Federal Shutdown May Send Millennial Workers To Exits (techtarget.com) 284
dcblogs writes: The federal government measures the "engagement" of its federal workforce once a year with a massive survey of 1.5 million employees. And what it has found is that most federal workers are very dedicated to their work. Its most recent survey -- the 2018 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey -- asked employees if they are "willing to put in extra effort to get their job done," 96% of the survey takers responded affirmatively. Moreover, 91% agreed with the statement that they "look for ways to do their jobs better," and 90% "believe their work is important." But this job dedication is being tested by the U.S. government shutdown, and most at risk of leaving are Millennial-age workers. Less than 6% of federal employees are under the age of 30 and represent half of all people who leave an agency within the first two years. The best employees have options, and "a major concern is that the brightest, hardest-working, and most capable, dedicated government employees may opt out of government service and take jobs in the private sector," Talya Bauer, professor of management at Portland State University in Oregon and president of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, said. The shutdown could hurt the reputation of the government as a good place to work, she said.
Taking polls way too seriously here (Score:4, Insightful)
How credulous do you have to be to think a survey like this means anything? Might as well ask, "Who here doesn't want to get fired?" Damn.
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These surveys are not like private industry surveys. They are not used to root out malcontents and the people responding are well protected.
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These surveys are not like private industry surveys. They are not used to root out malcontents and the people responding are well protected.
Exactly. If you give the wrong answers, you will not be fired. You will just be assigned to the cubicle next to the photocopier machines.
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In the long run i'm not too worried (Score:2, Insightful)
If you think workers are concerned about politics resulting in a government shutdown, consider this:
If you work in private industry, you can be a victim of a mass-layoff, and you never know its coming, so you should have emergency $$$ savings to prepare for that possibility, just as you should if you work for government - in case of political issues causing funding shortfall come the end of the fiscal year.
With this US government shutdown... employees had more than 60 days' warning that this was ext
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Re:In the long run i'm not too worried (Score:4, Insightful)
Everyone is sympathetic to government shutdowns. I see banks, phone companies, and utilities all offering some kind of "assistance" to those affected. I don't think I have seen similar helping hands toward lay offs.
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Basically, stop living paycheck to paycheck. I think only 40% in the US do but if you can't handle a disruption or an unexpected payment then you're doing personal finance wrong.
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That is indeed easily said.
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Saving money on a budget really isn't anymore harder than getting completely broad-sided by an unexpected payment or income disruption and having to deal with the reality of that situation.
Going to bed hungry sucks. Eating the same crappy rice and beans for a month sucks too. Having holey shoes is no fun when it rains or snows. Inhibiting impulses to buy something with the savings collected is hard too.
But those are easier than dealing with pay-day loans and financial uncertainty when laid off or furloughed
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For some people, that works out. Others have kids or medical debt or the car drops the transmission, etc and there goes their safety margin and then some.
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People can't create a personal budget to save money that can help them when a car drops the transmission, etc because they have debt and kids?
Perhaps, you have never gone to bed hungry or ate food out of trash can but I can assure you that if someone doesn't have a personal budget they will be able to save some money if they create one.
Saving money is hard. But having a mustard sandwich and drinking water for dinner to not have hunger pains until you sleep is very much easier than dealing with pay-day loans
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Get a spreadsheet for your smart phone or bring a note pad everywhere. Note down every expense you incur and what it was for, the time of day, etc.
Judging by what I know of the bay areas of California, I suspect a very large amount of people there spend significantly over $100/mo just in coffee shops and that they themselves have no idea that its as much as it is. Almost all of this money can only be attributed to convenience even if coffee is c
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Not always, no. If you feed the kids mustard sandwiches or trash can food, CPS may come knocking. A few hours in the ER can wipe out more than a year's salary quicker than you can say "what's all this going to cost?". Sometimes that happens even WITH health insurance. If your expenses exceed your income, you won't be able to save money. And not all expenses are optional.
