Congress votes for backpay for federal workers??

[Londoner]

Let's stop drawing such an impenetrable line between government and private sector jobs.

Most large corporations benefit from massive government subsidies.

Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Halliburton, Exxon, Ely Lilly . . . all suck very hard on the government teet.

Don't people understand the point of Lobbying or election donations?

My friend works for global biotech firm based in the USA. He laughs at how much money his company gets from Government. He knows who butters his bread.

The point of business is to grow big enough to exercise leverage over the political system so that you can capture the big wallet of the tax payer and the centralized regulatory power of government. Research Eli Lilly's no-bid contract for Medicare drugs - the one they were given under the 2003 Republican Drug Bill, the largest expansion of entitlement spending since LBJ's War on Poverty. It's not like this stuff is a secret. Business owns government.

Welcome to final phase of capitalism whereby corporations capture the state and set-up monopolies over most sectors - and they use their profits to get politicians elected or grease the ones already in office. What Republicans call the private sector is just another class of quasi-government workers. These government subsidized corporations don't want to lose their sweet deal. This is why they pump money into Rightwing media sources, which scream "socialism" at anyone who tries to challenge their free lunch.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Let's stop drawing such an impenetrable line between government and private sector jobs.

Most large corporations benefit from massive government subsidies.

Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Halliburton, Exxon, Ely Lilly . . . all suck very hard on the government teet.

Don't people understand the point of Lobbying or election donations?

My friend works for global biotech firm based in the USA. He laughs at how much money his company gets from Government. He knows who butters his bread.

The point of business is to grow big enough to exercise leverage over the political system so that you can capture the big wallet of the tax payer and the centralized regulatory power of government. Research Eli Lilly's no-bid contract for Medicare drugs - the one they were given under the 2003 Republican Drug Bill, the largest expansion of entitlement spending since LBJ's War on Poverty. It's not like this stuff is a secret. Business owns government.

Welcome to final phase of capitalism whereby corporations capture the state and set-up monopolies over most sectors - and they use their profits to get politicians elected or grease the ones already in office. What Republicans call the private sector is just another class of quasi-government workers. These government subsidized corporations don't want to lose their sweet deal. This is why they pump money into Rightwing media sources, which scream "socialism" at anyone who tries to challenge their free lunch.

and if you had your way we wouldn't have any
1. advancements in research
2. Choices within the market place
3. Wouldn't make much


Or are you expecting a bunch of tiny businesses to take up the weight???


I'd rather have what we're having.

 

[OriginalShroom]

Government Employees have always received backpay after a Government Shut down.

Even when Clinton shut it down for 21 days.

This is nothing new.

 

[JohnL.Burke]

Federal workers, might I suggest a trip to a winery? Great time of year for that! National parks are closed but there are plenty of private organizations that would love your patronage! Private zoos, aquariums, gardens, etc.

My dad and his co-workers rented a boat and went out on the bay a couple days ago! Split amongst friends it can be very affordable!

Go and enjoy yourselves! It's not your fault that congress is in the middle of a hissyfit.

I can understand why a federal worker that only gets 13 sick days, 10 Holidays and up to 26 days vacation a year (that is 2 months, 3 days) is exhausted and needs another paid furlough. If I had to work 9 months, 3 weeks and 2 days a year, I would definitely need more PAID time off.

It is all very well that the House wants to undo the damage to federal workers but what about the ripple effect this is causing. Major defense contractors are starting to furlough large numbers of employees. Who is going to help make up the money they will lose? Who is going to help the people who are being denied the government services they need and rely on? Where is the House on helping them?

Where is Obama on helping them?

 

[OriginalShroom]

Will a mod please merge the two threads?

 

[TooTall]

Federal workers, might I suggest a trip to a winery? Great time of year for that! National parks are closed but there are plenty of private organizations that would love your patronage! Private zoos, aquariums, gardens, etc.

My dad and his co-workers rented a boat and went out on the bay a couple days ago! Split amongst friends it can be very affordable!

Go and enjoy yourselves! It's not your fault that congress is in the middle of a hissyfit.

