To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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Sue U
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Sue U »

RayThom wrote:
*** the STFU Address ***
No comment necessary.
GAH!

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Lord Jim
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Lord Jim »

I'm waiting for someone in Trump Land to say that any affected government employee who's having financial trouble as a result of this has only themselves to blame because they should have planned better and had more money saved...
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Scooter
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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dales
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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Lord Jim wrote:I'm waiting for someone in Trump Land to say that any affected government employee who's having financial trouble as a result of this has only themselves to blame because they should have planned better and had more money saved...
How's this for being tone deaf?


President Donald Trump does not appear to understand how grocery stores work


By Chris Preovolos Updated 5:28 pm PST, Thursday, January 24, 2019

President Donald Trump, attempting to clarify earlier statements by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, himself a billionaire, about how federal workers should make do without paychecks revealed his apparent misunderstanding of how grocery stores work.

Ross told CNBC earlier Thursday he did not understand why furloughed federal workers were heading to food banks and not taking advantage of low or no-interest loans offered by banks to help them through the government shutdown.

"Well, I know they are, and I don't really quite understand why," Ross said. "The obligations that they would undertake, say borrowing from a bank or a credit union, are, in effect, federally guaranteed. So the 30 days of pay that some people will be out ... there's no real reason why they shouldn't be able to get a loan against it."


Trump was asked about the comments by a reporter during a televised news conference later in the day.
"Perhaps he should have said it differently. Local people know who they are when they go for groceries and everything else, and I think what Wilbur was probably trying to say is that they will work along," the president said. He added that Ross has "done a great job."


Suffice it to say in 2019, most grocery stores do not extend store credit to customers who cannot pay for food.

In a subsequent interview with Bloomberg, Ross said he was "painfully aware" that workers were suffering hardships. He added that in his earlier remarks, he'd been trying to let workers know that credit union loans were available for those "experiencing liquidity crises" — hardly the language of those living paycheck to paycheck.

It all contributed to perceptions that the Trump administration was out of touch with workers bearing the brunt of the shutdown impact.

"Is this the 'Let them eat cake' kind of attitude?" said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Or call your father for money?" With her comments, the speaker evoked Marie Antoinette and took an indirect jab at Trump for inheriting family money.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Ross' comments "reveal the administration's callous indifference toward the federal workers it is treating as pawns." He added: "Secretary Ross, they just can't call their stock broker and ask them to sell some of their shares."

This isn't the first time Trump appeared to be out of touch with how Americans buy groceries. In July the president told supporters at a rally, "you know, if you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card, you need ID.

Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.


yrs,
rubato

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RayThom
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To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by RayThom »

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross:

Image

Does anyone know if Jeff Dunham's hand is up his ass?
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“In a world whose absurdity appears to be so impenetrable, we simply must reach a greater degree of understanding among us, a greater sincerity.” 

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Scooter
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Scooter »

And still more...
Kudlow: Fed workers are ‘volunteering,’ some feel ‘allegiance’ to Trump

When Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said this morning that he can’t “quite understand why” some federal workers affected by the shutdown are relying on food banks, it reflected a Trump administration that’s badly out of touch.

The latest comments from Larry Kudlow, the director of the White House’s National Economic Council, are almost certainly worse.

Kudlow, a former CNBC anchor, initially rankled by dismissing the shutdown crisis as a “glitch.” As TPM noted, he added insult to injury.
Around the same time he made his first shutdown-related gaffe of the day, Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow stepped in it again, saying that the hundreds of thousands of federal employees working without pay were “volunteering” because of “their love for the country and the office of the presidency and presumably their allegiance to President Trump.”

Earlier in the White House briefing room, responding to a reporter’s question, Kudlow said of unpaid federal workers: “God bless them. They’re working for free. They’re volunteering. But they do it because they believe government service is honorable and they believe in President Trump and they’re working as hard as ever.”
Obviously, by any reasonable definition of the word, those who’ve been ordered to work without pay have not “volunteered.”

When a reporter took issue with his characterization, Kudlow, visibly annoyed, dismissed the interest in “semantic games,” and sought to praise the federal workers who’ve been ordered to do their jobs without paychecks.

He added, in reference to the affected workers, “They do it because of their love for the country, and the office of the presidency, and presumably their allegiance to President Trump.”

I will gladly give credit to those who are doing their jobs without pay, but let’s not play games: these federal employees aren’t being given a lot of choices. They’re obviously in an incredibly difficult position, but these Americans are working because they’ve been ordered to show up.

They’re not “volunteering,” and while I can’t speak to their political beliefs, there’s no reason to assume they feel any “allegiance” to the president who shut down the government.
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Scooter
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

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Lord Jim
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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How many folks here would be happy to get on a plane with air traffic controllers at their take off and/or landing airport stressed out about being able to pay their mortgage and coming off a 10 hour Uber shift?
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Scooter
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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Or with TSA agents in the same boat who are the ones screening passengers for potential threats...
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Scooter
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

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Scooter
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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Scooter
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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LaGuardia Flights Halted as Shutdown Hits Air-Traffic Staffing

The Federal Aviation Administration halted flights into New York’s LaGuardia Airport because of a shortage of air-traffic control staff, escalating the pressure on President Donald Trump and lawmakers to end the government shutdown.

