Official USMB Shutdown Showdown Thread --- Week of Jan 14th, 2019

[Oddball]

Progressives have grown our federal government into an unconstitutional monstrosity. Legally, the federal government is supposed to only oversee 18 specific items. Instead, it’s grown into thousands because of the power-hungry, money-hungry left.

Looking around America, I see people going about their business—families eating in restaurants, employees going to work, children playing in playgrounds, etc. I have to ask: Where’s the crisis?

This shutdown just illustrates how much of this bloated monstrosity we don’t even need. It is time to restore constitutional government.

The Shutdown Shows How Unnecessary Much of Government Is

Tell us that after airplanes start crashing and people start dying from starvation and lack of medical care.

 

[Moonglow]

The Socialist Democrats of America are causing people to stress to the point of death over 0.0125% of the US Income.

Trump signed legislation to pay them, but it doesn't solve the problem of corporations gouging US citizens.

 

[Moonglow]

Can’t believe Chuck and Nancy would hold these government workers hostage like this. When there are things to be done about border security. Trump is the only one working while democrat leaders are vacationing in Puerto Rico. Show the beach pics to that sick government worker. Sad!

More fake news^^

 

[Care4all]

didn't they just call back to work the IRS employees and a few other agencies by now calling them essential and now they too are working 40 hours a week for nothing?


There’s a conservative theory bouncing around (as it usually does during government shutdowns) that furloughed “nonessential” federal employees won’t be missed, and that in fact Americans who don’t miss them will suddenly experience enlightenment and vote to shrink government forever.

But instead of endorsing this theory by shrugging at the unperformed jobs of “nonessential” workers, the Trump administration is now recalling 46,000 of them, who will go from the frying pan of not being allowed to work to the fire of being forced to work without pay.

Some will be assigned to tasks that will head off dangerous criticism of the administration, like aircraft and food safety inspections. Others are apparently being rushed to the assistance of favored industries like mortgage lenders and oil companies, as Bloomberg reports:

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The Interior Department is now clearing the way for previously furloughed workers to help sell drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters, as 11 personnel are being temporarily recalled to prepare documents necessary for auctions of Gulf of Mexico expected in March and August …



Some 40 personnel also are available amid the shutdown on an on-call basis to help process permits authorizing seismic tests to search for oil in the Atlantic Ocean and develop a new five-year plan for selling drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters from mid-2019 through mid-2024.

Yeah, sounds pretty essential if you are a fan of fossil fuels. But the bulk (an estimated 36,000) of recalled workers are at the IRS, basically so that the tax refunds Trump promised can go out more or less on schedule. That promise aside, the bigger picture is that Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue want to make sure taxpayers realize the benefits of the one major accomplishment of the 115th Congress, the 2017 tax-cut bill. If IRS employees have to engage in what is essentially involuntary servitude to make that happen, so be it.

Unfortunately for them, their union was rebuffed in court this week as a federal judge refused to deem the unpaid work a violation of both federal statutes and the constitution. The judge basically cried havoc and suggested the relief could make a shutdown mess even more of a mess. The more this drags on, though, and the more the administration turns furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols, the less the judiciary will perpetually tolerate the attendant injustices and deliberate skirting of the law.
Trump Recalls 50,000 Furloughed Employees Who Now Get to Work Without Pay

Dissolve the IRS and go to a flat tax, and they will assume their nonessential roles.

Like that is even an option to do at this moment?



it's bull crap the people working are not getting paid imo... absolutely bull crap!!!

Are YOU getting paid? Yes? Then be honest. You don't really care.

I haven't worked for almost 20 years now...

 

[Darkwind]

didn't they just call back to work the IRS employees and a few other agencies by now calling them essential and now they too are working 40 hours a week for nothing?


There’s a conservative theory bouncing around (as it usually does during government shutdowns) that furloughed “nonessential” federal employees won’t be missed, and that in fact Americans who don’t miss them will suddenly experience enlightenment and vote to shrink government forever.

But instead of endorsing this theory by shrugging at the unperformed jobs of “nonessential” workers, the Trump administration is now recalling 46,000 of them, who will go from the frying pan of not being allowed to work to the fire of being forced to work without pay.