I'm not saying nobody in financial trouble is the architect of their own problem, but I am calling BS on the idea that everyone is able to
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Basically, stop living paycheck to paycheck.
Yeah those fuckers should just be rich and screw them if they're not.
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Personal financial responsibility requires living with parents rent free? That's news to me.
I understand that we are at an all time high with multi generational homes but that is largely a separate issue.
Everyone needs or should have personal financial responsibility. Not everyone is affected by the reasons for the new high of multi-generational homes (college expense is a big factor FWIU).
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I understand that we are at an all time high with multi generational homes but that is largely a separate issue.
Honestly; If you can make it work without too much of a sacrifice, and you can make it work without interpersonal conflict,
then a "multi generational home", or otherwise sharing a home with as many families or people the premises will comfortably accommodate with each person or family still being able to have private areas and enough personal space is a financially efficient thing to do ---
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Power to ya. I guess I don't understand your initial comment.
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Re: In the long run i'm not too worried (Score:2)
Yes mate everyone's situation is just like yours and everyone has spare money they can just put away. Meanwhile in the real world, shit happens and for many reasons it's not possible. Then some spoilt clueless child says "you should've been saving".
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Oh, want to quiz the rest of the country about that. It had your 60 days warning but the horror stories about the fallout are now coming out and they are not pretty. During Reagan's tenure, the government was forced to privatize many functions. Many of those functions are not getting done, and the people working in those private companies are getting hurt. The farmers are also taking it in the neck, but that's what they get for supporting a bozo.
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employees had more than 60 days' warning
They had 60 days warning of maybe. If it were me, I'd just look for other work - evidently I"m not alone in this idea.
making the whole thing essentially a 20+ day paid vacation
Except they don't get a vacation, they still have to work their government jobs for free, in most cases. And 20+ days? The president (the guy holding the country hostage, in the name of freedom from Mexicans, the guy that started this whole mess) is saying that this may go on for months or years.
So your plan for these government workers is that they should work their free job AND a sid
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They had 60 days warning of maybe. If it were me, I'd just look for other work
Good on you. This makes it easier for the smart people that, you know, take advantage of the unemployment insurance they have been paying into.
But meh... to each their own I guess.. dont want to discourage you from stupidly leaving money on the table...
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They can't apply for unemployment benefits while they are still employed, even if they are not being paid.
They can quit, but of course they might still be looking for work by the time the government shutdown ends, and there's no assurance they'd be able to get their old job back.
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They can't apply for unemployment benefits while they are still employed, even if they are not being paid.
If they are furloughed they qualify for unemployment benefits. If they are essential since they have not been furloughed they do not since they are still employed and working.
They can quit, but of course they might still be looking for work by the time the government shutdown ends, and there's no assurance they'd be able to get their old job back.
Very true. They are better off working another job and calling in sick if essential.
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If they are essential since they have not been furloughed they do not since they are still employed and working.
Stop making stuff up. Its called partial unemployment and can be used whenever your income significantly decreases.
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Emergency savings to prepare for the possibility of being out of work has its limits, and generally still depends on being able to collect EI while you look for other work.
But people are still employ
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Unpaid government workers just collect unemployment and then have to pay it back when they get their backpay. It nets out to a forced paid vacation. I'm happy to take a bonus vacation if you just require me to do a little paperwork.
It's not like this has never happened to them before and they don't know what to do or how to navigate the system.
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I was about to say the same thing. Job dedication at any company would be 90%+ too if they paid 135% of industry wages nearly guaranteed for the rest of your life with limitless mobility within the company and some of the best benefits.
The government seems to "work" fine, everything essential is self-funding or exempt from shutdowns including many national and state parks. The bean counters and middle managers and a few millennial hipsters - things would function a lot better without all of them there.
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Government jobs are not 135% higher than the equivalent in private industry. Though I do agree that government jobs are one of the last holdouts for having decent pension plans.
