Official USMB Shutdown Showdown Thread --- Week of Jan 14th, 2019

[Care4all]

didn't they just call back to work the IRS employees and a few other agencies by now calling them essential and now they too are working 40 hours a week for nothing?


There’s a conservative theory bouncing around (as it usually does during government shutdowns) that furloughed “nonessential” federal employees won’t be missed, and that in fact Americans who don’t miss them will suddenly experience enlightenment and vote to shrink government forever.

But instead of endorsing this theory by shrugging at the unperformed jobs of “nonessential” workers, the Trump administration is now recalling 46,000 of them, who will go from the frying pan of not being allowed to work to the fire of being forced to work without pay.

Some will be assigned to tasks that will head off dangerous criticism of the administration, like aircraft and food safety inspections. Others are apparently being rushed to the assistance of favored industries like mortgage lenders and oil companies, as Bloomberg reports:

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Learn More »
The Interior Department is now clearing the way for previously furloughed workers to help sell drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters, as 11 personnel are being temporarily recalled to prepare documents necessary for auctions of Gulf of Mexico expected in March and August …



Some 40 personnel also are available amid the shutdown on an on-call basis to help process permits authorizing seismic tests to search for oil in the Atlantic Ocean and develop a new five-year plan for selling drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters from mid-2019 through mid-2024.

Yeah, sounds pretty essential if you are a fan of fossil fuels. But the bulk (an estimated 36,000) of recalled workers are at the IRS, basically so that the tax refunds Trump promised can go out more or less on schedule. That promise aside, the bigger picture is that Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue want to make sure taxpayers realize the benefits of the one major accomplishment of the 115th Congress, the 2017 tax-cut bill. If IRS employees have to engage in what is essentially involuntary servitude to make that happen, so be it.

Unfortunately for them, their union was rebuffed in court this week as a federal judge refused to deem the unpaid work a violation of both federal statutes and the constitution. The judge basically cried havoc and suggested the relief could make a shutdown mess even more of a mess. The more this drags on, though, and the more the administration turns furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols, the less the judiciary will perpetually tolerate the attendant injustices and deliberate skirting of the law.
Trump Recalls 50,000 Furloughed Employees Who Now Get to Work Without Pay

 

[Darkwind]

Democrats can end the shutdown now. Fund the wall.

The GOP can end the shutdown now. Stop holding federal employees and the American people hostage, open the government and let legislation on the Wall pass or fail on it's own merits.
.
.
.
.>>>>

Nothing is stopping the Democrats from writing legislation to fund the government and send it to the Senate.

 

[Moonglow]

didn't they just call back to work the IRS employees and a few other agencies by now calling them essential and now they too are working 40 hours a week for nothing?


There’s a conservative theory bouncing around (as it usually does during government shutdowns) that furloughed “nonessential” federal employees won’t be missed, and that in fact Americans who don’t miss them will suddenly experience enlightenment and vote to shrink government forever.

But instead of endorsing this theory by shrugging at the unperformed jobs of “nonessential” workers, the Trump administration is now recalling 46,000 of them, who will go from the frying pan of not being allowed to work to the fire of being forced to work without pay.

Some will be assigned to tasks that will head off dangerous criticism of the administration, like aircraft and food safety inspections. Others are apparently being rushed to the assistance of favored industries like mortgage lenders and oil companies, as Bloomberg reports:

Get unlimited access to Intelligencer and everything else New York.
Learn More »
The Interior Department is now clearing the way for previously furloughed workers to help sell drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters, as 11 personnel are being temporarily recalled to prepare documents necessary for auctions of Gulf of Mexico expected in March and August …



Some 40 personnel also are available amid the shutdown on an on-call basis to help process permits authorizing seismic tests to search for oil in the Atlantic Ocean and develop a new five-year plan for selling drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters from mid-2019 through mid-2024.

Yeah, sounds pretty essential if you are a fan of fossil fuels. But the bulk (an estimated 36,000) of recalled workers are at the IRS, basically so that the tax refunds Trump promised can go out more or less on schedule. That promise aside, the bigger picture is that Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue want to make sure taxpayers realize the benefits of the one major accomplishment of the 115th Congress, the 2017 tax-cut bill. If IRS employees have to engage in what is essentially involuntary servitude to make that happen, so be it.

