Anyone affected by the Federal Government shut down?

[mom2rtk]

Lol. McConnell's worth over 10 million. He's not going to be hurt if his piddly pay is stopped.

Do you really think that's something unique to one congressional leader?

 

[Hikergirl]

Lol. McConnell's worth over 10 million. He's not going to be hurt if his piddly pay is stopped.

True, but my point was maybe that for once they were the ones who would have to give up something when they aren't doing their jobs.
The fact that most of them are millionaires is a whole other issue.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

This entire scenario is absolutely appalling from one end of the story to the other... and it happens fairly frequently! I can't even use the words I am thinking...

 

[rajak73]

I know military is and I feel so angry about that

I read that the military is paid until Feb 1, the sad part is, congress could pass a measure even in the shutdown to pay certain things, like the military but then no one would be acting like a 4 year old and throwing a temper tantrum. So sad that our congress has gotten to this point.

 

[Christine]

I read that the military is paid until Feb 1, the sad part is, congress could pass a measure even in the shutdown to pay certain things, like the military but then no one would be acting like a 4 year old and throwing a temper tantrum. So sad that our congress has gotten to this point.

I'm not going to discuss Congressional names here because I don't want it to get into a political party discussion. On Saturday after the shutdown, a plan to fund the military was immediately advanced. It was decided that they would not address it so that provision was not passed on Saturday.

That said, if you remember the last shutdown which lasted for 16 days, the DoD got a special funding bill passed and they only had a 3-day shutdown.

 

[rajak73]

Yes, this is on BOTH parties, I just wish they would start to act like adults for a change. Neither side wants to work FOR the people anymore, just for their party, so sad the country has come to this.

 

[Shanti]

This law was made back when Congressional members were not independently wealthy and them losing pay could affect the decisions they made.

Some Congressional members live off their salaries, and others don't. They are not all wealthy, not by a longshot. And throughout American history from the very beginning, there have always been independently wealthy people serving at all levels of government.

 

[DLgal]

Just to be dramatic. Certain talking points are being pushed out there. Your nephew is correct. They just got paid and I also believe the military itself is funded through 1 February. On top of that, no political person is going to vote against a special act to pay the military. It would be political suicide, if not worse.

We are active duty military. DoD sent out an official email yesterday. Military is NOT funded through the 1st of Feb, only through Jan 19. There will be no paycheck on Feb 1 until a bill is passed to either protect military pay or pass a budget.

There have been 6 "pay our military" bills put forth so far, by both parties. Several have been "no strings attached", straightforward bills that include NOTHING else. They have all been rejected. So yeah, both sides are engaging in what you consider political suicide. They don't care at this point.

 

[MillauFr]

Yes, this is on BOTH parties, I just wish they would start to act like adults for a change. Neither side wants to work FOR the people anymore, just for their party, so sad the country has come to this.

Unfortunately I believe that is what the voters want. Just watch during next election cycle. The politicians that did the honorable thing and compromised with other side to keep the government running will be criticized for caving in to the other sides demands. Their opponent who probably knows very little about the political process will make some moronic statements that if they are elected they will wave a magic wand and fix Washington.

 

[Christine]

Just got my "phone tree" call a few minutes ago. I'm told to report tomorrow and get my letter but that I need to "watch the news" in the morning or watch my OPM alert app. If they vote is favorable at 1AM, it's business as usual tomorrow.

 

[brockash]

All I can say is I've known people in both situations. Military employees will eventually get paid, which they should. They earn what they make. I've seen more than one civilian company go bankrupt where the employees were never paid. They told their employees to go home & look for a job. At least with a government job, the money will eventually be there. Hopefully, the US government will never file bankruptcy & shut down completely. If that happens, we're all in trouble. I have seen that happen to more than one company in the civilian world. I hate that this is happening to military & government employees, but it would be much worse in the civilian world. If you've never seen a company go under, you're very fortunate. Hopefully, this will be resolved quickly, as it has been in the past, & business will continues as usual.

Right, but isn't that one of the benefits of a government job...more stability. Generally, they don't get paid as much as if they were to do their job in the private sector, however that tradeoff is more stability and vice versa for those who choose the private, generally higher paying companies as opposed to government jobs.

 

[DLgal]

Right, but isn't that one of the benefits of a government job...more stability. Generally, they don't get paid as much as if they were to do their job in the private sector, however that tradeoff is more stability and vice versa for those who choose the private, generally higher paying companies as opposed to government jobs.

The benefit isn't really more stability, but better benefits like health care, tax advantages (military), and very generous pensions upon retirement. That is why the wages are lower upfront. The pension system works kind of like a deferred wages deal.

 

[Christine]

The benefit isn't really more stability, but better benefits like health care, tax advantages (military), and very generous pensions upon retirement. That is why the wages are lower upfront. The pension system works kind of like a deferred wages deal.

Are you referring to the miltary or civilian employees. We civilians definitely no longer have a generous pension. That ended in 1983 with the termination of CSRS and change over to FERS.

 

[DLgal]

Are you referring to the miltary or civilian employees. We civilians definitely no longer have a generous pension. That ended in 1983 with the termination of CSRS and change over to FERS.

I was referring to military.

 

[kdonnel]

I don’t use any services of the federal government on a daily basis.

The government could be closed for months before I would notice.

The only time I noticed any of the government shutdowns was when I was on a cruise that stopped at Puerto Rico. The National Park Service runs most of the tourist places so they were all closed.

 

[DLgal]

I don’t use any services of the federal government on a daily basis.

The government could be closed for months before I would notice.

The only time I noticed any of the government shutdowns was when I was on a cruise that stopped at Puerto Rico. The National Park Service runs most of the tourist places so they were all closed.

Everyone uses government services in one form or another every day. Whether you will have a personal impact during a shutdown is another story.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I don’t use any services of the federal government on a daily basis.

The government could be closed for months before I would notice.

The only time I noticed any of the government shutdowns was when I was on a cruise that stopped at Puerto Rico. The National Park Service runs most of the tourist places so they were all closed.

Except after a couple weeks, when the 4.4million people employed by the federal government don't get paid, you will feel the effects. The economy would crash and burn if 4.4 million people are unable to pay their bills, buy groceries, put gas in their cars. Don't kid yourself, this effects everyone.

 

[mco65]

What's really crazy is that many of those making these decisions will get their paychecks regardless...

I wouldn't call it crazy, i would call it criminal..

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

What about the stock market is that closed due to the government shutdown

 

[lovemygoofy]

I work with our National Guard soldiers now and they will not be getting paid. Majority of IN should have been going to drill this weekend and it was cancelled due to gov't shut down. People took time off work, drove hours on their own dime and will not get their drill pay this month. They will also be shorted for retirement points and deposits into retirement accounts. Some people completely depend on this pay included in their budget and now can be short several hundred dollars.

Additionally this month is scheduled to be their medical processing time and contracts with local health offices and traveling health offices across the state and money possible wasted because they get paid whether we had the SRP or not.

Lastly and this is what pisses me off. If any service member should die while this gov't is shut down, the family will not receive the $100k death gratuity until the gov't is back up. Also, yesterday was first day of gov't shutdown. I lost a service member to suicide earlier this week and his funeral was yesterday. We were scrambling to find volunteers for the honor guard because those that normally do it and get paid could not do it because they could not "report" for duty. That's pretty messed up.