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Not 135% higher, 135% of (or 35% more)
$76,470 for average federal government wages vs $44,600 for average private sector wages - actually 42% although it's misleading because government workers don't make as much at the high ends (eg >250k) whereas private sector it isn't nearly as rare.
Re:A good Matlab replacement, not the next big thi (Score:2)
It's not 135% on a like-for-like job basis, though.
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$76,470 for average federal government wages vs $44,600 for average private sector wages
Those are misleading figures, because you're aggregating over industry sectors and the representation in those sectors is not uniform. Many of what would be low-paid government employees are now subcontracted out. If you go sector-by-sector, the government pays OK, but not stellar.
IOW, It's not like a programmer in the governemnt is earning 35% more than a programmer in industry.
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What? That's an insane comparison. That's like complaining about how overpaid programmers are because average salaries at high-tech firms are higher than average salaries at janitorial companies. Why, I'm really upset that my neighbor the VP of finance at a large company makes huuuuge bucks while I'm getting $12/hour for my cashier job at the local grocery store while living in my parents' basement! We both work with
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and many furloughed employees will be entitled to automatic back pay
Um, no. Those "essential" employees who've been forced to work without a paycheck are entitled automatically. Everyone furloughed is at risk of never seeing a dime for the time that they expected to be working but weren't. No government shutdown has ever led to employees missing out on their paychecks but it wouldn't surprise me if this wasn't another trumpian first.
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Um, no. Those "essential" employees who've been forced to work without a paycheck are entitled automatically.
Regardless of how "essential" an employee is thought to be --- unless they're military enlisted, they cannot actually be "forced" to work without pay. The employee can simply decline, go on strike, be a no-show, call in sick, etc.
After every shutdown; Congress consistently passes a bill providing backpay for the furloughed employees.
That's what is in the works already [house.gov].
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They also just collect unemployment in the meantime, then have to pay it back after they get their check.
If you have a college degree it's cake to get (Score:2)
But that's kind of the point. The GOP is actively trying to sabotage the government so they can privatize everything and turn every aspect of our lives into cash cows. They even have a name for it, they call it "Starve the Beast".
TL;DR; Put people in charge of government who either do
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The flipside is that the employers also had more than 60 days to make sure that it wouldn't happen. In fact, they had decades to do so.
The USA is adjacent to another country which doesn't have shutdown panics at all. This is handled by two methods - first is that the governor can issue warrants from the treasury to ensure that public employees get paid, and second is that failing to pass a budget is known as a non-confidenc
lololol (Score:2)
"The federal government measures the "engagement" of its federal workforce once a year with a massive survey of 1.5 million employees. And what it has found is that most federal workers are very dedicated to their work. Its most recent survey -- the 2018 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey -- asked employees if they are "willing to put in extra effort to get their job done," 96% of the survey takers responded affirmatively. Moreover, 91% agreed with the statement that they "look for ways to do their jobs bett
Numbers w/out context are meaningless (Score:2)
'When asked if they are "willing to put in extra effort to get their job done," 96% of 2018 survey takers gave a positive result, said Mallory Bulman, vice president of research and evaluation at the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that works with government officials on workforce management issues. Moreover, 91% agreed with the statement that they "look for ways to do their jobs better," and 90% "believe their work is important."'
96% sounds amazing... but when you ask that sa
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Wait - I thought you said "Millennials" (Score:4, Funny)
Wait - I thought you said "Millennials"
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Actually, if the premise is correct, it may be the best news coming out of this.
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I'm either an old Millennial or young X-er depending on which metric you use, so I've spent time with Boomers, X, and Millennials and I have to say that most Millennials I've come across have been hard working. This goes against the stereotype, but they generally work at least as hard as anyone else. What they're less likely to do is put up with nonsense and meaningless ritual at work. They don't seem to feel as strongly about "paying dues" - they want to be paid for what they actually do.
