Republicans don't understand why unpaid workers are going to foodbanks and homeless shelters.

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FirNaTine

Senior member
Jun 6, 2005
637
182
116
Oh nice. Didnt see that it actually got passed and signed.
A friend pointed that out to me online in a similar discussion we had several days ago. It seems to have slipped below the radar a bit in other discussions surrounding this debacle.
 

Paratus

Lifer
Jun 4, 2004
17,117
14,484
146
A few thought from me since the wife and I are both civil servants.

Are you furloughed?
Yes both my wife and I were originally furloughed but have been moved back to on-call or part-time.

So why are you working if they aren’t paying you?
Our jobs are important to us and we both have some impacts on mission success and crew safety. Some work still has to get done.

Will you get paid?
Eventually. Originally the law stated that any hours worked during the furlough must be paid after the furlough ends. In the past congress has approved full back pay for all hours that should have been worked during a furlough essentially paying you whether you worked or stayed home.

This time as others have posted congress have passed back pay already and I believe it applies to any future government shutdowns.

So isn’t this just an extended paid vacation?
Yes and no. If we knew for certain when the shutdown would end it would not be stressful. Until the shutdown does end we have no cash flow in but bills keep coming which means we have to live on our reserves. So we have cut way back on spending and traveling. It’s a vacation where you can’t travel, can’t spend, and have to worry about how to pay bills.

So what. Everyone should have months and months of savings for when things like this happen!
We do! My wife and I are older and have been saving for 20 years. We have enough to last a while. The issue is uncertainty. Are we going to be out of work for 4-8 weeks. No problem. 6 months? Can maybe make that work but now I’m taking a financial hit.

Since we don’t know the future do we pay $$$ to register our youngest for summer camps? They are filling up now. Do we pay $$$ for SAT prep classes and college visits for my eldest? It’s the time when we planned to do it.

The timing also sucked because our savings are at their lowest in January due to paying Christmas bills and our yearly property taxes assessments.

Well you can always get credit and loans and help from family!
In our case we can. We have had good credit and we intend to keep it that way. Our credit union is offering short term 0% pay day loans up to a certain limit. The issue is the repayment may occur while the furlough is still on. If I can’t pay it back then it’s a credit hit and I’ll owe interest and penalties.

We have other options but all have downsides like interests or capital gains or tax issues or credit rating hits.

Our folks have offered to help if we need it and it’s great of them to offer but that’s not something we want to do.
 
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zzyzxroad

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2017
3,255
2,272
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That's a hard one. I would have a hard time putting anything past 1.

Better question is how many fast foods has he been to... We all know his famous KFC pics.
Maybe when all is said and done he can be the next colonel. Seems like a better fit. They can kick off a spicy Doritos flovor nothingburger for him to promote.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,880
1,550
126
Just loser govment workers, who vote Dem anyway. /s
Actually, as I set aside your comment for a minute to decode its true meaning, that's a myth.

As long as I remember, the mix of D and R was pretty much aligned with what you'd find in a cross-section anywhere else with the same mix of education, skills, military service and other attributes.

But for the future, I'd say the damage done by this president will deliver all the Rs to the big D. He's been cutting off his nose to spite his face.
 

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
14,939
7,457
136
Just another out of touch rich guy making excuses for why his boss is just another morally bankrupt out of touch rich guy whose only similarity to the the peasants he believes he rightly lords over are those Mickey D's gut bombs that he's apparently addicted to.

No worse than Romney who didn't know what, of all things, a doughnut was.
 
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HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
36,730
28,908
136
Pretty sure it's a law that if you work hours you must be compensated for said hours.

The only exception would be if a company were to declare bankruptcy... So in the case of the government... there is no exception, they will be paid, end of story. No need to fear-monger.
No need to fear monger? What about federal contractors furloughed and not getting backpay?
 
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HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
36,730
28,908
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Anyone here ever try taking Uncle Wilbur's advice, go to the bank take out a loan using future pay as collateral?

See how that works.
 

Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
15,244
10,817
136
No but is it way better then crippling the economy which the shutdown will end up doing.
If the politicians actually had to live with a real government shutdown, it would never happen. Basically they depend on everyone else acting like adults while they throw a temper tantrum.

A real government shutdown would mean no air travel, no sea port travel, no customs (no imports). Federal prisons what, release everyone? Oh and the federal government couldn't even collect tax revenue.

The "partial" shutdown plays right into republican talking points. "Look the government is shutdown, do you even notice? Who does it effect? No one, see we all government is wasteful."
 

zzyzxroad

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2017
3,255
2,272
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Anyone here ever try taking Uncle Wilbur's advice, go to the bank take out a loan using future pay as collateral?

See how that works.
The really sad thing is I am sure unsecured lenders are making a killing off these poor folks.
 

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
9,436
1,567
126
If the politicians actually had to live with a real government shutdown, it would never happen. Basically they depend on everyone else acting like adults while they throw a temper tantrum.

A real government shutdown would mean no air travel, no sea port travel, no customs (no imports). Federal prisons what, release everyone? Oh and the federal government couldn't even collect tax revenue.