Unfortunately for them, their union was rebuffed in court this week as a federal judge refused to deem the unpaid work a violation of both federal statutes and the constitution. The judge basically cried havoc and suggested the relief could make a shutdown mess even more of a mess. The more this drags on, though, and the more the administration turns furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols, the less the judiciary will perpetually tolerate the attendant injustices and deliberate skirting of the law.
Trump Recalls 50,000 Furloughed Employees Who Now Get to Work Without Pay

Congress passed a bill to pay federal employees today.

 

[Leo123]

I worked in DoD
Mostly conservatives

So conservatives are the most concerned about protecting America. Sounds about right. You, however seem to be an outlier.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

didn't they just call back to work the IRS employees and a few other agencies by now calling them essential and now they too are working 40 hours a week for nothing?


There’s a conservative theory bouncing around (as it usually does during government shutdowns) that furloughed “nonessential” federal employees won’t be missed, and that in fact Americans who don’t miss them will suddenly experience enlightenment and vote to shrink government forever.

But instead of endorsing this theory by shrugging at the unperformed jobs of “nonessential” workers, the Trump administration is now recalling 46,000 of them, who will go from the frying pan of not being allowed to work to the fire of being forced to work without pay.

Some will be assigned to tasks that will head off dangerous criticism of the administration, like aircraft and food safety inspections. Others are apparently being rushed to the assistance of favored industries like mortgage lenders and oil companies, as Bloomberg reports:

Get unlimited access to Intelligencer and everything else New York.
Learn More »
The Interior Department is now clearing the way for previously furloughed workers to help sell drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters, as 11 personnel are being temporarily recalled to prepare documents necessary for auctions of Gulf of Mexico expected in March and August …



Some 40 personnel also are available amid the shutdown on an on-call basis to help process permits authorizing seismic tests to search for oil in the Atlantic Ocean and develop a new five-year plan for selling drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters from mid-2019 through mid-2024.

Yeah, sounds pretty essential if you are a fan of fossil fuels. But the bulk (an estimated 36,000) of recalled workers are at the IRS, basically so that the tax refunds Trump promised can go out more or less on schedule. That promise aside, the bigger picture is that Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue want to make sure taxpayers realize the benefits of the one major accomplishment of the 115th Congress, the 2017 tax-cut bill. If IRS employees have to engage in what is essentially involuntary servitude to make that happen, so be it.

Unfortunately for them, their union was rebuffed in court this week as a federal judge refused to deem the unpaid work a violation of both federal statutes and the constitution. The judge basically cried havoc and suggested the relief could make a shutdown mess even more of a mess. The more this drags on, though, and the more the administration turns furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols, the less the judiciary will perpetually tolerate the attendant injustices and deliberate skirting of the law.
Trump Recalls 50,000 Furloughed Employees Who Now Get to Work Without Pay

Dissolve the IRS and go to a flat tax, and they will assume their nonessential roles.

 

[blackhawk]

What this shutdown has proven for those who didn't already know neither party gives a dam about the people or the nation it's all about what benefits them politically. This shutdown should have never happened and sure should have been settled by now the left wants a pathway to citizenship for the dreamers the right wants funding for the border wall there is the deal the shutdown ends and people go back to work and both sides get something they can call a win.

 

[Leo123]

Nothing is stopping the Democrats from writing legislation to fund the government and send it to the Senate.

Oh yes there is, it's the neo-Marxist philosophy of Schumer, Pelosi and all powerful, radical left Democrats who have TDS syndrome. George Soros would not approve such legislation and the flow of $$$$ to Democrat radical leftist groups would start to dry up.

 

[Care4all]

didn't they just call back to work the IRS employees and a few other agencies by now calling them essential and now they too are working 40 hours a week for nothing?


There’s a conservative theory bouncing around (as it usually does during government shutdowns) that furloughed “nonessential” federal employees won’t be missed, and that in fact Americans who don’t miss them will suddenly experience enlightenment and vote to shrink government forever.

