If you had any doubt...

[TheGrey]

I have invited him to see how stupid/dysfunctional/lazy/incompetent/wasteful/useless we are but he has not taken the bait. While I do understand that many .gov workers have issues and I myself had had issues with them the blanket statements made show that the OP has no clue how the many DOD workers here operate.

Most are ex military and support our armed forces. The post just shows how out of touch he is with the local situation.

I know. I see BS posts like this on FB all the time, and I just want to reach out and slap them up the back of the head.
Do they have ANY idea, I wonder, or do they all just imagine "government worker" equates with politicians? Do they really have no sense of understanding, that someone could continue working a job that they held in the military save that they are now working as a civilian for the government?

Apparently not, which tells me just how small and backward their world must be. To them, the DoD must be one big war machine, and they must depend on Hollywood to feed them the pertinent information of exacty how and what the government worker does. You know, the ones that are billed as "government worker #2" who says some stupid bureaucratic line in a movie, so the hero can react.

I had hoped there wouldn't be such reactions and judgments here, but it helps open my eyes as to the fact that they're everywhere.

Oh, and I especially enjoy the bullsh!t parting shot of "you're either 'X' or 'Y'!" Yes, because people are either one or the other, no other possibility exists. Especially when they disagree with the OP.

[TheGrey]

My boss can say that to me on any random day though it is likely to be on a Thursday at around 9am. Of course it would be "you are not coming back" instead of "no idea when" but I could be out the door any day with no warning. You get to make the choice of sticking with the job (and likely getting paid normal amount just late) or not, I wouldn't get that choice.

merl, that's not a job I would enjoy. I'm sure you have your reasons working there, but one of the reasons people take government jobs is the reasonable assurance that it's steady and reliable. Usually.

Then something like this happens, and a$$holes crawl out of the woodwork and shake their tiny fists and crow, "Non-essential! You all suck and shouldn't have a job anyhow!"

[cstone]

The latest percentage I've read today is 83% of the federal government is NOT shutdown. I'm not certain if that now means that 83% of federal employees are essential, but I take this statistic to bolster my point that "the shutdown" or "slimdown" or just plain political grandstanding is not the point of all the words being spouted in DC.

Who is in charge of the federal government? Is it the President? The House? The Senate? Speaker Bohner made it clear today that any debt increase will have to include budget cuts. No one knows exactly what that means specifically, however, it is a line in the sand. The President has stated publicly that he will not negotiate on the terms being presented by the House Republicans, and this is also a line in the sand. When all is said and done, both sides will claim that they did not give in or cross the lines they have drawn. Watching the deal when it is made, and it will be made, will be the clue to let people know who is in control.

This shutdown/budget/debt ceiling "crisis" (I'm really tired of the manufactured crisis du jour) is just a fancy smoke screen for old time power politics. This is how it has always been in this country and probably always will be. Historically, there are periods when the Executive is strong and the Legislature is weak and vice versa. Within a few weeks, we will know which groups, in which branch of our government has the upper hand.

Oh, and just as a side note to the OP. The Washington Post is reporting that the Senate Democrats have already stated that they will pass the House bill retroactively paying furloughed federal workers this week. The President has already indicated that he will sign the bill once it has passed the Senate. Was there ever any real doubt?

Be safe.

[Gman]

If the federal government wasn't over-reaching what they were empowered to do by the Constitution, we wouldn't have this kind of impact with a government shutdown. We also wouldn't have to keep feeding the monster with the only visible "cuts" being marginally reduced growth.

[jerrymrc]

If the federal government wasn't over-reaching what they were empowered to do by the Constitution, we wouldn't have this kind of impact with a government shutdown. We also wouldn't have to keep feeding the monster with the only visible "cuts" being marginally reduced growth.

And I will agree with you. How many new agency's have been created or grossly expanded in the last 12 years or so? I can tell you that the DOD was a bleak place up to 9/11. Just like before I have seen the ebb and flow of no $$ to a little more $$$ and back again. Bleak times in my world = 74-81 and 93-01 and I get to see the start of the next one before I retire.

[streetglideok]

Interesting, democrats were in control during those times too. 1974-1976 had a republican in office but he took over an office full of scandal.

[mountainjenny]

If they are going to get back pay anyway, why send them home in the 1st place?

+1 , if you are getting paid to work then you should be working. Now tax payers are getting no productivity and the expense anyway.