In past shutdowns, when the government money machine is turned back on, people get back pay, even if they got to stay home and watch TV.
Which does very little to help them NOW, when their bills are actually due.
And what about those people whose incomes depend on the government, but who do not directly work for the government? My current employer, for example, is a transcription company with a contract with the US Tax Courts to transcribe the work of their court reporters. Is anyone going to pay US back pay while we sit around, waiting for the Tax Courts to go back to work?
The truth is that the politicians, with their guaranteed pay and benefits, are holding everyday Americans hostage for nothing more than political posturing and inconsequential grandstanding. It is long past time we tell them to get the **** over themselves, pull on their big-boy Underoos, and start doing something substantial and useful.