But instead of endorsing this theory by shrugging at the unperformed jobs of “nonessential” workers, the Trump administration is now recalling 46,000 of them, who will go from the frying pan of not being allowed to work to the fire of being forced to work without pay.

Some will be assigned to tasks that will head off dangerous criticism of the administration, like aircraft and food safety inspections. Others are apparently being rushed to the assistance of favored industries like mortgage lenders and oil companies, as Bloomberg reports:

Get unlimited access to Intelligencer and everything else New York.
Learn More »
The Interior Department is now clearing the way for previously furloughed workers to help sell drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters, as 11 personnel are being temporarily recalled to prepare documents necessary for auctions of Gulf of Mexico expected in March and August …



Some 40 personnel also are available amid the shutdown on an on-call basis to help process permits authorizing seismic tests to search for oil in the Atlantic Ocean and develop a new five-year plan for selling drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters from mid-2019 through mid-2024.

Yeah, sounds pretty essential if you are a fan of fossil fuels. But the bulk (an estimated 36,000) of recalled workers are at the IRS, basically so that the tax refunds Trump promised can go out more or less on schedule. That promise aside, the bigger picture is that Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue want to make sure taxpayers realize the benefits of the one major accomplishment of the 115th Congress, the 2017 tax-cut bill. If IRS employees have to engage in what is essentially involuntary servitude to make that happen, so be it.

Unfortunately for them, their union was rebuffed in court this week as a federal judge refused to deem the unpaid work a violation of both federal statutes and the constitution. The judge basically cried havoc and suggested the relief could make a shutdown mess even more of a mess. The more this drags on, though, and the more the administration turns furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols, the less the judiciary will perpetually tolerate the attendant injustices and deliberate skirting of the law.
Trump Recalls 50,000 Furloughed Employees Who Now Get to Work Without Pay

Dissolve the IRS and go to a flat tax, and they will assume their nonessential roles.

Like that is even an option to do at this moment?



it's bull crap the people working are not getting paid imo... absolutely bull crap!!!

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

didn't they just call back to work the IRS employees and a few other agencies by now calling them essential and now they too are working 40 hours a week for nothing?


There’s a conservative theory bouncing around (as it usually does during government shutdowns) that furloughed “nonessential” federal employees won’t be missed, and that in fact Americans who don’t miss them will suddenly experience enlightenment and vote to shrink government forever.

But instead of endorsing this theory by shrugging at the unperformed jobs of “nonessential” workers, the Trump administration is now recalling 46,000 of them, who will go from the frying pan of not being allowed to work to the fire of being forced to work without pay.

Some will be assigned to tasks that will head off dangerous criticism of the administration, like aircraft and food safety inspections. Others are apparently being rushed to the assistance of favored industries like mortgage lenders and oil companies, as Bloomberg reports:

Get unlimited access to Intelligencer and everything else New York.
Learn More »
The Interior Department is now clearing the way for previously furloughed workers to help sell drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters, as 11 personnel are being temporarily recalled to prepare documents necessary for auctions of Gulf of Mexico expected in March and August …



Some 40 personnel also are available amid the shutdown on an on-call basis to help process permits authorizing seismic tests to search for oil in the Atlantic Ocean and develop a new five-year plan for selling drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters from mid-2019 through mid-2024.

Yeah, sounds pretty essential if you are a fan of fossil fuels. But the bulk (an estimated 36,000) of recalled workers are at the IRS, basically so that the tax refunds Trump promised can go out more or less on schedule. That promise aside, the bigger picture is that Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue want to make sure taxpayers realize the benefits of the one major accomplishment of the 115th Congress, the 2017 tax-cut bill. If IRS employees have to engage in what is essentially involuntary servitude to make that happen, so be it.

Unfortunately for them, their union was rebuffed in court this week as a federal judge refused to deem the unpaid work a violation of both federal statutes and the constitution. The judge basically cried havoc and suggested the relief could make a shutdown mess even more of a mess. The more this drags on, though, and the more the administration turns furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols, the less the judiciary will perpetually tolerate the attendant injustices and deliberate skirting of the law.
Trump Recalls 50,000 Furloughed Employees Who Now Get to Work Without Pay

Dissolve the IRS and go to a flat tax, and they will assume their nonessential roles.