The "partial" shutdown plays right into republican talking points. "Look the government is shutdown, do you even notice? Who does it effect? No one, see we all government is wasteful."
I wonder if this shutdown would end suddenly if a large number of people end up with food poisoning and/or worm infections?
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,880
1,550
126
I wonder if this shutdown would end suddenly if a large number of people end up with food poisoning and/or worm infections?
Or perhaps an airline disaster, hurricane, airplane hijacking or something of equal seriousness. People have weird ideas about risks -- naïve ideas in many cases. They have to get hurt badly before they get a clue that something's wrong.

The folks who elected Trump just chose to put the entire country at risk, with a notion that namby-pamby Obama was too risk-averse. I think of them as something parallel to the citizens of Rome during the decline of the Empire, spending their time flipping thumbs up and thumbs down.

In other words, elections are just a game and who cares? It never occurred to them that the nation-state and government exist to reduce risk on several different horizons. Of course, they think, with their "limited role of government" idea, that the only meaningful risks are military, or risks posed by global adversaries.

And look what they've done, now? One has to ask, why give someone the franchise to vote, if they vote according to whim tutored by ignorance?

A sad paradox, that.
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
59,239
13,840
136
In other news Trump thinks can go to your local supermarket today and run up a tab for groceries which you will pay some time in the future... (We're talking about the grocery store apparently specifically directly extending credit to its customers.)


Clearly the suggestion that Trump is in any out of touch with regular people is utterly preposterous...
Well, sure, that's why you need an ID to buy groceries.
 

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
9,436
1,567
126
Well, sure, that's why you need an ID to buy groceries.
I doubt very much that grocery store will give credit as they usually operate on thin margins and can't afford to do so if they even wanted to.

And where does Trump get this ideal that we need an ID to buy groceries?
 

blackangst1

Lifer
Feb 23, 2005
22,902
2,359
126
Why don't these retards just get loans? I mean, they all automatically have great credit history right? Plus, it's only interest. I fucking love paying interest.

Truth be told, many banks and credit unions are/were giving 0% interest loans for federal workers.

Still an asinine thing for him to say.
 

conehead433

Diamond Member
Dec 4, 2002
5,566
899
126
This whole federal workers are destitute is hilarious to me. These people make good money, probably way beyond the average worker in this country. Most of them acting like they don't have the resources to make it through a couple of missed paychecks is ludicrous at best, on the other hand they are probably better actors than Trump.
 

Fenixgoon

Lifer
Jun 30, 2003
32,119
10,943
136
This whole federal workers are destitute is hilarious to me. These people make good money, probably way beyond the average worker in this country. Most of them acting like they don't have the resources to make it through a couple of missed paychecks is ludicrous at best, on the other hand they are probably better actors than Trump.

Something like 60% of americans live paycheck to paycheck. 40%(?) cant cover an unexpected $400 expense.
For a single person it might not be a big deal, but if you jave a family with kids and a house that's a whole different story.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
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This whole federal workers are destitute is hilarious to me. These people make good money, probably way beyond the average worker in this country. Most of them acting like they don't have the resources to make it through a couple of missed paychecks is ludicrous at best, on the other hand they are probably better actors than Trump.

Not quite.... Some really do have shit pay (or at least, not that great). In particular, I'm talking about ones that the federal government didn't hire directly - but rather are employed through sub-contracting companies. I honestly have no idea which government jobs are contracted out and which aren't.

For most direct-hire federal workers - I agree... Saaay... a USPS postal worker that gets on average $50k... Yeah, in all honesty you shouldn't be paycheck-to-paycheck with an amount like that.
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
36,730
28,908
136
This whole federal workers are destitute is hilarious to me. These people make good money, probably way beyond the average worker in this country. Most of them acting like they don't have the resources to make it through a couple of missed paychecks is ludicrous at best, on the other hand they are probably better actors than Trump.
I guess a lot of people are pathological liars, like Trump
 

Aegeon

Golden Member
Nov 2, 2004
1,809
125
106
This whole federal workers are destitute is hilarious to me. These people make good money, probably way beyond the average worker in this country. Most of them acting like they don't have the resources to make it through a couple of missed paychecks is ludicrous at best, on the other hand they are probably better actors than Trump.
The fact of the matter is some individuals directly employed by the federal government make as little as about $21,600 per year while some others make just over $26,500 per year. (You can see the link for the direct proof of the pay scale.)
https://www.federalpay.org/gs/2019

Obviously its not surprising that a bunch of people in this category are living paycheck to paycheck. As noted though even for better paid workers being in this financial situation is extremely common for many individuals in the US. It should be noted that when looking some of the salary average figures you see some places, not only are they distorted by the higher paid individuals in certain agencies, but some misleadingly effectively include benefits and the fact federal workers are eventually able to get a bit of a pension in their claimed salary figures even though this clearly does nothing for the short term situation of not receiving a paycheck.

Edit: Slightly adjusted the figures to account for the minimum locality adjustment, although it should be noted those figures are before pension payments or health insurance payments for example are automatically deducted from what is actually received.
 
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