Government Shutdown!?!?

[angllady2]

To me it's just one more example of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

And as to the whole "vote the right people in and this won't happen" thing, that is just ridiculous. No one individual in the government hierarchy has the power or authority to make a difference. Not even the President. I don't care how noble the intentions or how much their heart is in the right place, the bureaucratic process means they can't do diddly.

Every concept or idea or plan has to be approved by so many other people, and make it through so much red tape, trying to change things is futile at best. Even if you elected say a congressman who really wanted to change things. The odds of that one person being able to convince all the other members of congress to go along with his or her plan, as well as getting everyone else who has a say in the matter to agree are infinitesimal at best.

So, despite campaign promises and good intentions, the odds of the government ever waking up and doing the right thing are about as good as winning four different state lotteries in the same day with the same numbers. Greed and corruption will always win, and the rest of us just have to deal with it as best we can.

Gale

[Twisted Reptiles]

Do you have the vaguest idea how idiotic that statement was?

Yes, actually. It was intended to be. It was meant to echo the tone of the post in reference. The opinion in the post could have been made just as effectively without the condescending undertones.

I think your interpretation of this as "looking down on" is inaccurate and far from the intention of the quoted post.

I understand and respect your interpretation, though I do not necessarily entirely agree.

I cannot comment on your political structure as, especially as in regards to situations like this one, it is radically different to the one in my country where something like this would simply not be tolerated even if it were actually possible.

I would say, if you want to prevent those involved thinking this is a legitimate game, vote for a different type of person.

Agree 100%, and this was basically my overall point. I think it is good that people are upset about how this was handled and there is some degree of dissatisfaction. Hopefully people remember that going forward and we push for changes that will reduce the chances of events of this nature in the future.

I would like to think that the country that I live in is one that a situation like this, as you said, "would simply not be tolerated" as well, even if that is not the case today.

[Vypyrz]

I would say, if you want to prevent those involved thinking this is a legitimate game, vote for a different type of person.


dr del

I'm glad I'm not the only one with this view. In my opinion, we need a new government, and the solution is simple. In 2012, which is the next election year, just vote all of the incumbents out of office and replace them. Then, in 2014, when the mid-term elections come up, vote all of the remaining incumbents out of office. At that point, there will be all new people in Washington. If they don't get the message that the American people won't tolerate such sub-standard performance and conduct, then vote them out as well. Sooner or later we will end up with some politicians in office who "get it."

Seriously, if any one of us went to work and demonstrated the same performance standards that the government does, we would be fired. Maybe Donald Trump should run for President. For his first State of the Union address, he could walk into Congress and say,"YOU'RE FIIIIIRED."

[sgath92]

Agreed. and no one would ever want to pay for things like this and Police service until they were being burglarized or their country was being invaded.

Even if their selections had no baring on how much they had to pay in taxes?

I could understand there would be problems if people had the option of paying less by selecting less but if the taxes due are unaffected it shouldn't cause a massive change for mainstream programs. You're paying the same regardless what you consent to.

[Big Gunns]

What's the big deal? They only do about 30 minutes worth of work a day anyway.

[deftones2015]

Just imagine if Americans as a whole, did what the government is doing. If we shut down, just imagine how much we could accomplish. Stop buying gas, stop working, etc. All the people living the high life from our funds would be screwed. That is the main issue in my opinion though. It is no longer we the people but more self I the people. Everyone seems to be out for what is best for themselves instead of the whole of a people. Once we get to that point, what is the point, when government no longer cares about the people.

[dsirkle]

To me it's just one more example of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

And as to the whole "vote the right people in and this won't happen" thing, that is just ridiculous. No one individual in the government hierarchy has the power or authority to make a difference. Not even the President. I don't care how noble the intentions or how much their heart is in the right place, the bureaucratic process means they can't do diddly.

Every concept or idea or plan has to be approved by so many other people, and make it through so much red tape, trying to change things is futile at best. Even if you elected say a congressman who really wanted to change things. The odds of that one person being able to convince all the other members of congress to go along with his or her plan, as well as getting everyone else who has a say in the matter to agree are infinitesimal at best.

So, despite campaign promises and good intentions, the odds of the government ever waking up and doing the right thing are about as good as winning four different state lotteries in the same day with the same numbers. Greed and corruption will always win, and the rest of us just have to deal with it as best we can.

Gale

It was the very realization that "absolute power corrupts absolutely" that led the founding fathers to create a system giving the Senate, the House, the Judiciary and the President separate and often opposing powers as they saw the unbridled power of a King as the greatest danger of Governmental authority.
They also wrote the Constitution and added the Bill of Rights to guarantee rights to the individual citizen. The people at that time were desirous of freedom from Governmental oppression and interference in their daily lives. They had not even conceived the idea of perpetually remaining children and expecting to receive cradle to grave support.

[dsirkle]

I think it is good that people are upset about how this was handled and there is some degree of dissatisfaction. Hopefully people remember that going forward and we push for changes that will reduce the chances of events of this nature in the future.

I would like to think that the country that I live in is one that a situation like this, as you said, "would simply not be tolerated" as well, even if that is not the case today.

And then there are the people like me that believe that we are responsible for and make our own circumstances rather than viewing ourselves as merely being at the mercy of what other people that we only see on TV are doing.

[Adam Chandler]

In case any other military members (or families of) on here didn't get the word about our pay on the upcoming 15th it will be the full, normal 2 week amount.

DFAS will pay the military in full at the next regular payday - Friday
April 15. But there will be two bank deposits for each member. I want to
explain why we are doing this and our plan to inform the troops.

The normal day to begin the military pay run was last Thursday, April 7.
Facing a shutdown and possible furloughs, DFAS ran the payday for the
period April 1 to 8. Interim leave and earning statements (LES) were generated for this period.

We will run a second, semi-manual pay for the period April 9 through
April 15. Both deposits will go into member accounts on April 15. This
semi-manual run will not automatically revise the LES and, despite some
weekend efforts to do so, it didn't prove feasible. So the mid-month,
interim LES will only show pay for April 1 to 8. The month-end LES will
be complete for the entire month.

Any time you do something new, there is risk. DFAS does statistical
sampling of pay records to check for accuracy. We will pay particular
attention to that process this week.

More info is available here: http://www.dfas.mil/