Like that is even an option to do at this moment?

No. It should have been done decades ago.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

didn't they just call back to work the IRS employees and a few other agencies by now calling them essential and now they too are working 40 hours a week for nothing?


There’s a conservative theory bouncing around (as it usually does during government shutdowns) that furloughed “nonessential” federal employees won’t be missed, and that in fact Americans who don’t miss them will suddenly experience enlightenment and vote to shrink government forever.

But instead of endorsing this theory by shrugging at the unperformed jobs of “nonessential” workers, the Trump administration is now recalling 46,000 of them, who will go from the frying pan of not being allowed to work to the fire of being forced to work without pay.

Some will be assigned to tasks that will head off dangerous criticism of the administration, like aircraft and food safety inspections. Others are apparently being rushed to the assistance of favored industries like mortgage lenders and oil companies, as Bloomberg reports:

Get unlimited access to Intelligencer and everything else New York.
Learn More »
The Interior Department is now clearing the way for previously furloughed workers to help sell drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters, as 11 personnel are being temporarily recalled to prepare documents necessary for auctions of Gulf of Mexico expected in March and August …



Some 40 personnel also are available amid the shutdown on an on-call basis to help process permits authorizing seismic tests to search for oil in the Atlantic Ocean and develop a new five-year plan for selling drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters from mid-2019 through mid-2024.

Yeah, sounds pretty essential if you are a fan of fossil fuels. But the bulk (an estimated 36,000) of recalled workers are at the IRS, basically so that the tax refunds Trump promised can go out more or less on schedule. That promise aside, the bigger picture is that Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue want to make sure taxpayers realize the benefits of the one major accomplishment of the 115th Congress, the 2017 tax-cut bill. If IRS employees have to engage in what is essentially involuntary servitude to make that happen, so be it.

Unfortunately for them, their union was rebuffed in court this week as a federal judge refused to deem the unpaid work a violation of both federal statutes and the constitution. The judge basically cried havoc and suggested the relief could make a shutdown mess even more of a mess. The more this drags on, though, and the more the administration turns furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols, the less the judiciary will perpetually tolerate the attendant injustices and deliberate skirting of the law.
Trump Recalls 50,000 Furloughed Employees Who Now Get to Work Without Pay

Dissolve the IRS and go to a flat tax, and they will assume their nonessential roles.

Like that is even an option to do at this moment?



it's bull crap the people working are not getting paid imo... absolutely bull crap!!!

Are YOU getting paid? Yes? Then be honest. You don't really care.

 

[Care4all]

didn't they just call back to work the IRS employees and a few other agencies by now calling them essential and now they too are working 40 hours a week for nothing?


There’s a conservative theory bouncing around (as it usually does during government shutdowns) that furloughed “nonessential” federal employees won’t be missed, and that in fact Americans who don’t miss them will suddenly experience enlightenment and vote to shrink government forever.

But instead of endorsing this theory by shrugging at the unperformed jobs of “nonessential” workers, the Trump administration is now recalling 46,000 of them, who will go from the frying pan of not being allowed to work to the fire of being forced to work without pay.

Some will be assigned to tasks that will head off dangerous criticism of the administration, like aircraft and food safety inspections. Others are apparently being rushed to the assistance of favored industries like mortgage lenders and oil companies, as Bloomberg reports:

Get unlimited access to Intelligencer and everything else New York.
Learn More »
The Interior Department is now clearing the way for previously furloughed workers to help sell drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters, as 11 personnel are being temporarily recalled to prepare documents necessary for auctions of Gulf of Mexico expected in March and August …



Some 40 personnel also are available amid the shutdown on an on-call basis to help process permits authorizing seismic tests to search for oil in the Atlantic Ocean and develop a new five-year plan for selling drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters from mid-2019 through mid-2024.

Yeah, sounds pretty essential if you are a fan of fossil fuels. But the bulk (an estimated 36,000) of recalled workers are at the IRS, basically so that the tax refunds Trump promised can go out more or less on schedule. That promise aside, the bigger picture is that Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue want to make sure taxpayers realize the benefits of the one major accomplishment of the 115th Congress, the 2017 tax-cut bill. If IRS employees have to engage in what is essentially involuntary servitude to make that happen, so be it.

