quote:

Originally posted by Uppster:
some call it a paid leave, they get back pay in full when it starts back up

While government employees will likely get full back pay, government contractors don't. I used to work for government contractors (NASA and Dept of Treasury). For us, a shutdown represented real, unrecoverable loss of income. Lots of government jobs these days are performed by contractors.

quote:

Originally posted by Lord Vaalic:
Seriously is there any more typical "government" response than to have an update that there won't be updates?

So true. Reminds me of the Dept. of Redundancy Dept.

So without these 800.000+ people not working, proves the Federal payroll is over bloated!
Terminate them, permanently.

Could somebody educate me on shutdowns? If there's no appropriations bill, and the Constitution requires all spending to go through the House, then how are the "essential" parts of the government getting funded? Is it extra-legal, or is there some kind of continuing resolution that keeps those essential parts of the government funded?

It just seems sometimes that the government does whatever it wants with funds without regards to how the Constitution requires spending to happen.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:

It just seems sometimes that the government does whatever it wants with funds without regards to how the Constitution requires spending to happen.

FIFY

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Could somebody educate me on shutdowns? If there's no appropriations bill, and the Constitution requires all spending to go through the House, then how are the "essential" parts of the government getting funded? Is it extra-legal, or is there some kind of continuing resolution that keeps those essential parts of the government funded?

It just seems sometimes that the government does whatever it wants with funds without regards to how the Constitution requires spending to happen.

Funding from all the other sources not listed as a line item in the authorization and appropriation bills that become law is diverted to cover the "essential functions." Those "essential functions" all have a priority assigned so if there is funding for 1,235 functions but not 1,236, that one at the bottom of the list is neither funded or performed.

Theoretically, the Executive Branch could run out of money completely, but still require the most essential federal employees to show up as a condition are their continued employment. At the very top of the list would be accounting (somebody has to track the cost of such idiocy), cabinet-level positions where the entire department cannot be closed down (for example the Secretary of State), healthcare (primarily care for patients in VA hospitals who cannot be discharged because of the severity of their medical conditions), Homeland Security (think USBP, USCG, ICE), law enforcement (including running federal prisons), and the uniformed military functions.

As an example, the BLM website appears to be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down the list (I'd guess it's priority number has at least 94 digits), of "essential functions" so the $1.056 required to keep that website up and running has been redirected to a higher priority "essential function" like keeping the fed.gov prisoners in the fed.gov supermax prison.

There is not a lot of love for BLM around the area they manage.

There is no reason to shut down the entire website. They can keep maps and other critical info up without any effort. This is to make a point.

Anyone remember what these agencies did during the last shut down. I would be interested to see how they are reacting this time vs last time.

What if the gov't was shut down and nobody noticed? What if we never reopened about 70 percent of the gov't? Would anybody notice?

If the government is shut down don't think I will get up tomorrow morning.

My brother is a government contractor and he will get back pay. Most government workers are happy about their paid vacation. The media wont tell that story!

quote:

Originally posted by markand:

quote:

Originally posted by Uppster:
some call it a paid leave, they get back pay in full when it starts back up

While government employees will likely get full back pay, government contractors don't. I used to work for government contractors (NASA and Dept of Treasury). For us, a shutdown represented real, unrecoverable loss of income. Lots of government jobs these days are performed by contractors.

Well boo hoo.

There are lots of jobs out there. If you don't like the terms of your present job, then Just grab another one.

[drift]

when I was on Active Duty, and a "Shut down the government" thing happened...a message was sent to all units...stating that ships at sea were to reduce speed and return to port (unless on a critical mission), scheduling for getting underway was cancelled, and the only time planes or helicopters flew was for SAR....

didn't bother the sailors at all...if it went on long enough, we got to return to port earlier than anticipated...

we were off Columbia once running drug interception and we turned North and slowed our speed to about ten knots and made our way to Portsmouth a week later and tied up...about a month before we were supposed to, chipping painting and cleaning everything became the plan of the day..

[/drift]

Every shutdown is Kabuki theatre. The people creating the shutdown on both sides of the aisle still get paid without having to wait for the shutdown to run its course. It is a show to make it look like politicians are getting things done, but as usual it is about power and who retains or acquires it.

When I worked DoD, it was a free day off after the delay. I now work for the VHA and we are still working even today. Reduced staff because of Christmas but staffed nonetheless.

The only time not paid for days shutdown was in 2013 during the first big military budget cuts. We lost 1 day a week for 5 weeks. And you can't take leave during those or shutdown times.

My SO is working without pay but anticipates retro pay once this is over. She's considered essential so she's there like any other day.

If during the shutdown she calls in sick, has to take time off for a family medical reason and so forth, she's then considered furloughed and doesn't report to work but she also doesn't get paid for the furloughed time, absent an act of Congress.

For those that are already of on vacation and now considered furloughed, these people are considered on vacation without reinstated time off put back on the clock.

Affected Feds who took leave before the shutdown started will still be charged leave and won't get shit, while the ones who did not take leave get a free vacation.

My son works for a contractor with the Marshal Service in Crystal City. He makes decent wages and is hoping to build experience and somehow find a way into a higher position, perhaps in the DOJ. Unfortunately, he is out of work until the shutdown is over. Much of the day to day work is done in that office by one of several staffing contractors. I agree our government is way bloated. It does strike home though, as his managers will paid back wages, but not him of course. If the shutdown goes on very long, he will have to abandon this position for something else, as the COL in NoVa is crazy. His wife is a PhD student at Georgetown, so they are pretty tied to the area, at least for now.

Build the wall or shut the pig down!!

I'm bummed about 2 things... First, no national parks for the time being, and second my taxes remain the same while things are supposed to be shut down.

Other than those 2 things, I have no shits to give.

For those "affected" you might want to take note that the unemployment rate is down and there's nothing but opportunity out there. Start with the book called "Who Moved My Cheese" and go from there.

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:
I'm bummed about 2 things... First, no national parks for the time being, and second my taxes remain the same while things are supposed to be shut down.

Other than those 2 things, I have no shits to give.

For those "affected" you might want to take note that the unemployment rate is down and there's nothing but opportunity out there. Start with the book called "Who Moved My Cheese" and go from there.

Yeah maybe you’re right and I should say screw the veterans and walk away. I mean I take less pay than my peers anyhow.