A lack of workers at an air-traffic control facility in the Washington area prompted the FAA to order a ground stop at LaGuardia, one of the nation’s busiest transportation hubs. Flights at other East Coast airports such as Washington’s Reagan National, Newark Liberty International and Philadelphia International were also delayed Friday.

The flight disruptions underscored the rising impact of the government shutdown as the closing dragged into the 35th day. Top bosses of U.S. airlines warned of the risk to the aviation system Thursday, with JetBlue Airways Corp. Chief Executive Officer Robin Hayes saying the situation was reaching a “tipping point.”

A staffing shortage also was reported at a facility overseeing air traffic in Jacksonville, Florida, according to an FAA website.
"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

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Burning Petard
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Burning Petard »

Jim Wright has not moved entirely to Facebook. He posted today on his blog:
https://www.newsandguts.com/ng-follower ... mmigrants/

Several interesting points. The one that was primary was that POTUS is betraying the very people he is asking to sacrifice the most, the 800,000 federal employees who are not being paid. He also makes a strong argument from the very statements by Donald Trump, that hiring more agents is cheaper than the wall, and agents do the job better.

Early on Jim Wright points out that the best, most productive, most capable federal workers will leave and find higher paying jobs resulting in the fed's workforce even more overworked and marginally trained or competent.

My own conclusion:

We have nothing to fear but the fear mongers who are running the government.

snailgate.

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Sue U
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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Lord Jim wrote:How many folks here would be happy to get on a plane with air traffic controllers at their take off and/or landing airport stressed out about being able to pay their mortgage and coming off a 10 hour Uber shift?
Flights at other East Coast airports such as Washington’s Reagan National, Newark Liberty International and Philadelphia International were also delayed Friday.

The flight disruptions underscored the rising impact of the government shutdown as the closing dragged into the 35th day. Top bosses of U.S. airlines warned of the risk to the aviation system Thursday, with JetBlue Airways Corp. Chief Executive Officer Robin Hayes saying the situation was reaching a “tipping point.”

A staffing shortage also was reported at a facility overseeing air traffic in Jacksonville, Florida, according to an FAA website.
I am supposed to fly to a national trial lawyers conference next week, and I am seriously wondering whether I -- or the attendees from around the country --will even be able to get there. The conference is a very important business-generating event for me, and my business will be seriously impaired if I can't go, if others I had planned to meet with can't get there, or even if the overall attendance suffers generally, since it's an event that gets me "seen." If this isn't over by Thursday you can count me among the collateral damage resulting from Trump's tantrum.
GAH!

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Crackpot
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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There’s always greyhound.
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

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Sue U
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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Crackpot wrote:There’s always greyhound.
I was actually thinking about whether I should drive, but I really can't afford adding four days onto this trip (two each way). Plus most of the people I need to see are a lot farther away than I am, so they probably wouldn't come at all.

I think it's very possible that if this is not ended, by next week all air travel is likely to be seriously disrupted if not shut down entirely.
GAH!

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RayThom
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To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by RayThom »

Sue U wrote:... I think it's very possible that if this is not ended, by next week all air travel is likely to be seriously disrupted if not shut down entirely.
Will you be able to teleconference... or is sand and surf a big part of it?
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“In a world whose absurdity appears to be so impenetrable, we simply must reach a greater degree of understanding among us, a greater sincerity.” 

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Lord Jim
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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Somebody blinks:
Trump Announces Deal to Reopen Government, in Surprise Retreat From Wall

WASHINGTON — President Trump agreed Friday to reopen the federal government for three weeks while negotiations proceeded over how to secure the nation’s southwestern border, backing down after a monthlong standoff failed to force Democrats to give him billions of dollars for his long-promised wall.

The decision paved the way for Congress to pass spending bills as soon as Friday that Mr. Trump will sign to restore normal operations at a series of federal agencies until Feb. 15 and begin paying again the 800,000 federal workers who have been furloughed or forced to work for free for 35 days.

The plan includes none of the money for the wall that he had demanded and was essentially the same approach that Mr. Trump rejected at the end of December, meaning he won nothing concrete during the impasse. But if Republicans and Democrats cannot reach agreement on wall money by the February deadline, he indicated that he was ready to renew the confrontation or declare a national emergency and bypass Congress altogether.
More:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/us/p ... -deal.html

Apparently the combination of him still continuing to get killed in the polls over this despite his offer on DACA last weekend, and the growing disruptions to air travel, (That makes sense; when ordinary working people can't pay their rent or mortgages or put food on the table, he'll put up with that forever, but when it starts to inconvenience his rich buddies flying around in their private jets, it's a genuine emergency requiring immediate attention...) finally forced his hand...
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Scooter
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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Folded like a cheap suit.
"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

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Scooter
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

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