Unfortunately for them, their union was rebuffed in court this week as a federal judge refused to deem the unpaid work a violation of both federal statutes and the constitution. The judge basically cried havoc and suggested the relief could make a shutdown mess even more of a mess. The more this drags on, though, and the more the administration turns furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols, the less the judiciary will perpetually tolerate the attendant injustices and deliberate skirting of the law.
Trump Recalls 50,000 Furloughed Employees Who Now Get to Work Without Pay

Congress passed a bill to pay federal employees today.

I'm in Florida, visiting with parents and sis, so I have not been watching the news much....
Was it the HOUSE that passed a bill to pay them??? Did the Senate bring it to a vote? Did the president sign it???

 

[Flopper]

This was the FIRST meeting with the new Speaker of the House. This was the START of negotiations with her. You don't say "Give me what I want" and then leave the first meeting when the answer is "No".

Why on Earth are you Democrats so dishonest? Yes, okay this was the first official meeting since Pelosi was reelected as Speaker of the House, but no one believes she was going to suddenly say "okay I'm Speaker now, time to work with Trump" especially when she had been making public statements every day since being elected that she would never give $1 for a border wall.

If you TRULY wanted to see compromise you would be asking Nancy "Why are you not negotiating?"

Did Trump ask her what she would give? Did he ask her anything other than "Do I get my wall". That's not a negotiation. That's a terrorist demand.

Furthermore, by walking out of the meeting, Trump looks weak. Now he's got no way out. If he goes and asks the questions he SHOULD have asked before walking out like a spoiled child. He's given in.

I can't take someone who calls not wanting to deal with a woman who refuses to negotiate terrorism seriously.

You are a clown and dismissed.

Screw trump and his bs art of the deal and btw you shouldn't talk down to your betters

Not only did Trump not write the book, I am betting he has never read it.

It doesn't really matter because political and business negotiations have about as much in common as ice hockey and ice fishing.

Business negotiations are more transaction and political negotiations are based on commonly known facts and relationships, typically long term relationships. For example in a business negotiation a company may purchase a competitor after a couple meetings, get a great deal, and never cross paths again. In trade negotiations which often go on for years, both sides have all the facts so cutting a "great deal" and gaining a major advantage just doesn't happen.

It might appear that two political leaders meet for an hour, throw new proposals on the table and arrive at a major decision. Well that makes good reading but in reality, all major proposals are studied by staff usually before the meeting so each leader knows how he or she will respond.

Trump has spoke many times about the importance of secrecy in negotiations. Unlike business negotiation, everything tends to be transparent in political negotiations. Most all the cards are on the table.

Bluffing in business negotiations often works but not in political negotiations. Often in making business decisions you're in a room with a small group and you can get away with exaggerations and bluffs. In political negotiations there are just too many people that know the facts and will call your bluff.

Lastly, in business negotiations getting a financial advantage is almost always the primary goal. In politics, finance tends to be much less important than public image, building relationships, and getting commitments on other issues.

 

[MarathonMike]

Has the Federal government ever had a layoff? No matter what the economy, the expansion in Federal government never stops. It needs to stop and reverse. And why should any government paper pusher make over $150K a year? The upper end of the GS pay scale is insane.
Reforming Federal Worker Pay and Benefits

 

[Care4all]

didn't they just call back to work the IRS employees and a few other agencies by now calling them essential and now they too are working 40 hours a week for nothing?


There’s a conservative theory bouncing around (as it usually does during government shutdowns) that furloughed “nonessential” federal employees won’t be missed, and that in fact Americans who don’t miss them will suddenly experience enlightenment and vote to shrink government forever.

But instead of endorsing this theory by shrugging at the unperformed jobs of “nonessential” workers, the Trump administration is now recalling 46,000 of them, who will go from the frying pan of not being allowed to work to the fire of being forced to work without pay.

