Countdown to the Federal Gov't Shutdown

I agree. It is indeed a pity if the democratic leadership doesn't push a little extra over the budget..
 
From what I have read of your political philosophy, British_Rover, I mostly agree with your views.
As a recent college graduate entering the job market, I was surprised to find the salary numbers that people got in the past are a lot higher then the actual salaries that I got offered to me. At least 5-10k less.
 
What degree did you take, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm a photojournalist. If you want to try out a tough market to get a job, try that. It's freelance work if you want any work at all, basicly.
 
What degree did you take, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm a photojournalist. If you want to try out a tough market to get a job, try that. It's freelance work if you want any work at all, basicly.
 
Oh I am not complaining about the job market for my degree. I would hate to have anything other then the Electrical Engineering degree that I got. I was just supporting the claim that wages are a lot lower then they used to be. I once heard that someone getting their first job during a recession will make x millions less during their career then someone who didn't. I have no source to back that claim up, but it sounds reasonable.
 
Wages and benefits are taking a hit in all major economies, in Ukania for instance I have not had a rise in three years and it does not look like I will get one this year either.

It is easy - if you do not like it leave - but the trouble is that all salaries are depressed and there is precious little hiring going on. My age counts against me too - 55.

The reason is that the (some would say unfair, try going on strike for more money in China, tank rumbles over you) competition from China/India, Vietnam too now, in my 'game', as you may well be able to guess its IT, is much cheaper.

Having said that the law in this country states you can only loose someone who is competent and doing everything asked if their job is no longer in existance. Of course all the jobs 'still exist' it's just that it exists in a cheaper place, and we all know in a capitalist system investment funds flow to the lowest cost provider of effective labour.

The Politicians have not actually fully grasped the nettle but the market is correcting for them, this will be worse than it need be of course, due to their incompetence, personal greed and indolence.
 
Both of my parents (and some other family members) work for the Social Security Administration. The amount of time and effort they are putting in to establish contingency plans for the potential furlough is staggering. Personally, I think that if the shutdown does happen, all public contact services should be closed. You want to file a social security claim? Tough shit, your local office is gonna be closed. Go call your congressional representatives and complain. I think it sets a very bad precedent if "essential" employees show up and continue to work despite not having a budget.

I realize this is a simplistic biased view, but just throwing my $0.02 into the ring. :)
 
Wasn't the administrators working at Social Security sent home during the last shutdown? Or is that just something I picked up from the West Wing?
 
Nope, you're exactly right. They were furloughed in 1995 and 1996 during the Clinton-Gingrich battles. It wasn't just the administrators, either. They initially attempted to keep only 5,000 people on staff to make sure benefit checks continued to get mailed, but soon realized it was impossible to deal with the volume of telephone calls/business they had to handle with such a small staff.
 
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US lurches towards government shutdown


The US was lurching towards a government shutdown, as President Barack Obama called congressional leaders back to the White House for a third - and potentially decisive - effort to resolve the increasingly dramatic budget impasse.

As the first partial closure of federal operations since the mid-1990s loomed some 38 hours away, Harry Reid, Senate majority leader, said round-the-clock talks had so far yielded basic agreement on spending levels but no consensus on the nature of the cuts.

Declaring that the US was now ?headed in [the] direction? of a shutdown, Mr Reid identified the Republican determination to include curbs on funding of abortion and environmental regulation in the bill as the main obstacle to an agreement.

Meanwhile, Republicans in the House of Representatives pressed ahead with plans to vote a bill that would extend funding for the military until the end of the fiscal year in September, and the rest of the government until the end of next week to give lawmakers more time to reach a resolution.

But that legislation was dubbed a ?non-starter? by Mr Reid, and is likely to be opposed by the Obama administration, since it includes restrictions on abortions in the District of Columbia, as well as $12bn in new spending cuts, an exceedingly deep pace of reductions.

With pressure intensifying, Mr Obama and Joe Biden, the vice-president, were set to meet at 1pm on Thursday with Mr Reid and John Boehner, Republican leader in the House of Representatives, for the most crucial high-level negotiating session to date. The main players in the talks have already held two summits in the last two days.

Mr Boehner said in a press conference on Thursday morning ahead of the meeting: ?Our goal here is to cut spending not to shut down the government.?

After Wednesday?s meeting, Mr Obama had expressed confidence in an agreement, saying it had served to ?narrow? and ?clarify? the outstanding issues in the talks ? and asserting that a shutdown would be ?inexcusable?.

But he had also pledged to ?go at it again? on Thursday if staffers did not reach a solution overnight.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3d5e6360-612b-11e0-8899-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss#axzz1IrpIEbCO

It would be catastrophic, if they cannot resolve this, also this would be the final nail in the coffin for the recovery of the world economy.
 
