Government shut down stuff
I’ve been shutting down my portion of the government this morning. It’s harder work than my real job. But some of us got this nice letter from the President; Message from the President to U.S. Government Employees-2. basically none of this is his fault – you know that’s real leadership.
The House passed a funding bill that was rejected, so the compromised – you know that cryptic term, that no one on the liberal (in the neo-liberal sense) side of government understands and the compromise was shot down. But somehow Republicans are “the party of “no”” according to my liberal friends on Facebook. And, oh, yeah, it’s all about race, too.
Republicans only wanted to do the same favor for individuals and families what the administration has done for employers – give us a break on the Affordable Care Act for a year. And, the administration was so prepared for the launch of that healthcare beast this morning that the website for signing up is down for four hours.
We’re in this shut-down mess because Congress hasn’t passed a budget since 2007 – when Democrats took control of the House and the Senate. I listened to Harry Reid call conservatives “anarchists” this morning. And he said that conservatives are doing the same thing over-and-over which caused this. I submit that the Democrats have been doing the same broke-dick things over-and-over for fifty years.
Reid forgot that for two years that the Democrat Congress’ only focus was defunding the Iraq War – a vote they took over-and-over again instead of passing a budget. Who knows what their excuse is now, other than the fact that they don’t want to do their job.
Me? I’m doing fine – I have three months of money stashed in my checking account since this budget mess started. Now I’m going to take a nap.
ADDED: From MCPO NYC USN (Ret.), apparently computers don’t trust the Affordable Care Act either;
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Congress sucks
Y frank yuo Honda.
Yes … One moor bartendress. Did I mention you and your rack is OUTSTANDING.
List of politicians who will suspend, refuse or donate to charity their pay during the shutdown.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/10/01/which-lawmakers-will-refuse-their-pay-during-the-shutdown/?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost
Remember what I said, about Social Security being next?
Read it and grouse: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/debt-ceiling-treasury-final-extraordinary-measures-97690.html
There is not enough cash in the cash drawer for the Treasury to continue paying its bills, including Social Security. If this isn’t resolved by Oct. 17, retiress are screwed.
Before you start all that crap about how it functions or disfunctions, it was the Clinton administration that ripped off the Social Security Fund. You should also know that there are some people who have no other source of income in retirement because what they had was wiped out.
And I’m one of those people, so shut the fuck up right now.
You know, for a government shutdown, the government sure is working overtime. The only thing that is being shut down are the things that the people need. So, in a sense, the government shutdown had just turned us into France, circa 1788.
You got that right, Flagwaver.
“This is the People’s house!”
“Sir, the People are at the gate.”
“Can we throw boiling oil on them?”
@51, nawt bad ideeya, ANNNOFER *BURP!* BUUORBON, maik it a douuble!! Anna beeer chaser fur my invishible friend!!
BWAHAHAHAHA!!! From Ace, per the web archive of the National Park Service website (because, yeah, apparently “shutting down” the government causes server failure or somehting): The public may visit the World War II Memorial 24 hours a day. Rangers are on duty to answer questions from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. daily and to provide interpretive programs every hour on the hour from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m.
http://web.archive.org/web/20121108195139/http://www.nps.gov/wwii/planyourvisit/hours.htm
So, “shutting down the government”, now means that you shut off services that you weren’t providing before.
It’s freaking theater from the fundamentally unserious, petulant left.
I dun had one mure fur the road, noww I need one fur the shtripe down the midddul!!… TAXI!!!
You people are such shit. And you’re shitfaced, on top of it.
No respect.
Our Commander-in-Chief wouldn’t know leadership if one of his Marine honor guards tattooed “JJDIDTIEBUCKLE” across his forehead…
However- I will say, as far as that security cert picture, that’s the case with many federal websites, on civilian computers. When I was a senior in high school, I was doing the online application for an NROTC scholarship. My father was sitting next to me, helping me with some PII of his I had to enter, when that same warning popped up. He basically didn’t allow me to finish the application on our home computer, because he thought our information wasn’t secure enough, or it meant the Feds were, like, spying on us or something. Lol… As if the federal government would ever use the Internet to spy on its own people!
-Mark
In regard to the ‘untrusted’ warning above, there are fraudsters lining up to swipe your identity right now.
http://now.msn.com/fake-obamacare-sites-are-identity-theft-threat-trend-micro-warns?gt1=50501
BE WARNED.
I’m just an average vet. I did my 24 years 11 month and 3 weeks of duty. I worked hard and honorably to get the benefits that Congress is now holding hostage. Fortunately for me, I have a job to supplement my retirement check. However, I still have to find a way to pay my ex her share of my retirement and some how help out my son who is using the portion of my GI Bill (I finished my degree last December) I signed over to him. My dad, sister, and as of last month my brother are all retired from the military. It frustrates me to no end that the people who shut down the government are the ones whose pay isn’t as vital as others not as well off. It’s not a Democrat or Republican thing. The entire nation is being screwed by what amounts to a bunch of Jackasses! I always thought that elected officials were in office to make our cities, states, and country a better place. I believe it’s time to clean house. The current politicians don’t care about the people they are supposed to be serving, they care only about being re-elected and furthering their own political agendas.