Some will be assigned to tasks that will head off dangerous criticism of the administration, like aircraft and food safety inspections. Others are apparently being rushed to the assistance of favored industries like mortgage lenders and oil companies, as Bloomberg reports:

Get unlimited access to Intelligencer and everything else New York.
Learn More »
The Interior Department is now clearing the way for previously furloughed workers to help sell drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters, as 11 personnel are being temporarily recalled to prepare documents necessary for auctions of Gulf of Mexico expected in March and August …



Some 40 personnel also are available amid the shutdown on an on-call basis to help process permits authorizing seismic tests to search for oil in the Atlantic Ocean and develop a new five-year plan for selling drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters from mid-2019 through mid-2024.

Yeah, sounds pretty essential if you are a fan of fossil fuels. But the bulk (an estimated 36,000) of recalled workers are at the IRS, basically so that the tax refunds Trump promised can go out more or less on schedule. That promise aside, the bigger picture is that Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue want to make sure taxpayers realize the benefits of the one major accomplishment of the 115th Congress, the 2017 tax-cut bill. If IRS employees have to engage in what is essentially involuntary servitude to make that happen, so be it.

Unfortunately for them, their union was rebuffed in court this week as a federal judge refused to deem the unpaid work a violation of both federal statutes and the constitution. The judge basically cried havoc and suggested the relief could make a shutdown mess even more of a mess. The more this drags on, though, and the more the administration turns furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols, the less the judiciary will perpetually tolerate the attendant injustices and deliberate skirting of the law.
Trump Recalls 50,000 Furloughed Employees Who Now Get to Work Without Pay

Dissolve the IRS and go to a flat tax, and they will assume their nonessential roles.

Like that is even an option to do at this moment?

No. It should have been done decades ago.

so, no long forms and deductions? just a flat tax on gross income? Would that be for businesses and corporations as well, where they have no deductions either and would pay a flat tax on their gross sales???

 

[Moonglow]

didn't they just call back to work the IRS employees and a few other agencies by now calling them essential and now they too are working 40 hours a week for nothing?


There’s a conservative theory bouncing around (as it usually does during government shutdowns) that furloughed “nonessential” federal employees won’t be missed, and that in fact Americans who don’t miss them will suddenly experience enlightenment and vote to shrink government forever.

But instead of endorsing this theory by shrugging at the unperformed jobs of “nonessential” workers, the Trump administration is now recalling 46,000 of them, who will go from the frying pan of not being allowed to work to the fire of being forced to work without pay.

Some will be assigned to tasks that will head off dangerous criticism of the administration, like aircraft and food safety inspections. Others are apparently being rushed to the assistance of favored industries like mortgage lenders and oil companies, as Bloomberg reports:

Get unlimited access to Intelligencer and everything else New York.
Learn More »
The Interior Department is now clearing the way for previously furloughed workers to help sell drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters, as 11 personnel are being temporarily recalled to prepare documents necessary for auctions of Gulf of Mexico expected in March and August …



Some 40 personnel also are available amid the shutdown on an on-call basis to help process permits authorizing seismic tests to search for oil in the Atlantic Ocean and develop a new five-year plan for selling drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters from mid-2019 through mid-2024.

Yeah, sounds pretty essential if you are a fan of fossil fuels. But the bulk (an estimated 36,000) of recalled workers are at the IRS, basically so that the tax refunds Trump promised can go out more or less on schedule. That promise aside, the bigger picture is that Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue want to make sure taxpayers realize the benefits of the one major accomplishment of the 115th Congress, the 2017 tax-cut bill. If IRS employees have to engage in what is essentially involuntary servitude to make that happen, so be it.

Unfortunately for them, their union was rebuffed in court this week as a federal judge refused to deem the unpaid work a violation of both federal statutes and the constitution. The judge basically cried havoc and suggested the relief could make a shutdown mess even more of a mess. The more this drags on, though, and the more the administration turns furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols, the less the judiciary will perpetually tolerate the attendant injustices and deliberate skirting of the law.
Trump Recalls 50,000 Furloughed Employees Who Now Get to Work Without Pay

Congress passed a bill to pay federal employees today.

I'm in Florida, visiting with parents and sis, so I have not been watching the news much....
Was it the HOUSE that passed a bill to pay them??? Did the Senate bring it to a vote? Did the president sign it???

It passed Congress today and Trump signed it this afternoon.

 

[Lakhota]

Their salaries and benefits an envy of most Americans working in the private sector.

Can’t get fired for poor performance.

