Slashdot Mirror
Slashdot Asks: How Does the US Gov't Budget Crunch Affect You?
The partial government shut-down that the U.S. is experiencing right now is about to enter its second week. Various government functions and services have been disrupted (including some web sites, whether it's a good idea or not), and lots of workers on the Federal payroll have been furloughed. But since the U.S. government is involved in so many aspects of modern American life, you don't have to work for the government to be affected by the budget politics at play. So, whether or not you work for the government in any capacity, the question we'd like to hear your answer to is this: What does the shutdown mean to you, in practical terms, whether the effects are good, bad, or indifferent?
Please note that the "right-wingers" got into congress by BEING ELECTED, by voters who support what they're doing. And even the left-wingers who are trying to bankrupt the country weren't elected by much more than 52% of whatever minor fraction of the population turned out to vote.
I realize that SlashDot is predominantly peopled by lefties who believe that the Federal Government SHOULD exercise the sorts of imperial power by decree that Barack Obama is doing - but the population of the American people is split pretty much right down the middle on this.
Obama is trying mightily to make everybody feel the pain of his displeasure - but that's not how a representative republic works.
"Congress" did not vote to do that, any more than Congress passed a budget. The republican controlled house voted to do that, but they also passed a full budget, voted to re-open parks, etc. The Senate democrats and refused to consider any of those bills and the president said he'd veto it anyway
The president has said he won't so much as discuss anything until he gets exactly the bill he wants, with only his changes to Obamacare, so everything that's been voted on is only by the house republicans, it's not law. (Except paying military troops.)
I need the military.
The rest of government appears to be do-gooder Marxist social programs parasitically piggybacked onto what were originally good ideas.
Let local communities do those now. Cut taxes, cut government, and get us back to Wild West America; it worked better.
Futurist Traditionalism
Corporate welfare like General Electric not paying taxes or for bad investments such as Solyndra?
I'm sorry for this hardship - I hope you come out on the other side O.K.
I don't. He's a federal employee that posts under the name "frosty piss", and uses slurs and disrespectful language to describe people who disagree. If he thinks for a second that private-employees aren't feeling pain he better think twice. I'd love to have only lost $2500 in savings, and a whole lot of other people would as well. I'm sooooo sooooorry you couldn't get your unemployemnt.. He can go to hell and take his whiny, tiny, woe is me attitude with him.
Actually, they did. The (conservative) House passed a budget; the (liberal) Senate didn't. The (liberal) President stated he wouldn't sign it.
As Thomas Sowell put it:
Guess what? The House gets to make the budget. If the Senate doesn't like it, political negotiations aside, they can't even submit a bill of their own to start the process. And the President, of course, certainly can't.
Hire a Linux system administrator, systems engineer,
If the shutdown is short, it's not a huge deal... but if it drags on, I wonder if her bank will defer her mortgage payments? Likely not...
Why is that likely not? Real banks do in fact do that all the time for people if you just call and explain the situation. Don't be an idiot and let the bank find out by surprise - talk to them early and ask for a deferment of some kind.
The son of a friend is a civilian helicopter mechanic attached to the base. He isn't "essential", so he's currently not working and not bringing in income.
You know what happens to people in real life when they are laid off, even if temporarily? They find another job.
Being a mechanic you'd think he could find some work pretty rapidly if he needed income badly. But possibly he has saved up, like everyone is supposed to (reserve is six months of income), and he's treating it as a break?
I don't feel sorry at all for either of your friends because by now you know what happens if you work for the government, it will shut down from time to time. My own wife works for the federal government too so it's not like I am not personally affected, but currently for her the tradeoff is worth keeping the job... but we are prepared for the shutdowns because we know at this point they will happen with some regularity. If you can't take it find a job in the private sector.
One other difference between the government and real life is that in real life the business usually just goes away, but you know the lumbering beast of the federal government will proceed, perhaps stumbling like now but it's not like the job will ever really go away. And that's why most of the people stay.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley