Possible Federal Government Shut Down (house, theater, living in) - Northern Virginia - Virginia (VA) - Page 3 - City-Data Forum

ajzjmsmom · 02-23-2011, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

During that shutdown, our government office only closed for 3 days. My mother's office didn't shut down at all (multi-year funded) so I guess everyone is different. It will be interesting to see what happens since I work on no-year funding (doesn't expire).

Without getting too political (there's a *crazy* board here just for that if you've got the stomach for it), it seems that one party has to do all the compromising while one refuses to do any. I'm just sick of it really because none of it ever seems to be working for the middle class. In my 20 years of watching politics, I've never seen anything so miserable.

The weird thing is that the crazy board has not really said anything about the shutdown or none that I have seen. That being said I totally agree with you, in normal life people compromise all the time, that is how things get accomplished. As I tell my 2 teenage boys, "at one time or another, one of you have to man up and step back to get the issue solved." Someone needs to man up and quite frankly I don't care who does.

Caladium · 02-23-2011, 06:03 AM

If a few offices do shut down, at least traffic will be lighter. And we can get some home improvement projects done. That's what we did last time.

ChristineVA · 02-23-2011, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajzjmsmom

The weird thing is that the crazy board has not really said anything about the shutdown or none that I have seen.

There was something a few days ago but it basically blathered on about how it would not be noticed, how government workers do nothing all day anyway, and how much money it would save. Lots of namecalling and insults. Typical for most of the threads over there. I've been on political boards before where there's been very real, respectful discussion. The one on C-D, not so much. It probably requires a lot of moderation to keep the loons off.

Fallout Zone · 02-23-2011, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Denton56

No one lost ANY money or any benefits, they just got 6 weeks off, right before Christmas. It was great!

Legislators have to actually pass a bill to give federal workers back pay for time they missed. Does anyone think there is even a sliver of a chance that happens in the current political climate? No way.

Federal News Radio 1500 AM: Federal furlough FAQ

Quote:

Will I receive back pay?
It's not guaranteed. Congress would have to pass legislation granting federal employees the pay they missed while they were furloughed. This is what has happened in the past.

ChristineVA · 02-23-2011, 06:18 AM

One of the items I was reading today with regards to getting paid after a shutdown had to do with your TSP. Apparently, if you aren't getting paid, nothing goes to the TSP and then when you do get your pay, they play "catch up" with your TSP deduction which then messed up a whole lot of people last time.

If you contribute to the TSP and, financially, are living paycheck to paycheck, today might be a good time to go in and temporarily change your TSP contribution (reduce it). This change will take 2 weeks to go into effect and could possibly save you from some big headaches when/if the government reopens. After everything is back up, you can redo your TSP contribution.

justtitans · 02-23-2011, 06:28 AM

Interesting. Didn't know a whole lot about the shut down in 95-96 since I was little, but part of me feels that maybe the Republicans don't mind us shutting down because this could almost be like a furlough since there is no guarantee that they can give us our money and since they have been proposing to have furlough days. Not trying to turn this into politics but with them talking about that, I just wonder if that's their motivation for not budging. But if we did get shut down and didn't get money back, I would really feel bad for the low-level employee and contractors who live paycheck to paycheck. It seem like no one in Congress is thinking about how most of us are average everyday citizens that are directly affected by their decisions at work and at home. Their job is to do what's best for people, not to win political battles. I think both parties are missing the point as to why they are there.

ajzjmsmom · 02-23-2011, 08:39 AM

Just read an article that did say there are several areas that would continue to be funded, thank goodness one of them is my husbands branch.

ajzjmsmom · 02-23-2011, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

There was something a few days ago but it basically blathered on about how it would not be noticed, how government workers do nothing all day anyway, and how much money it would save. Lots of namecalling and insults. Typical for most of the threads over there. I've been on political boards before where there's been very real, respectful discussion. The one on C-D, not so much. It probably requires a lot of moderation to keep the loons off.

I saw some figures about how much it cost to shut-down and then re-open the gov't and it just seemed like it would be better just to come up with a compromise.

The name calling and the disdain for gov't workers are one of the reasons I can't do the political forum, I fully understand there are alot of people who work in the gov't who shouldn't. The men and women who make up my husbands branch put their lives on the line everytime they go out on their shift and it can be a very thankless job.

Caladium · 02-23-2011, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajzjmsmom

I saw some figures about how much it cost to shut-down and then re-open the gov't and it just seemed like it would be better just to come up with a compromise.

Yup. And with an election coming up they won't want to play that game. It sounds good before you try it, but reality is it backfires badly. I wouldn't be surprised to see someone suggest closing down the IRS though, since it's getting fairly close to the time the govt. will have to send out refund checks. Then they can claim that refunds will be delayed as a result of this.

ajzjmsmom · 02-23-2011, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caladium

Yup. And with an election coming up they won't want to play that game. It sounds good before you try it, but reality is it backfires badly. I wouldn't be surprised to see someone suggest closing down the IRS though, since it's getting fairly close to the time the govt. will have to send out refund checks. Then they can claim that refunds will be delayed as a result of this.

Well that would be fine it I could wait to pay my taxes.

It does backfire badly, in 95/96 it backfired on the Republicans, this time around I think it would backfire on both parties, while Americans want financial responsiblity from our gov't they also don't want to lose any services and I think they would perceive both parties as self-serving.