I can understand why a federal worker that only gets 13 sick days, 10 Holidays and up to 26 days vacation a year (that is 2 months, 3 days) is exhausted and needs another paid furlough. If I had to work 9 months, 3 weeks and 2 days a year, I would definitely need more PAID time off.

It is all very well that the House wants to undo the damage to federal workers but what about the ripple effect this is causing. Major defense contractors are starting to furlough large numbers of employees. Who is going to help make up the money they will lose? Who is going to help the people who are being denied the government services they need and rely on? Where is the House on helping them?

The House has passed 4 or 5 bills that would have funded government programs, but Harry Reid won't bring them to the Senate floor for a vote. The question should be Where is the Senate on helping them.

 

[TooTall]

Congress votes for back-pay for federal workers?? So now its like a vacation for these people???

Make them take vacation pay...for at least a part of it.

The vote was 407-0 and the White House highly approves. You don't think any Democrat would vote against federal workers not getting paid do you? After all, no pay no union dues, no contribution to the DNC election fund.

 

[ron4342]

Remember, obama called these people non-essential. According to my Websters, non-essential means not needed.

So lets give them a permanent furlough. why do we need to pay for non-essential employees?

One can always count on redfish NOT to think through the whole problem.
His idea to give the government "permanent furlough" makes little sense. What he is saying is that we need to close down the National Park System. I am sure s/he will be more than willing to sell all the national parks to strip miners and mall developers. Further, numerous federal programs that are essential for welfare of the people in this country are operating at a much lower level. This lower level means that people will not be fully served. A perfect example would be the shutting down of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC. This program will impact approximately 9 million low income mother's and infants. Many low income woman with babies rely on WIC for supplemental vouchers for healthy food, breastfeeding support, infant formula and other necessities dispensed at clinics nationwide. As redfish can only see to the tip of his/her nose h/she is not aware of this. So, what do you think redfish, let poor women and their babies starve so you will feel better? Hell, there are only 9 million of them that will suffer.
Other programs or agencies that will be affected will be support persons in the military, The National Institutes of Health (which will stop taking new patients), the National Zoo, NASA, and others. Some agencies have contingency funds but the longer this goes the more people that will be put out of work.

 

[Connery]

Congress should be on furlough without back pay and go to a rehab.

 

[The T]

Congress should be on furlough without back pay and go to a rehab.

If I could REP you I would. I agree.

Political class v. the people that pay the freight.

 

[Sunshine]

Congress votes for back-pay for federal workers?? So now its like a vacation for these people???

Make them take vacation pay...for at least a part of it.

The vote was 407-0 and the White House highly approves. You don't think any Democrat would vote against federal workers not getting paid do you? After all, no pay no union dues, no contribution to the DNC election fund.

Of course it was. The thing they are best at is spending our money for unnecessary shit.

 

[Sunshine]

Congress should be on furlough without back pay and go to a rehab.

Good diagnosis. They are compulsive spenders. They should all be on Depakote for their compulsive behavior.

 

[Londoner]

and if you had your way we wouldn't have any
1. advancements in research
2. Choices within the market place
3. Wouldn't make much


Or are you expecting a bunch of tiny businesses to take up the weight???


I'd rather have what we're having.

Actually, my preference would be for a system where Government provides the kind of support to business that we've always had. I just think it is counterproductive for the Rightwing to deny how much money and resources business extracts from the state.

