Government Shutdown

[SciFiFisher]

The government shut down is affecting a lot of areas that people may not realize. Like the food stamp program, affordable housing vouchers, and even the TSA.

People are going to lose their houses, cars, and jobs over this.

[Thumper]

What really bugs me about all of this is the callousness that the people involved are holding "things" hostage for their political gain. These "things" are peoples' lives. Some people say,"I want smaller gov't," or "I hate the gov't," like it's some menacing, abstract thing. It's families, underappreciated and in many cases underpaid and overworked civil service employees. They are our neighbors. And over this political horsh $hit they are not being paid for jobs they worked very hard to get to support their families. Jobs they may very well be proud of the work they do contributing to society and helping their fellow citizens.

The Trump administration has no respect for these families at all, even bragged that he was happy to harm them in order to get his way. But his core supporters, some of whom may actually be federal civil servants still stick with him no matter how petty or illegal he gets, no matter what lies he tells. I cannot comprehend this.

[lady_*nix]

Meanwhile, Orange Fuckbag is still threatening to declare a national emergency.

Believe the autocrat. He means what he says.

[Thumper]

Have you copyrighted that moniker? I'm asking for a friend.

[geonuc]

I have no doubt that the ... Orange Fuckbag will declare an emergency. The questions are when the even bigger Fuckbag Mitch McConnell will either have had enough or will be pressured by his colleagues to do something, and secondly whether Trump , er the Orange Fuckbag, can actually force the necessary components of the government to implement an emergency order.

[SciFiFisher]

Indeed. Will the Orange Fuckbag actually issue an "Emergency Declaration"? Will Mitch the Fuckwit actually do anything to block it? Will the conservative justices on the courts actually rule that the emergency is fabricated to sidestep the "power of the purse"?

A lot of people are saying that we are watching the demise of the democratic process in our government. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out. Meanwhile right now a prison guard or similar government employee is about to get an eviction notice.

[Thumper]

And yes, while employees are either on furlough or required to work, without a paycheck, somehow the Dept. of Interior is able to fund and pay for meetings in Alsaka aimed at opening up drilling in the National Wildlife Refuge. A move that many say is unconstitutional. With some offices shuttered and travel restricted, many cannot get to these meetings raising serious questions that they are "open" and "public."

https://www.alaskapublic.org/2019/01/04 ... g-in-anwr/

[SciFiFisher]

And yes, while employees are either on furlough or required to work, without a paycheck, somehow the Dept. of Interior is able to fund and pay for meetings in Alsaka aimed at opening up drilling in the National Wildlife Refuge. A move that many say is unconstitutional. With some offices shuttered and travel restricted, many cannot get to these meetings raising serious questions that they are "open" and "public."

https://www.alaskapublic.org/2019/01/04 ... g-in-anwr/

And that may be another reason for the shutdown. It adds to the chaos and it allows this administration to continue to do things that are illegal, immoral, dumb, and/or all three.

[lady_*nix]

He chickened. Boo ya, I guess.

@Fisher, nah, Congressional Republicans are loving every minute of this. They'll be okay, they're richer than an oil tanker filled with lard.

[SciFiFisher]

He chickened. Boo ya, I guess.

@Fisher, nah, Congressional Republicans are loving every minute of this. They'll be okay, they're richer than an oil tanker filled with lard.

Even the Freedom Caucus was going "wait a minute. We ain't liking this!" about declaring a state of emergency. Even conservative pundits are stating that if he is allowed to get away with that we might as well abolish congress.

Frankly, since he rarely listens or appears to listen to the "normal conservatives" or anyone with any knowledge or experience I am not sure why he put this action on pause. Maybe there is someone he listens to who said: "If you do this they will hang you in a public lynching". And he actually believed them.

[Rommie]

It was estimated 10-15% of all the astronomers stated to attend the AAS couldn't make it due to the shutdown. I felt bad for those folks who worked so hard on their science all year and then couldn't share it with others- and a complete waste because of course all the fees and flights etc were already paid for. Maybe minor compared to the struggles others will face in this shutdown, but still a shame that it happened for no good reason.

Interestingly, only the NASA people were really affected, as most of the other government science organizations have arranged their budgets since the last big shutdown a few years ago to make sure they can run awhile when a shutdown happens. But of course no one plans forever, so for most they have 2-3 weeks more before they have to shut down too. The VLA, for example, will have to stop operating in February if things go that long.

[SciFiFisher]

It was estimated 10-15% of all the astronomers stated to attend the AAS couldn't make it due to the shutdown. I felt bad for those folks who worked so hard on their science all year and then couldn't share it with others- and a complete waste because of course all the fees and flights etc were already paid for. Maybe minor compared to the struggles others will face in this shutdown, but still a shame that it happened for no good reason.

Interestingly, only the NASA people were really affected, as most of the other government science organizations have arranged their budgets since the last big shutdown a few years ago to make sure they can run awhile when a shutdown happens. But of course no one plans forever, so for most they have 2-3 weeks more before they have to shut down too. The VLA, for example, will have to stop operating in February if things go that long.

Yeah, there are restrictions on how much you can "save" for contingencies. One of the things that would happen in the Army Reserve was that higher HQ would see a surplus of funds and take them to use elsewhere if you didn't spend all the money.