Some will be assigned to tasks that will head off dangerous criticism of the administration, like aircraft and food safety inspections. Others are apparently being rushed to the assistance of favored industries like mortgage lenders and oil companies, as Bloomberg reports:

Get unlimited access to Intelligencer and everything else New York.
Learn More »
The Interior Department is now clearing the way for previously furloughed workers to help sell drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters, as 11 personnel are being temporarily recalled to prepare documents necessary for auctions of Gulf of Mexico expected in March and August …



Some 40 personnel also are available amid the shutdown on an on-call basis to help process permits authorizing seismic tests to search for oil in the Atlantic Ocean and develop a new five-year plan for selling drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters from mid-2019 through mid-2024.

Yeah, sounds pretty essential if you are a fan of fossil fuels. But the bulk (an estimated 36,000) of recalled workers are at the IRS, basically so that the tax refunds Trump promised can go out more or less on schedule. That promise aside, the bigger picture is that Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue want to make sure taxpayers realize the benefits of the one major accomplishment of the 115th Congress, the 2017 tax-cut bill. If IRS employees have to engage in what is essentially involuntary servitude to make that happen, so be it.

Unfortunately for them, their union was rebuffed in court this week as a federal judge refused to deem the unpaid work a violation of both federal statutes and the constitution. The judge basically cried havoc and suggested the relief could make a shutdown mess even more of a mess. The more this drags on, though, and the more the administration turns furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols, the less the judiciary will perpetually tolerate the attendant injustices and deliberate skirting of the law.
Trump Recalls 50,000 Furloughed Employees Who Now Get to Work Without Pay

Did someone pass a law saying that they won't get back pay when the shutdown is over? Or don't you understand the term 'working for nothing' means they'll never be compensated for their labor?

 

[Darkwind]

didn't they just call back to work the IRS employees and a few other agencies by now calling them essential and now they too are working 40 hours a week for nothing?


There’s a conservative theory bouncing around (as it usually does during government shutdowns) that furloughed “nonessential” federal employees won’t be missed, and that in fact Americans who don’t miss them will suddenly experience enlightenment and vote to shrink government forever.

But instead of endorsing this theory by shrugging at the unperformed jobs of “nonessential” workers, the Trump administration is now recalling 46,000 of them, who will go from the frying pan of not being allowed to work to the fire of being forced to work without pay.

Some will be assigned to tasks that will head off dangerous criticism of the administration, like aircraft and food safety inspections. Others are apparently being rushed to the assistance of favored industries like mortgage lenders and oil companies, as Bloomberg reports:

Get unlimited access to Intelligencer and everything else New York.
Learn More »
The Interior Department is now clearing the way for previously furloughed workers to help sell drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters, as 11 personnel are being temporarily recalled to prepare documents necessary for auctions of Gulf of Mexico expected in March and August …



Some 40 personnel also are available amid the shutdown on an on-call basis to help process permits authorizing seismic tests to search for oil in the Atlantic Ocean and develop a new five-year plan for selling drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters from mid-2019 through mid-2024.

Yeah, sounds pretty essential if you are a fan of fossil fuels. But the bulk (an estimated 36,000) of recalled workers are at the IRS, basically so that the tax refunds Trump promised can go out more or less on schedule. That promise aside, the bigger picture is that Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue want to make sure taxpayers realize the benefits of the one major accomplishment of the 115th Congress, the 2017 tax-cut bill. If IRS employees have to engage in what is essentially involuntary servitude to make that happen, so be it.

Unfortunately for them, their union was rebuffed in court this week as a federal judge refused to deem the unpaid work a violation of both federal statutes and the constitution. The judge basically cried havoc and suggested the relief could make a shutdown mess even more of a mess. The more this drags on, though, and the more the administration turns furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols, the less the judiciary will perpetually tolerate the attendant injustices and deliberate skirting of the law.
Trump Recalls 50,000 Furloughed Employees Who Now Get to Work Without Pay

Congress passed a bill to pay federal employees today.

I'm in Florida, visiting with parents and sis, so I have not been watching the news much....
Was it the HOUSE that passed a bill to pay them??? Did the Senate bring it to a vote? Did the president sign it???

It passed Congress today and Trump signed it this afternoon.

ahhhh, they are not getting paid NOW, but some day....could be 3 or 6 or 10 months from now, when the shutdown ends, they will get paid for the hours they worked.............?

big deal.... that was expected.... does nothing to help the situation now.... does nothing for the economy and businesses that rely on them now....

--------------------------------------------------------------

it's weird that the issue is no longer that we have to raise our debt ceiling, 3 times in 2018 alone because of overspending and the tax cuts NOT generating enough tax monies to pay for their spending....

