My married kid and spouse have one fed job and one non-fed job, so they are in much better shape than couples who both work for the government.
BTW, only about 20% of federal government employees work in DC. So, the effects of the shutdown aren’t limited to DC. In the area around a military base near Macon, Georgia, 15% of all employed civilians work for the federal government. The impact there will be huge.
One big area of impact is home daycares. When the mommies of the children cared for aren’t working, they care for their kids themselves and they aren’t paying other people to care for them. Larger day care centers will be fine, because you usually have to sign a contract for a specified number of months. But the woman–usually it is a woman—who takes care of one or a few children in her home often won’t get paid if one of their parents isn’t working.
And discretionary spending on things like manicures, haircuts, dry cleaning, movies, etc. will be cut back.
My NYC D is here in LA for Christmas with us and had an appt scheduled at LAX on Monday morning for her Global Entry application. No can do anymore, she got an email last night that all appointments must be rescheduled. Bummer since it was easier to get a slot here than at JFK. Just a small inconvenience but irritating nonetheless. This did not have to happen… ?
Our state is keeping the AZ Memorial Open and running thru state funds and volunteers. The Volcano National Park is open but visitor center closed, IIRC.
The Smithsonian museums…according to their online site…will be closed Christmas Day which is always the case. They will be then running a regular schedule until January 1 when they will be re-evaluating what to do…if the shut down hasn’t ended.
My concern is that I don’t see a way out of this. Because we cannot be discussing politics, I’m not asking if he’s right or wrong but does anyone think the President will agree to any bill without a wall? And assuming the answer to that is no, how in the world is this going to end. I’m really asking. Not for answers like “The President will have to come to his senses “ or “The Dems need to stop being stubborn” I mean a real world step by step as to what could happen.
Last time, they allowed a carry over but for a limited time. So say you had 5 days of use-or-lose, you could then take it when the government ‘restarted’, but honestly it is hard to do because say you are off for the furlough, most people really need to go back in Jan.
Why do you say there will be no back pay? In the past, all time has been paid as if the employees worked- holiday pay include, health insurance, earned vacation and sick time recovered, matching TSP or 401k money all restored.
There will be no effect on pay checks to be issued on 12/28. The next pay period is 1/11. Looks like Chistmas is saved.
Right now it sounds like they are arguing about semantics - wall vs fence vs barrier. Just stupid politicians doing what they do. Frankly I’m tired of old retreads running congress ( on both sides).
The best way to prevent these shut downs from being used a partisan cudgel is to pass a law that members of Congress (every last one of them) will not be paid for the duration of the impasse. It’s amazing how clarifying self-interest can be. We should all demand that Congress enact such a law.
I agree that docking the pay of congresspeople is the way to go. Beside being an appropriate tit for tac, it actually works! California is the example.
In California, year after year, the State government was unable to pass a budget by the deadline. Then, a citizen’s initiative passed, requiring that elected officials have their pay docked when a budget was not passed on time. It was a miracle! Thereafter, the budget was passed on time every year. It is amazing how financial self-interest of government officials lights a fire!