The GOP needs to realise that Obama can veto, and that they can do very little about it.

Obama can't impose a budget on them, but he the main difference is that while he can veto, they can't force a budget through either.

The federal government has its quirks, no denying that.
 
This is going to get even uglier before it gets better. I think people rooting for the shutdown fail to grasp the scope of services that will be affected by shuttering the federal government. :(
 
It doesn't help that the tea baggers are constantly changing what they want and are attaching a bunch of non-budget riders onto their budget. Even though I'll be affected by a shutdown I hope Obama vetoes it.
 
From what I have read of your political philosophy, British_Rover, I mostly agree with your views.
As a recent college graduate entering the job market, I was surprised to find the salary numbers that people got in the past are a lot higher then the actual salaries that I got offered to me. At least 5-10k less.

I graduated at the worst possible time and managed to land a job paying quite well for a grad (I did manage to negotiate a slightly higher starting rate because I'd worked here previously) my starting package was about $65k
 
Well, I read that the only ones that will still get paid after the shutdown, are the representatives.

Now, that is not what I call the proper motivation to find a solution.

By the way: I fail do understand, why you rather let the whole country go to the dogs, than introduce tax increases and cut the military budget. Isn't there some kind of "We all went in this together by living beyond our means, now we all have to bring our sacrifices to pull ourselves out again" understanding? I mean, this whole mess calls for nation-wide solidarity and a joined effort, despite all political differences, or am I just being naive now?

Someone and something's got to give. You cannot save a country from bankruptcy and still having only winners. Ask the Greek.
 
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Well, I read that the only ones that will still get paid after the shutdown, are the representatives.

Now, that is not what I call the proper motivation to find a solution.

By the way: I fail do understand, why you rather let the whole country go to the dogs, than introduce tax increases and cut the military budget. Isn't there some kind of "We all went in this together by living beyond our means, now we all have to bring our sacrifices to pull ourselves out again" understanding? I mean, this whole mess calls for nation-wide solidarity and a joined effort, despite all political differences, or am I just being naive now?

Someone and something's got to give. You cannot save a country from bankruptcy and still having only winners. Ask the Greek.
[GOP]Whaaat...? Paying taxes? That's communism.... :p[/GOP]
 
From hajj's post:

Meanwhile, Republicans in the House of Representatives pressed ahead with plans to vote a bill that would extend funding for the military until the end of the fiscal year in September, and the rest of the government until the end of next week to give lawmakers more time to reach a resolution.

But that legislation was dubbed a ?non-starter? by Mr Reid, and is likely to be opposed by the Obama administration, since it includes restrictions on abortions in the District of Columbia, as well as $12bn in new spending cuts, an exceedingly deep pace of reductions.

Typical partisan bullshit, putting your own party's agenda ahead of that of the whole country's needs. <_< Our representatives are elected to serve us and right now we need them to fix the government we employed them in. It's time to forget about party lines and campaign promises and get America running again.

It goes without saying that I'm watching this whole situation very closely. Some of our livelihoods depend on elected officials being flexible and reasonable right now. Since I live alone and don't have to pay rent, utilities, groceries, etc., I'll be fine for the time being. But I work with a lot of people who have families to support and some are already filling out loan applications just to make ends meet. Come on Congress, are your party's wants really more important than a service member being able to feed his or her family? Right now you have a choice to sacrifice your wants for your country's needs but by refusing to make those sacrifices you're forcing others to sacrifice what they really need.
 
Well, I read that the only ones that will still get paid after the shutdown, are the representatives.

Now, that is not what I call the proper motivation to find a solution.

Some time ago, earlier in this budget debacle, a Senator introduced legislation that stated if there was a shutdown of at least 24 hours, neither Congress nor the President would be paid during the shutdown. It passed in the Democrat controlled Senate, but was shot down in the Republican controlled House. :rolleyes:

Staff deemed essential to operations will still have to report during a furlough, but will be paid retroactively once the furlough is over. My father's division is trimming from a staff of 300+ to about 9 people to keep their systems up.

By the way: I fail do understand, why you rather let the whole country go to the dogs, than introduce tax increases and cut the military budget. Isn't there some kind of "We all went in this together by living beyond our means, now we all have to bring our sacrifices to pull ourselves out again" understanding? I mean, this whole mess calls for nation-wide solidarity and a joined effort, despite all political differences, or am I just being naive now?

There's no unified America. Its two sides who would rather battle each other to prove that they're right and the other is wrong than actually accomplish anything worthwhile. While paying nothing in taxes. Its rather depressing, if you think about it.

edit: And as my one friend who works on the Hill put it: "Friday, Friday, gonna get shutdown on Friday." :lol::(
 
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