So you agree, they aren't working for nothing.

 

[Darkwind]

The Socialist Democrats of America are causing people to stress to the point of death over 0.0125% of the US Income.

Trump signed legislation to pay them, but it doesn't solve the problem of corporations gouging US citizens.

Which has what to do with the fact that the Democrats won't open the government over a 0.0125% of the budget squabble?

 

[Care4all]

didn't they just call back to work the IRS employees and a few other agencies by now calling them essential and now they too are working 40 hours a week for nothing?


There’s a conservative theory bouncing around (as it usually does during government shutdowns) that furloughed “nonessential” federal employees won’t be missed, and that in fact Americans who don’t miss them will suddenly experience enlightenment and vote to shrink government forever.

But instead of endorsing this theory by shrugging at the unperformed jobs of “nonessential” workers, the Trump administration is now recalling 46,000 of them, who will go from the frying pan of not being allowed to work to the fire of being forced to work without pay.

Some will be assigned to tasks that will head off dangerous criticism of the administration, like aircraft and food safety inspections. Others are apparently being rushed to the assistance of favored industries like mortgage lenders and oil companies, as Bloomberg reports:

Get unlimited access to Intelligencer and everything else New York.
Learn More »
The Interior Department is now clearing the way for previously furloughed workers to help sell drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters, as 11 personnel are being temporarily recalled to prepare documents necessary for auctions of Gulf of Mexico expected in March and August …



Some 40 personnel also are available amid the shutdown on an on-call basis to help process permits authorizing seismic tests to search for oil in the Atlantic Ocean and develop a new five-year plan for selling drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters from mid-2019 through mid-2024.

Yeah, sounds pretty essential if you are a fan of fossil fuels. But the bulk (an estimated 36,000) of recalled workers are at the IRS, basically so that the tax refunds Trump promised can go out more or less on schedule. That promise aside, the bigger picture is that Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue want to make sure taxpayers realize the benefits of the one major accomplishment of the 115th Congress, the 2017 tax-cut bill. If IRS employees have to engage in what is essentially involuntary servitude to make that happen, so be it.

Unfortunately for them, their union was rebuffed in court this week as a federal judge refused to deem the unpaid work a violation of both federal statutes and the constitution. The judge basically cried havoc and suggested the relief could make a shutdown mess even more of a mess. The more this drags on, though, and the more the administration turns furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols, the less the judiciary will perpetually tolerate the attendant injustices and deliberate skirting of the law.
Trump Recalls 50,000 Furloughed Employees Who Now Get to Work Without Pay

Dissolve the IRS and go to a flat tax, and they will assume their nonessential roles.

Like that is even an option to do at this moment?



it's bull crap the people working are not getting paid imo... absolutely bull crap!!!

Are YOU getting paid? Yes? Then be honest. You don't really care.

I haven't worked for almost 20 years now...

well, I do have an internet shop... but haven't been paid by an employer for 20 years now...

 

[conserveguy877]

Can’t believe Chuck and Nancy would hold these government workers hostage like this. When there are things to be done about border security. Trump is the only one working while democrat leaders are vacationing in Puerto Rico. Show the beach pics to that sick government worker. Sad!

More fake news^^

Typical deflect.

 

[Moonglow]

The Socialist Democrats of America are causing people to stress to the point of death over 0.0125% of the US Income.

Trump signed legislation to pay them, but it doesn't solve the problem of corporations gouging US citizens.

Which has what to do with the fact that the Democrats won't open the government over a 0.0125% of the budget squabble?

If it is so small surely they can dip out of discretionary funds..As far as what the dems are doing ask them I have no idea.

 

[Care4all]

didn't they just call back to work the IRS employees and a few other agencies by now calling them essential and now they too are working 40 hours a week for nothing?


There’s a conservative theory bouncing around (as it usually does during government shutdowns) that furloughed “nonessential” federal employees won’t be missed, and that in fact Americans who don’t miss them will suddenly experience enlightenment and vote to shrink government forever.

But instead of endorsing this theory by shrugging at the unperformed jobs of “nonessential” workers, the Trump administration is now recalling 46,000 of them, who will go from the frying pan of not being allowed to work to the fire of being forced to work without pay.

