Congress needs to rein in our indifferent renegade POTUS in short order.
37
The answer is simple and black and white. Put it to a vote, the House and Senate need to put up a clean continuing resolution to fund. Make the congress vote on it at their peril. This should be able to over ride a veto. If not let the Representative explain themselves to their constituents. It is not sure to work, but it sure could clean out a lot of bad apples in a hurry.
19
If Mr. Trump was an honest man he's say "I'm going to make the lives of ordinary Americans who work for the federal government unstable, painful and stressful for as long as it takes until you give me my wall and I don't care about the consequences to their lives so long as I get what I want."
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@JVG If Mr. Trump were an honest man, we'd all be living a very different reality.
2
There have been federal agency closures over budget and funding issues something like twenty times, the longest being approximately three weeks during the Clinton administration, yet the media acts as though this is the first. Trump is ham fisted and inarticulate but the fundamental idea is sound. We have too much government (at all levels) which costs us far too much in taxes. Whether it is at the national or local level, or in between, every rule, law, regulation, requirement, code, or proclamation impedes on our freedoms. It doesn’t matter if it’s the nanny state intending to be beneficial or the police state under the guise of safety, our freedoms are now only those the government allows us. The same freedom to succeed must be accompanied by the freedom to fail. This might be the last chance to push back against the womb to grave interests of the state.
7
@From Where I Sit-Please deal with the facts: Shutdowns cost billions and have even endangered the United States' credit rating. All shutdowns have been imposed by Republicans. Tell us which services you are willing to go without and perhaps the new Congress and your State/Local representatives can make sure your sacrifice is honored.
80
@From Where I Sit. I thought it was a shutdown over MORE government and government spending.
18
@From Where I Sit It takes money to finance the government, run a country, and provide the quality of life we have come to expect. Clean air, clean water, good schools, roads, etc all require taxpayer support. Under GOP management, the rich get richer living in their bubbles, while the rest of the population is seeing a decline in the quality of everything, including life expectancy. It is a race to the bottom for many Americans who, like so many federal workers referred to here, are living paycheck to paycheck.
40
Now into the second week of the Trump shutdown.
It's appalling that this administration and its craven allies are willing to hold the pay of 800,000 employees (plus how many contractors and non-governmental support staff?) hostage for a wasteful project that does not solve the problem.
The newly elected House will do its part next week, but doubt that the Senate will follow through with a veto-proof bill, at least not right away.
It's the 420,000 non-paid workers in Homeland Security, TSA, etc. that are the fulcrum in this see-saw, because only when they are pinched enough so they cannot pay their bills will there be any meaningful negotiation and movement. This will likely go on for another two or three weeks.
That said, one of the first things Mussolini did was to fire the civil servants. It's taken Trump two years to take this partial step, we'll see where he goes from here.
54
TSA alone could bring this travesty to a halt. They should continue to work, but institute a go-slow in processing passengers. Every ticket and every passenger should be meticulously checked. Every suitcase and every carry on should be opened and searched. One passenger at a time per each inspection line. Each and every passenger is thoroughly searched and patted down. If the line backs up of passengers waiting to be processed, too bad too sad. Flights we'll be delayed, but TSA we'll be doing their job.
10
It is very sad and unnecessary to see this shutdown:
-The President agreed to a clean CR that HIS Repblican controlled Senate and House supported; Rush and Anne have more influence than his own party and advisors.
-Until January 3, 2019, the Republicans have the power in the Executive and Legislative branches; they can actually resolve anytime.
-The wall funding is NOT suppprted by enough Republicans in the House or the Senate; McConnell knows this and that is why he absent from any action and negotiation...he is waiting out the clock so he doesn’t take the hit in the polls for HIS INABILITY to govern.
-Congress should approve the wall monies with the provision that the funds must be prepaid the Mexican government...that is what was promised.
-Our tax dollars should go to a multi-faceted immigration plan that will work; not a wall that is ineffective and incredibly limited.
26
The war against federal employees! First he says he doesn't want a shutdown, then changes his mind and digs in. Then he writes off all affected employees by labeling them "democrats." Then he freezes pay increases for federal workers.
40
When I became a government employee in the '80's, we were advised to immediately do two things:
1. begin to save at least 2 months of living expenses;
2. maintain an up-to-date resume for temporary or part time employment.
As long as 40 years ago we were warned that continuing federal employment would always be subject to the whims of elected or appointed officials.
Think about that the next time someone says government employees are pampered, overpaid, and should be denied union representation.
Government employment is as risky and uncertain as private sector employment.
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@Myrasgrandotter Yeah but don't you inevitably always get your jobs back plus backpay? I can empathize a little, but not much, sorry to say.
Maybe Trump Inc can set up a fund for laid off gov workers and their immediate needs? Oh wait...they'd siphon off the money to pay for their legal fees and hush payments...
8
@Myrasgrandotter
If only you had been smart enough to pick Fred Trump, Sr.as your dad.
If only you had been wise enough to become President of the United States aided and abetted by Julian Assange, James Comey, Mitch McConnell, Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin.
Send your resume to Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu and Mohammed bin Salman. They have lots of government employment.
9
@Myrasgrandotter I don't remember being advised by any government official on how to manage my money. Most newly-hired are coming in on the entry-level salaries, so how is it a government employee's business to tell them how to budget?
4
The tactics here are hostage-taking and demanding ransom. Has anyone tallied up how much money has already been allocated to border walls, how much has been spent, how much has not been spent, as this latest demand is made? The economy relies on movement ... money needs to move among the suppliers and consumers, people working to be a supplier need to be paid money.
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@Castanet
And just why should the Dems, who try to protect all of us, do anything to rob us yet more?
1
I have no fear for workers, they all should have an emergency fund, if they want they should be able to get another job. The Dems can end it any time they want.
5
@vulcanalexa
Agree. The govt needs shrinking anyway and the private sector is booming. Get out while you can.
2
In a way, but perhaps not the way you intended, you are right. The Dems in the house, led by Nancy Pelosi, will end it next week, when they are back in control. They will vote in favor of the CR passed in the Senate by unanimous voice vote just before the Trump shutdown and it will be sent to the new Senate for another vote. It will then be up to Trump to sign the bill and end this crisis he manufactured.
23
@vulcanalex
Dems can end it any time? How do you know that? Can you read trump’s chaotic impetuous mind? He’ll just change his mind or worse. Besides, that will only encourage him to close our government whenever he wants including petulant reasons. He should be fired and evicted from the WH ASAP.
44