@52–NONE of NH’s Senators or Reps are on the list.
Effin brilliant.
@ Mark F …. STOP … Wrong.
That screen shot was taken while a govt employee using a govt computer was communicating with the Obama Care Web site … Healthcare.gov.
Oh … One other thing. My head really hurts today.
You know what’s really sick? That the reason for this mess, the debacle called obamacare, isn’t being visited by Big Media. Yeah, I know, I see your shocked faces. But, truly, where are the countless interviews and features of folks being laid off in the private sector, their F/T jobs becoming P/T, their loss of good healthcare, the hospitals and other companies that are firing folks–all thanks to obamacare? Instead, we are fed, ad nauseum, the temporary and soon-to-be-passing effects of the gov’t semi-shutdown. It’s all sick.
Lots of coffee, Master Chief, LOTS of coffee.
Did you get that pinochle deck I sent you?
Pinokeeo’s Dick … No I did not. I am not LIKE that.
Booze, it’s not just for breakfast anymore!!
Oh, and I received official word from my CoC yesterday that this month’s drill for my NG unit has been canceled, there’s a piece of my monthly income gone now, THANKS, DEMO-RATS!!
I have nothing to do and I am sitting outside on bench with a hangover, unshowered, wearing olive drab shorts, an old gray ripped polo, and flip flops. All I need now is a cardboard sign to complete the pathetic scene.
Ah … Epiphany … Be right back!
I have something you can do, Master Chief. My lawn needs mowing and the front steps need nails pounded in some spots.
The liberal Pledge of Allegiance:
I pledge allegiance
to the agenda
of 0bama, Pelosi, and Reid.
And to the confiscation
of wealth and success,
higher taxes,
more regulations,
with poverty and Government dependence for all.
@73 Offering to let Master Chief pound nails at this time might be rather painful for him. Perhaps something quiet…like painting a fence or pulling weeds. 😉
I’m furloughed, but as an “essential” staff member, I am required to keep working or I will be considered AWOL and could face potential consequences. Supposedly I will get paid for working once the government is back up and running….but there’s no guarantee that could happen. I am sick of the blame game. It’s not a Republican vs. Democrat issue. It’s a Capitol Hill issue. It never should have been allowed to go this far. Stop bickering like little children, stop blaming each other, and stop playing chicken with our government. Just get the s**t done already!
Question: How do you legally force people, like AiJ, to keep working when you’re not paying them? Isn’t that slavery?
Good question, Pinto. It’s a question I’m asking right now! I guess technically I have the choice– keep working in the hopes of eventually getting paid for the work I am putting in right now, or quit my job. Unfortunately, I depend on my job for stuff like paying for the roof over my head and the food that my kid eats. So quitting my job isn’t really a feasible option for me.
My daughter has a mortgage etc. and is considered “essential” enough to have to come in, but not “essential enough” to know if she will ever be paid.
That’s exactly what is happening to me, David! It’s a load of crap! Either I am essential or I’m not, ya know?
I wish there was a way to enact term limits on Congress-critters.
To truly understand what effect this has, read this article about shutting down at NAVSTA Great Lakes. Note that the spokesman says it isn’t just about civilians. It means you can’t buy toilet paper for the barracks.
I lived in the WAVES’ barracks in 1972-73. I can tell you right now, that’s a LOT of toilet paper right there.
http://newssun.suntimes.com/22905142-417/government-shutdown-affects-2000-civilians-at-naval-station-great-lakes.html
So try to imagine what it will be like when RTC runs out of TP for the recruits, never mind the other barracks and the Naval Hospital there on the base, as well as the VAHCC.
While Aldi and Walmart can replace the commissary, they charge state taxes for certain items. Walmart takes coupons, which helps, but it doesn’t help people out when they run out of cash to begin with.
Also, the latest news is that the Big 4 (Reid and Pelosi, Boehner and McConnell) have been called to the throne, ostensibly to settle their differences.
http://news.msn.com/us/govt-shutdown-continues-as-stalemate-holds
@ #81- Congress most certainly needs term limits!
I think it’s so sad that recruits can’t even get toilet paper, I have no paydate in sight, and David’s daughter has no paydate in sight….yet the inmates will continue to get every need they have met. I’ve been told that we need to place orders for supplies ASAP though because companies may not accept our credit cards after today because they don’t know when they might get their money. I wonder what’s going to happen when, and if, we run out of supplies for them. And the inmates who are scheduled to be released just keep on getting released and given their release funds. Well, when we run out of release funds, what are we supposed to do?
@81, my proposal would be Legislators’ time in service to be limited to twelve years, six two year terms for Congressmen, two six year terms for Senators, and if one was to go from one house to another, their combined time in Congress would still be limited to twelve years. That would rid us of Pelosi, Eeid, McCain,…..