Some will be assigned to tasks that will head off dangerous criticism of the administration, like aircraft and food safety inspections. Others are apparently being rushed to the assistance of favored industries like mortgage lenders and oil companies, as Bloomberg reports:

Get unlimited access to Intelligencer and everything else New York.
Learn More »
The Interior Department is now clearing the way for previously furloughed workers to help sell drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters, as 11 personnel are being temporarily recalled to prepare documents necessary for auctions of Gulf of Mexico expected in March and August …



Some 40 personnel also are available amid the shutdown on an on-call basis to help process permits authorizing seismic tests to search for oil in the Atlantic Ocean and develop a new five-year plan for selling drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters from mid-2019 through mid-2024.

Yeah, sounds pretty essential if you are a fan of fossil fuels. But the bulk (an estimated 36,000) of recalled workers are at the IRS, basically so that the tax refunds Trump promised can go out more or less on schedule. That promise aside, the bigger picture is that Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue want to make sure taxpayers realize the benefits of the one major accomplishment of the 115th Congress, the 2017 tax-cut bill. If IRS employees have to engage in what is essentially involuntary servitude to make that happen, so be it.

Unfortunately for them, their union was rebuffed in court this week as a federal judge refused to deem the unpaid work a violation of both federal statutes and the constitution. The judge basically cried havoc and suggested the relief could make a shutdown mess even more of a mess. The more this drags on, though, and the more the administration turns furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols, the less the judiciary will perpetually tolerate the attendant injustices and deliberate skirting of the law.
Trump Recalls 50,000 Furloughed Employees Who Now Get to Work Without Pay

Congress passed a bill to pay federal employees today.

I'm in Florida, visiting with parents and sis, so I have not been watching the news much....
Was it the HOUSE that passed a bill to pay them??? Did the Senate bring it to a vote? Did the president sign it???

It passed Congress today and Trump signed it this afternoon.

ahhhh, they are not getting paid NOW, but some day....could be 3 or 6 or 10 months from now, when the shutdown ends, they will get paid for the hours they worked.............?

big deal.... that was expected.... does nothing to help the situation now.... does nothing for the economy and businesses that rely on them now....

--------------------------------------------------------------

it's weird that the issue is no longer that we have to raise our debt ceiling, 3 times in 2018 alone because of overspending and the tax cuts NOT generating enough tax monies to pay for their spending....

So you agree, they aren't working for nothing.

yes, agree they will be paid some day... maybe a year from now.... right now, they are working for NOTHING.... they still have daycare, gasoline, mortgages, electric, natural gas, food, healthcare/dental bills etc etc etc to pay now....

it is just not right and not fair to put them through this.... it really isn't.

 

[Darkwind]

The Socialist Democrats of America are causing people to stress to the point of death over 0.0125% of the US Income.

Trump signed legislation to pay them, but it doesn't solve the problem of corporations gouging US citizens.

Which has what to do with the fact that the Democrats won't open the government over a 0.0125% of the budget squabble?

If it is so small surely they can dip out of discretionary funds..As far as what the dems are doing ask them I have no idea.

I have. They send form letters thanking Me for My participation in our democracy.

 

[Lakhota]

Many people are being severely hurt by this shutdown - and many may not recover. Even after the shutdown ends and government workers receive back pay - there will remain much damage to people's lives and the economy. Also, government contractors will reportedly never receive back pay. Many low income renters who depend on rent assistance from the government have reportedly been warned of eviction. The overall damage will be much greater than we currently know.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

So she has 2 vials, yet she is rationing it. How do you ration insulin-

Mallory (31) has just two vials of insulin left in her fridge and is trying to get by on as little as possible.


And from what I can find, most vials last a couple of months or longer.

Bullshit. My son is a type 1 diabetic we go through 6 vials in two months if he does not get sick need more.


You ration insulin by eating even less carbs and not treating your high bloods sugars as aggressively

Sent from my iPhone using USMessageBoard.com

 

[Moonglow]

You also have govt. contractors out of pay but as long as certain people don't care what they ruin to get what they want what the heck difference does it make?

 

[Moonglow]

The Socialist Democrats of America are causing people to stress to the point of death over 0.0125% of the US Income.

Trump signed legislation to pay them, but it doesn't solve the problem of corporations gouging US citizens.

Which has what to do with the fact that the Democrats won't open the government over a 0.0125% of the budget squabble?

If it is so small surely they can dip out of discretionary funds..As far as what the dems are doing ask them I have no idea.

I have. They send form letters thanking Me for My participation in our democracy.

What no musical greeting card?

