I have mixed feelings on these never ending "Government Shutdowns"...........
On one side it makes me sick to think that the Congress, President and Executive Staff can't get all of the budget stuff hammered out LONG before a shutdown is even needed. C'MON people that is your fricken job!!! Get your job done competently like the rest of the working force in the nation or be fired. I guarantee that this budget bickering, shutdowns, and whatever else tied to it wouldn't happen if there was a policy that stated that for every Hour the government is "Shutdown" 1 random congressman is fired then immediately thrown into a wood chipper. Put all of their names in the hat and simply keep drawing names and feeding them to the wood chipper until they quit jacking around and get it resolved. If that didn't motivate them properly to get the job done it would at least thin the herd that already needs thinning.
The other side of the coin has me feeling very little empathy for the government employees bitching about not getting paid during the shutdown. Government shutdowns delaying peoples pay are nothing new and have happened many times in the past. The current shutdown is also guaranteed to not be the last. These shutdowns WILL happen and employees need to account for that reality happening. Having a "Here it goes again" savings account would be a mandatory requirement if I worked for the government. I also want to point out that these shutdowns usually happen around the same time every year so its not like you don't see it coming either. I get it, adulting is hard. But that is just part of being an adult. The other night I seen a middle aged women on the news whining about not being able to pay her mortgage because of this government shutdown then also whining about having to use their vacation money for the mortgage. Are you SERIOUS???!!! Grow up and be responsible already!!! You have money to pay your mortgage so pay it. Then you hear about Government workers filing for unemployment after only 2 weeks of the government being shutdown. I guess moochers gotta mooch.