AiJax, it isn’t just TP, it’s also food supplies for the kitchens, cleaning supplies for the barracks in general, and medical supplies if the hospital runs out, among other things.
I have long thought that term limits for both houses of Congress is a good idea.
So we’ll see what comes out of the Big Conf/w at the White House, if anything does come out of it.
Oh brother. Poor me. Boo hoo. What will become of me? Boo hoo. I have been off work for nearly two full days. Boo hoo. Are you people serious or is this some sort of joke? At least one or two of you is finally angry. Of course, it’s fueled solely by how you or yours are affected. Where have you been for the past five years?
2/17, I hope YOU are the one joking. I have been angry about the way our politicians are handling things for quite a while. But this is kind of the last straw. They are playing chicken now, and as a result government employees are out of work for an undetermined amount of time. Please explain to me how it makes sense that I am essential enough to have to come to work, but not essential enough to actually pay?
Yeah, and my NG Unit has been shut down by this gargantuan hissy fit in DC, denying me and my family part of our monthly income. WTF kind of spin propaganda will B. Hussein 0bama & Co. put out next?
I truly love how 2/17 mocks us, as if we shouldn’t be upset because it’s only 2 days of pay. That’s not even really the point. The point is that Congress has just financially burdened all of these Americans….and why? Because they can’t stop bickering like a bunch of schoolchildren and just do their damn jobs. They knew this deadline was looming. It’s their job to COMPROMISE and keep our government running. What a freakin joke our country has become.
No, I’m not joking. You’ll get paid. Here’s a nice link to a story about who won’t get paid. It’s a list of the consequences of obamacare which, by the way, is the real issue here. In your spare time, you might give it a read, or at least a scan. Much of the country is now beginning to awaken. Why? Because it is no longer THEM and THEY but US and WE. It’s about time.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/359861/100-unintended-consequences-obamacare-andrew-johnson
No, I’m not mocking you. Neither am I enjoying your imaginary pain. And it is imaginary. Are you moving? Headeding off to a soup kichen? Got an appt’mt with the state social services office? Looking for work? Stealing gas from your lawn mower to put in yopur car? Counting loose change and seeking it in the seats of your sofa, chairs, and vehicle? Or are you just personally peeved right now b/c what was just something to ignore or occasionally talk about (obamacare and gov’t mismanagement and hijinks) is now on your doorstep?
What has brought us to this point will cease to matter at the end of the next pay cycle, if the situation doesn’t resolve. Most people live paycheck to paycheck. All it takes is one lost paycheck to put most people into a tailspin, because while the income may stop — the bills WON’T.
I’m not even going to take the time to reply to the ridiculousness that is that last post because it’s just plain rude.
Nobody knows what the benefits or consequences of Obamacare are….each side claims to know it all. The problem is, somebody has to be wrong.
WHen I said the post was rude, I was referring to 2/17, not PintoNag. I agree 100% with you, Pinto
I picked up the gist of your comment, AiJ. Thanks.
Here’s a little something that should make some of us happy. If these ‘lawmakers’ (and I use that term loosely) do not follow the rules, they can be thrown into the clink.
The Antideficiency Act of 1870 allows this. Smart people back then foresaw misappropriation in the making and headed it off.
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/143-year-old-law-has-lawmakers-treading-gingerly-during-shutdown-8C11319714
The consequences of obamacare are much more far-reaching than just computer glitches. Families in this area report finding that family coverage raises their monthly premiums from $2,000/mo to over $11,000/mo, something they simply cannot afford.
This isn’t just about missing work and not getting paid. It’s about losing jobs and losing income overall.
Since I have Medicare, I can tell you that the cost of premiums for supplemental coverage (Part C) will go up, likewise.
Oh – also, as I posted last night, the threat of default looms unless directly addressed by an appropriations bill.
https://twitter.com/jamiedupree/status/385463222914273280
Now, whether or not it gets done remains to be seen, but if, by October 17, appropriations legislation is not completed, there will be no funding for government operations or payment of debt interest/bills, and the USA will be officially in default.
It means your mom’s Social Security check won’t show up in November and Medicare charges won’t get paid.
As of last month, 11.3 million Americans were unemployed. Those are only the folks who looked for work—officially. Many others have given up. That’s actually an improvement! Then there are the foreclosures, so many family homes lost and so much debt owed on them to lenders of first and second mortgages. Lives totally disrupted. Cars repossessed. Skyrocketing bankruptcy filings. Marriage failures due to household income loss. Yeah, there are some serious problems but a few days off isn’t among them, especially when there will be pay for them, one way or another.
@ anomonous. Don’t get me started. Who the hell are you anyways.
BARTENDAR!
@93–Nobody knows what the benefits or consequences of Obamacare are….each side claims to know it all. The problem is, somebody has to be wrong.
As the old expression goes, “Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?” I’ve seen the socialized medicine in Canada and Great Britian.
I’ve got to believe that what we’ll eventually end up with will be way too close to the NHS for comfort. And no, it wasn’t pretty.