Millennials who decided government work was glamorous based on their starry-eyed Obamania and HOPE posters in 2008, thinking they were going to be the next break-out data.gov rock star were going to be in for a rude awakening one way or another.
If they're replaced by Gen-X'ers who wouldn't mind the general stability and have a realistic outlook on both the world and the US government, I'm not really sure that's a bad thing. When people get disillusioned, someone has to pay for that phase change (usually in
Re:Wait - I thought you said "Millennials" (Score:2)
Millennials do have a harder time affording life in general, and I can completely understand why someone who is an entry-level employee making just enough to get by would want to switch to a better paying job with perhaps less bureaucracy.
Well if they just cut out those soy lattes and avocado on toast and saved the money instead, then in 10 or 20 thousand years they'd be able to afford a house. No sympathy.
The plan is working (Score:2)
Isn't that just what conservatives have been working toward for decades?
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Small good government != small ineffectual government.
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"The shutdown could hurt the reputation of the government as a good place to work..."
Isn't that just what conservatives have been working toward for decades?
No.
If the only reason you work for the government is because the pay and promotion is (was) a guaranteed thing, then maybe you need to look for a different job.
If, OTOH, you are working there because you want to do the work and do something you feel is beneficial to your fellow citizens and all that, then the government is still a good place to work, because it is doing a lot of things that aren't done in private enterprise.
Sounds good to me, too! (Score:4, Insightful)
I live near DC and never hear the end of all the moaning and whining when government does a shut-down. I mean, it really does reach the absurd at times. I remember last time there was a shutdown, I was at a full service car wash in Gaithersburg, MD. This lady in front of me rolls in with a high-end luxury full size SUV, and asks to have it fully detailed and waxed. While we're standing in line, she proceeds to tell me how the government shutdown has made everything so stressful for her.... and she just decided to get the car all cleaned up since she had all this time to kill now.
It only took about 2 days of this shut-down before people were on all the news stations, talking about their struggle. (None of them were even close to missing 1 paycheck yet!)
I really do get that the younger people, who just got a first "real job" doing something for Federal govt., would be far more impacted ... But hey, I *never* accepted a government job for this reason. Always felt like the private sector made more sense. I don't like knowing my paycheck is covered by tax revenue they forcibly take from everybody else who works, and everything is subject to voters voting people in or out of office, legislation changing what government plans to do next, etc. Federal govt. jobs have different sets of perks, too, though. It's very difficult to get fired from most government jobs, for example. Even the idiots trying to watch porn while on the job often just got a slap on the wrist and kept their employment.... If you're a real screw up, you sometimes even get a promotion, because it's the only easy way for your superior to get rid of having to deal with you.
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I live near DC and never hear the end of all the moaning and whining when government does a shut-down.
Oh no please, feel moan and whine about it on Slashdot. -_-
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It only took about 2 days of this shut-down before people were on all the news stations, talking about their struggle. (None of them were even close to missing 1 paycheck yet!)
If they actually wait until they miss that paycheck to scramble and make arrangements, they're doing it wrong.
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I'm not disagreeing with that. I'm disagreeing with the idea that the serious stress doesn't start until the first paycheck is actually missed.
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Um.. Gov't jobs are traditionally much more stable (Score:2, Interesting)
And I see what you did there with your anecdote where you tell a story with the most obnoxious person anyone can imagine (Big SUV, detailing, of course a Lady because there's a meme for that [google.com]). Let that rub off on anyone who complains about the shutdown.
I mean, if we're gonna talk about obnoxious folks in the shutdown there's this gem [msnbc.com]. But there's
What are millenials doing working for the governme (Score:3)
What are millenials doing working for the government anyway. Private sector is on fire. Go make some money while it's easier to make.
Brightest will go private sector for money? (Score:3, Interesting)
Why didn't they do that in the first place?
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Why didn't they do that in the first place?