Check out the book "Creating the Cold War University: The Transformation of Stanford". It shows in great detail how the government infused massive amounts of cash into places like Stanford and MIT in order to develop the technological advances that created the modern industrial infrastructure and technological sophistication that business needs to thrive. It shows how the Cold War Pentagon and NASA budgets funded the research that eventually found its way into the 80's consumer electronics boom. [I'm sure you can imagine the technology required to put a man on the moon, and how that technology could be very useful to profit makers. Research the satellite technology the fueled the telecom revolution. Big Government's deep pockets are all over it. Republican voters have no idea how sophisticated our war technology and space-program-technology is. Guess who funds it? Guess who administers the research? These aren't faceless bureaucrats. These are good Americans who work for Washington and created great things. Maybe you're not proud of our Space Program, but the technology behind it was/is amazing. Problem is: Rush Limbaugh won't let Republican voters see any of this. This is not to say that government creates all good things (which is the Republican caricature of the Left's beliefs); rather, this is to say that your party has hurt us terribly by suppressing the productive relationship between business and government. Look at our postwar infrastructure expansion when great presidents like Eisenhower put our veterans to work building highways, bridges, energy grids and water facilities. Today's Republican party has raised a generation of voters who are ignorant of these great things. Why do you think Asia is starting to clean our clock with technology jobs? Because Republicans have waged war on public education because they want lower taxes. But I got news for you. Many of the soldiers who died protecting our freedom in WWII were educated at great public schools, and they had a right to be proud of their education]

Anyway, the book mentioned above shows the deep partnership between government and business. And it explains why business flocks to Washington for Big Government aid.

The Rightwing media complex suppresses this relationship because they don't want to give government any credit for it's massive role in developing insanely profitable technologies. In the back of the house, business accepts MASSIVE benefits from government. In the front of the house, business wages war against government so that it doesn't have to pay the taxes associated with those benefits. Business craves Patent protection from the nanny state. It wants Big Government to protect its products from other market competitors. The Financial Sector craves Big Government FDIC Insurance so that it has more consumer dollars to invest with.

The rightwing voter has been lied to. He doesn't understand the partnership between Government and Business. He has been lead to believe that government always obstructs business. He has no idea that government is, in many instances, a tool of business - and they've collected massive profits using that tool. I just hate the fact that such a large collection of voters has been so thoroughly lied to. We can't afford their ignorance.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

The pettiness of the right knows no bounds.

It's not pettiness. Paying someone for not working is total asshattery. Even a second grader understands this but at that age they haven't lived long enough to become as politically partisan as you are, so unlike you they are still able to reason.

 

[Politico]

Companies close for all kinds of reasons.

Why should government employees be treated any differently than anyone else when they are laid off?

Let them apply for and collect unemployment like anyone else.

Because none of them are laid off derp.

 

[Immanuel]

I agree with Toro. It is not the fault of the employees that The Oval Office and Capital Hill are filled with assholes that only care about making a political statement. Screw the politicians.

Yes, it is a shame that if a private business shuts its doors for a given length of time, its employees are SOL, but businesses are there to make money. They don't just close the door because the CEO (President in this case) needs a bottle and his diaper changed.

Immie

Companies close for all kinds of reasons.

Why should government employees be treated any differently than anyone else when they are laid off?

Let them apply for and collect unemployment like anyone else.

I do not believe the government employees can collect unemployment. I think you can only collect unemployment if you don't have a job. If they had been fired they would have been eligible. However, they have NOT been fired, only furloughed. I am basing this on the fact that teachers do not work during the summer months and they cannot collect unemployment during this period. The reasoning is that they are still under contract during the summer and they still have a job although schools are not in session.

Not ever having been a member of a union, I can't say for sure, but if I remember correctly when my dad worked for the phone company and was a member once they went out on a prolonged strike and they were eligible for unemployment. I can't swear to it and am not interested enough to go look it up.

Immie

 

[dcraelin]

if they are going to get paid anyway, make them show up for work

we know that is what the capital police do, make them all do it if theyre going to get paid anyway

 

[LoneLaugher]

Man....can nutters ever talk from both sides of their mouths!

 

[Intense]

I was talking with an IRS worker earlier Today, not an Obama fan either. She has been off since the circus started, found out earlier about the back pay, and was relieved. That's understandable. What is not understandable is that people should continue to be compensated for not showing up to work. If you are getting paid, be there. Do your job. The more we try to curb frivolous spending, the more frivolously they spend our money. It is at the least an embarrassment, at the worst totalitarian.

 

[dcraelin]

if they are getting full backpay,.....then show up for work

if thy're not working,...getting in effect a paid vacation, then Congress should not fully compensate them, they need to take some sort of hit for not doing the work they were hired for.