 

[Darkwind]

Congress passed a bill to pay federal employees today.

I'm in Florida, visiting with parents and sis, so I have not been watching the news much....
Was it the HOUSE that passed a bill to pay them??? Did the Senate bring it to a vote? Did the president sign it???

It passed Congress today and Trump signed it this afternoon.

ahhhh, they are not getting paid NOW, but some day....could be 3 or 6 or 10 months from now, when the shutdown ends, they will get paid for the hours they worked.............?

big deal.... that was expected.... does nothing to help the situation now.... does nothing for the economy and businesses that rely on them now....

--------------------------------------------------------------

it's weird that the issue is no longer that we have to raise our debt ceiling, 3 times in 2018 alone because of overspending and the tax cuts NOT generating enough tax monies to pay for their spending....

So you agree, they aren't working for nothing.

yes, agree they will be paid some day... maybe a year from now.... right now, they are working for NOTHING.... they still have daycare, gasoline, mortgages, electric, natural gas, food, healthcare/dental bills etc etc etc to pay now....

it is just not right and not fair to put them through this.... it really isn't.

No they are not. They are working on the promise of being paid in full when the government opens.

It isn't right nor fair to put 100's of millions of people through having to deal with border crossings of invaders either, or to force them through taxation, to support illegals who cross into this country on a daily basis. To the tune of over 100 billion dollars.

Lots of things in life are unfair. Pelosi and Schumer could put an end to their misery by allowing just 0.0125% of our yearly income to build a barrier at our southern border.

 

[Darkwind]

Many people are being severely hurt by this shutdown - and many may not recover. Even after the shutdown ends and government workers receive back pay - there will remain much damage to people's lives and the economy. Also, government contractors will reportedly never receive back pay. Many low income renters who depend on rent assistance from the government have reportedly been warned of eviction. The overall damage will be much greater than we currently know.

So, have you called Pelosi and Schumer's office to tell them to put an end to their plight?

 

[Darkwind]

You also have govt. contractors out of pay but as long as certain people don't care what they ruin to get what they want what the heck difference does it make?

Have you called Pelosi and Schumer's office to extoll them to put an end to their plight?

 

[Flopper]

You would think that would scare the shit out of Trump and Congress but no, it will be just lead to more finger pointing.

I'm convinced the only thing that is going to break the stalemate is a real national emergency, such as a terrorist attack or a disaster linked to the goverment shutdown.

seems simple put in the five bucks into the budget and hand it to the pres to sign. seems rather simple. as long as playing partisan politics isn't your thing.

I think the right compromise would be to give Trump the amount of money that the projects will need in this fiscal year. That's what normally happens in a budget.

There is no way that he needs 5.8 billion this fiscal year. He certainly is not going to build his 235 miles of wall in 7 or 8 months, probably not during his term of office. During his first two years in office, Trump has not build a single mile of the new designed wall. He has replaced 40 miles of reinforced fences and a steel barrier built using the same design used 10 years ago. Construction has not started on any of the new wall sections, no land has been acquired, no contracts have been let, no land surveys have been done, and the thousands things that are needed to start a large federal project are still undone.

Trump would hate such a compromise and so would democrats which means it's probably a good compromise. However, we haven't reached the sufficient level of national pain yet for either side to consider a compromise.

Border Patrol is who came up with the $5.8B figure. It is they who said "in order to seriously stop illegal immigration, we need $X amount of money, and some of that needs to be specifically for building new fence where WE need it most"

Trump didn't just pull that figure out of his ass, he's not a Democrat.

5.8 billion is only and initial allocation to get the project started. A document that went to congress some months ago had a figure of 33 billion. However, Homeland Security said the total would be about 40 billion over 10 years to complete their border security project, whatever that entails. If Pelosi thought 5.8 billion was all Trump really wanted for his border security project, she might be more willing to negotiation. However, I don't see her negotiating until something pretty serious happens due to the shutdown such as a major disrupting in commercial aviation which is certainly going to happen eventually with both flight controls and the TSA not being paid. And when it does, there will be a House bill sent to the Senate in 24 hours granting pay for the TSA and flight controllers, daring Trump to turn it down.

so the experts said it would take 40 billion. wow, I thought it was trump. which is it. you know more than the experts? the politicians know more than the experts? really? come on man.

In Homeland Securities budget request, they asked for 40 billion spread over 10 years to enhance border security. It included a lot more than 234 miles of steel slatted fence.