Not wanting to be at the whims of offshoring and quarterly results? Desire for a more stable job? Wanting to work in a particular location? Wanting to so interesting work that's hard to find in the private sector? Stability? Lack of inane crunch time?
There's tons of reasons that government jobs can be good. But not being paid is not one of them.
This affects intel agents and data security (Score:4, Interesting)
A large quantity of patriotic native born Americans, who are millenials, are impacted by this. I personally know of quite a few that had been considering work in data security and in intelligence or law enforcement services for the US who are affected.
How can you trust people when they throw you under the bus because they don't want to look foolish?
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Did you know that the Intelligence Community and law enforcement are entirely funded? Not one of them is off because of this "shutdown".
So, uh, no. You don't personally know anyone in "intelligence or law enforcement" that was affected.
Except maybe some janitors.
Security clearances are not being done. You can't be hired or promoted or suborned to a useful position without one.
I know quite a lot about this, as a former SME who could declassify and reclassify information.
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If your first attempt to be right was just complete bullshit, then why should we consider your second attempt to be right genuine? Thats right, we shouldn't, because a fucking liar cant be fucking trusted, and your first attempt proved that you are a fucking liar.
Historical survey results (Score:5, Interesting)
The 2018 report [opm.gov] has historical results for the same survey questions from 2014-2018, and 2013 report [opm.gov] show results from 2010-2013 (it appears the questions in the summary were introduced in 2010).
"willing to put in extra effort" has remained consistent at 96%. "look for ways to do job better" consistently between 90%-91%. "work is important" consistently between 90%-91%. Basically, government employees' attitudes about these factors has not changed in 8 years (which takes us through one change in President's party, control of the House, and control of the Senate). And there is no evidence to indicate they are changing.
The survey questions whose results did change are:
These are the survey questions which indicate changes in government employee attitude (apparently there was more doom and gloom around 2014). That TFA focuses instead on three survey questions whose results have not changed, and discussed them with respect to a current event which could not yet have influenced the survey results, suggests the authors of TFA were just looking for an excuse to write an opinion piece, not report the news.
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As you have noted, they are generally more confident about things since Trump got elected.
Really nothing new here (Score:2)
Coast Guard (Score:2)
Plenty of millennials in the Coast Guard, who aren't getting paid.
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Plenty of millennials in the Coast Guard, who aren't getting paid.
These are truly people who are doing it for the job and not the money.
Why is the USCG not under DOD who are still being paid? It now looks stupid that they aren't. Every person who is pointing at the Coast Guard and using them as a talking point against the shutdown is calling them a necessary coastal defense. Why not Department of Defense, then?
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You really really really dont want the DoD to be a law enforcement agency. Seriously. If the government ever moves to make that happen , then I implore you to march with me on Washington with rifle in hand.
median age is 50 (Score:2)
What the heck are you talking about?
Young people do not to get stuck in the 2.5% salary increase for the rest of their lives.
Re:Well.. So? (Score:4, Insightful)
Didn't Trump say he wanted a smaller government? Seems like a quick way to achieve that.
Yes, this. I bet most of the Republican party are on cloud 9 right now, dreaming about their libertarian, small gubbermint ideologies. Meanwhile, millions of not so ideological people suffer from a lack of government services. In practice, Libertarians are just a bunch of sadistic perverts.
Re:Well.. So? (Score:5, Insightful)
The Republicans win by getting a smaller gubbermint. They win again by dragging the gubbermint through the mud thus tainting it for the future as a place to do good work. And they'll win again after they've fucked up the gubbermint operations by campaigning under the slogan that the gubbermint doesn't work well, so elect them to fix it.
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The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it. -- P.J. O'Rourke
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Classic GOP. Reasonable terms = "my way or the highway"
Trump didn't get his wall in 2017. He didn't get his wall in 2018. And he won't be getting his wall in 2019. This temper tantrum is the result of the "master" negotiator.