Retirement packages that are extinct in the private sector. Most Americans have to save to be able to retire, government workers do not.



Let the shutdown continue. They don’t like it, get a job in the private sector.

Who says they can't get fired for poor performance? Credible proof? Link?

 

[Lakhota]

Progressives have grown our federal government into an unconstitutional monstrosity. Legally, the federal government is supposed to only oversee 18 specific items. Instead, it’s grown into thousands because of the power-hungry, money-hungry left.

Looking around America, I see people going about their business—families eating in restaurants, employees going to work, children playing in playgrounds, etc. I have to ask: Where’s the crisis?

This shutdown just illustrates how much of this bloated monstrosity we don’t even need. It is time to restore constitutional government.

The Shutdown Shows How Unnecessary Much of Government Is

Tell us that after airplanes start crashing and people start dying from starvation and lack of medical care.

 

[conserveguy877]

Can’t believe Chuck and Nancy would hold these government workers hostage like this. When there are things to be done about border security. Trump is the only one working while democrat leaders are vacationing in Puerto Rico. Show the beach pics to that sick government worker. Sad!

 

[Bootney Lee Farnsworth]

This is a little off topic, but:

That's funny. I don't care who you are.

 

[Care4all]

didn't they just call back to work the IRS employees and a few other agencies by now calling them essential and now they too are working 40 hours a week for nothing?


There’s a conservative theory bouncing around (as it usually does during government shutdowns) that furloughed “nonessential” federal employees won’t be missed, and that in fact Americans who don’t miss them will suddenly experience enlightenment and vote to shrink government forever.

But instead of endorsing this theory by shrugging at the unperformed jobs of “nonessential” workers, the Trump administration is now recalling 46,000 of them, who will go from the frying pan of not being allowed to work to the fire of being forced to work without pay.

Some will be assigned to tasks that will head off dangerous criticism of the administration, like aircraft and food safety inspections. Others are apparently being rushed to the assistance of favored industries like mortgage lenders and oil companies, as Bloomberg reports:

Get unlimited access to Intelligencer and everything else New York.
Learn More »
The Interior Department is now clearing the way for previously furloughed workers to help sell drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters, as 11 personnel are being temporarily recalled to prepare documents necessary for auctions of Gulf of Mexico expected in March and August …



Some 40 personnel also are available amid the shutdown on an on-call basis to help process permits authorizing seismic tests to search for oil in the Atlantic Ocean and develop a new five-year plan for selling drilling rights in U.S. coastal waters from mid-2019 through mid-2024.

Yeah, sounds pretty essential if you are a fan of fossil fuels. But the bulk (an estimated 36,000) of recalled workers are at the IRS, basically so that the tax refunds Trump promised can go out more or less on schedule. That promise aside, the bigger picture is that Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue want to make sure taxpayers realize the benefits of the one major accomplishment of the 115th Congress, the 2017 tax-cut bill. If IRS employees have to engage in what is essentially involuntary servitude to make that happen, so be it.

Unfortunately for them, their union was rebuffed in court this week as a federal judge refused to deem the unpaid work a violation of both federal statutes and the constitution. The judge basically cried havoc and suggested the relief could make a shutdown mess even more of a mess. The more this drags on, though, and the more the administration turns furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols, the less the judiciary will perpetually tolerate the attendant injustices and deliberate skirting of the law.
Trump Recalls 50,000 Furloughed Employees Who Now Get to Work Without Pay

Congress passed a bill to pay federal employees today.

I'm in Florida, visiting with parents and sis, so I have not been watching the news much....
Was it the HOUSE that passed a bill to pay them??? Did the Senate bring it to a vote? Did the president sign it???

It passed Congress today and Trump signed it this afternoon.

ahhhh, they are not getting paid NOW, but some day....could be 3 or 6 or 10 months from now, when the shutdown ends, they will get paid for the hours they worked.............?

big deal.... that was expected.... does nothing to help the situation now.... does nothing for the economy and businesses that rely on them now....

--------------------------------------------------------------

it's weird that the issue is no longer that we have to raise our debt ceiling, 3 times in 2018 alone because of overspending and the tax cuts NOT generating enough tax monies to pay for their spending....