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Ha ha, well said AC, well said.
Trump IS on record (video is available) as saying he'll accept the blame for the shutdown.
And he IS on record for dodging the Vietnam draft due to, apparently, "bone spurs" (whatever they are).
Dunno about the electric chair, but I strong suspect that Trump doesn't have the best interests of the USA in mind as president, rather the best interests of the Trump family business.
As has been mentioned, with examples, on many other sites including YouTube.
Re: Well.. So? (Score:4, Insightful)
What, putting five billion unbudgeted dollars into an appropriation bill is reasonable? For a project with no corresponding authorization bill?
But you probably don't understand what any of that means, so how about this: Congress asked the president for a detailed breakdown of how he intended to spend the money and he only itemized 1.7 billion, meaning he's demanding 3.2 billion that he could spend any way he likes.
If you think government spending is out of control, wait until this becomes the new normal.
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For a project with no corresponding authorization bill?
Authorized in 2006, spending stopped in 2009 when Obama took office in spite of the bill authorizing the spending.
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Well, I may be a moron, but I'm a moron who understands the difference between a budget, and authorization and an appropriation bill. The system is designed, among other things, to restrain presidential power and to force the government to work out its spending priorities in advance. I don't know if *you* are a moron too, but you're certainly an ignoramus.
What Trump wants is off-budget spending to be put into a routine appropriations bill, without a formally authorized program that will prevent that spend
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Who gave you the idea that Republicans were libertarian? Democrats?
Both sides slander libertarians; they don't want an effective third party.
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Who gave you the idea that Republicans were libertarian?
Indeed. Libertarians believe in small government, elimination of subsidies, reduced military spending, and free trade.
This is the precise opposite of Trumpism, which is an ad-hoc blend of the dumbest ideas from both the left and right.
Re: Libertarians are morons. There's the link to (Score:2)
Libertarians generally aren't morons, but plenty people who think they're libertarians are.
Re:Well.. So? (Score:5, Informative)
What I find interesting is that it seems the worst impacts of the shutdown are being felt by demographics that tend to vote Republican. That makes the political fallout for this shutdown potentially disastrous for Republicans.
Maybe they'll forget come 2020. But we'll see. The Republican party's behavior has been pretty uniformly reprehensible, and there's a chance that these events will cause a few Republican voters to open their eyes and see the party for what it is: a party for the rich, by the rich, who only panders to non-rich voters by promising to harm "those people". When they find that they're often in the crosshairs, maybe they'll start expanding their news sources beyond the conservative bubble and actually learn something.
Not many, of course. It's rare for people to change their minds like this. But it does happen. And it could be the beginning of the end for the Republican party (aside: if the Republican party ends, it will be replaced by another party: our system is only stable with two parties in power; hopefully that other party will be less terrible so that we can actually have a reasonable national political discussion for once).
Re:Well.. So? (Score:4, Interesting)
What I find interesting is that it seems the worst impacts of the shutdown are being felt by demographics that tend to vote Republican. That makes the political fallout for this shutdown potentially disastrous for Republicans.
Maybe they'll forget come 2020. But we'll see. The Republican party's behavior has been pretty uniformly reprehensible, and there's a chance that these events will cause a few Republican voters to open their eyes and see the party for what it is: a party for the rich, by the rich, who only panders to non-rich voters by promising to harm "those people". When they find that they're often in the crosshairs, maybe they'll start expanding their news sources beyond the conservative bubble and actually learn something.
Not many, of course. It's rare for people to change their minds like this. But it does happen. And it could be the beginning of the end for the Republican party (aside: if the Republican party ends, it will be replaced by another party: our system is only stable with two parties in power; hopefully that other party will be less terrible so that we can actually have a reasonable national political discussion for once).
I chance that it will not be disastrous. We are talking about a core that's been willing to commit socioeconomic seppuku for years as long as someone blows wind through the right whistle.
This problem is sociological and cultural in nature, and it is not one without precedent. Cultures have been known to walk off the proverbial cliff, engaging in self-destructive and self-defeating customs and practices in the name of identity.
It's high time we need to recognize their voting patterns as another manifestation of said types of cultures. Shades of J.D. Vance's "Hillbilly Effigy."
Even if perchance this causes a Republican blow-back in 2020, for as long as these social dynamics persists with these voters, they will continue with these patterns, with these exaggerated outlooks on what America is supposed to be, and animosity towards anything and anyone that doesn't fit the mold.
Cruelty is the point. It's not a side-effect, not a tool. It is the point.
Case in point , read this story of a voter saying "Trump is not hurting the people he's supposed to be hurting". It is quite revealing of the type of shi-that-never-dies we are dealing with. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/8/18173678/trump-shutdown-voter-florida [vox.com]
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who only panders to non-rich voters by promising to harm "those people".
Every year that goes by, that becomes less and less of a winning strategy [pewresearch.org]. The republican party has not been friendly to either women or minorities [theguardian.com], and I can't imagine that they're all going to suddenly forget the party's history at some point in the coming decades and vote republican.
Awww, that's so cute! You believe that people vote based on well-informed reason. They won't remember a thing when the next election cycle is in full swing. They'll be bombarded from all sides with appeals to emotion & vilifying anyone they identify as "other." All of this will be enthusiastically reinforced by the main stream media and especially social media. After all, that's what social media is designed to do; keep people's eyes on their web pages by promoting indignant outrage inducing comments, h
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DRAIN THE SWAMP
... of what talent is there.
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I have a family member who is a federal agent. He has to work even when he is "furloughed." He just doesn't get paid until the next spending bill is passed. It's not like a paid vacation for all federal employees.
Re:Pension, job security, 30 days leave, yeah (Score:5, Interesting)
The longer the government shutdown lasts, the more this sounds like slavery. I mean not quite, because ostensibly air traffic controllers could quit and become baristas at Starbucks or whatever (assuming the government does not compel them to not do so), but pretty close.
Particularly appalling is the fact that during the shutdown, all vacations are cancelled, and anyone on vacation is required to immediately terminate that vacation and return to work (because after all, otherwise everyone essential would take vacations), creating pretty significant hardship, particularly given that it happened during the Christmas holiday. I'm pretty sure if I worked for the federal government, I'd have said, "Screw you. I quit," and I'm not even a millennial. I can't imagine how they didn't have an absolute exodus.
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Actually, generally the federal workers who get furloughed don't go work a second job, they just collect unemployment.
Then when they do get their big paycheck for the time they were on forced vacation, they are required to pay the unemployment back.
Of course, some new workers are dumber than most and spend both the UI and the backpay windfall, then get caught out when later UI catches up with them and wants to get paid back and they've already spent it.
Source: Lived in DC for 8 years, heard it again from fu
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Re:Pension, job security, 30 days leave, yeah (Score:5, Funny)
I think that may be the best reason I've ever heard for "losing" your official cell phone.
You: Whoops. Sorry, I didn't get your voice mail. My phone went crazy in Paris.
Boss: Crazy?
You: In Seine.
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The folks filing a 13th amendment lawsuit agree.
Re:TSA will quit. (Score:5, Funny)
What's going to happen when the TSA, which has to work without pay, quits?
Travelling by air will become a somewhat smooth process again.
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A lot of airports have rejected TSA in favor of private security; TSA security is not required by law at airports, just security.
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Airports aren't mandated to use TSA. Some airports (San Francisco International for example) have private organizations performing the passenger screening.
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If they're so good, then they can get a job in private industry and make much more money then.
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Exactly.
Most government jobs I've seen are slacker jobs.
If one has skills and wants money, they don't work for the government.
It's a haven for liberal arts graduates.
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Sorry. There's only two of us moderates left.