The GOP flunks Hostage Taking 101

[questionmark]

Democrats are in such a panic over the prospect of a government shutdown that President Obama spent four hours on the golf course Saturday and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told his colleagues to take the weekend off, while House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi left town to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary.

Why show up for work? The Democrats are following Napoleon’s old adage: Never interfere when your enemy is in the process of destroying himself.

Obama has accused Republicans of hostage taking. Let’s be clear: I’m all for taking hostages. Both sides do it all the time. But one of the first things they teach you in Hostage Taking 101 is that you have to choose a hostage the other side cares about saving. Obama and the Democrats don’t care about stopping a government shutdown. With a shutdown, Republicans are essentially putting a gun to their own heads and threatening to pull the trigger if the Democrats don’t capitulate. Not surprisingly, it’s not working.

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I know he is a Dem mouthpiece...but i could not resist

[Heru]

Im not a political expert but I dont see how bad it is for me if the Govt. shuts down.

Does the post office stop delivering mail? That would hurt buisnesses.

What is the negative for an everyday person?

[questionmark]

Im not a political expert but I dont see how bad it is for me if the Govt. shuts down.

Does the post office stop delivering mail? That would hurt buisnesses.

What is the negative for an everyday person?

Immediate nothing,unless you are waiting for your passport to go on vacations. All departments have at least enough money to get through the next pay period so essential services will still be supplied.

Slowly? All those who are being furloughed tomorrow (or maybe this evening when their shift ends) will not have an income. And what they don't have they can't spend. In a foreseeable time the individual departments will run out of money to pay the skeleton staffs and then that will be it.

On the bright side: never got that far.

Edited September 30, 2013 by questionmark

[Simbi Laveau]

Why is this dems not caring. It sounds like dems being dems.

McCain played poker on his iPhone while alleged talks about nuking Syria went on.

These idiots just don't care.

They will get paid no matter what so.

And why did obama whine on TV then?

I almost barfed when he went on about poor farmers.

Shall we list all the farmers he's destroyed over his last two terms?

Please b****es.....

Instead of Overhauling MEDICAID, Which IS what is wrong with the syste, hhe's making the middle class pay for even more now.

The rich don't pay for it, the poor don't pay for it, make the middleclass pay twice as much.

Edited September 30, 2013 by Simbi Laveau

[ninjadude]

The increasingly likely shutdown of the US government could have far-reaching effects throughout the US. If Congress fails to reach an agreement to avert a shutdown by midnight ET Monday, some services – mail delivery, Social Security and Medicare benefits – would not be affected. Others, like national parks and routine safety inspections of food, would be curtailed as the majority of federal employees tasked with their operation would be furloughed.

A look at how a shutdown could affect other services across the federal government:

Federal workers:

About 800,000 federal employees could see their paychecks jeopardised. Already hit hard by several unpaid furlough days caused by sequestration this year some workers have begun lobbying to receive back pay in the event of a shutdown. While Congress agreed to retroactively pay them during previous shutdowns, the fractured nature of this Congress makes such a step unlikely.

US military

The military's 1.4 million active-duty personnel would stay on duty, but their paychecks would be delayed. The US House proposal to delay Obamacare for a year – passed early Sunday morning but almost certain will be killed in the Senate – included a provision to ensure troops' paychecks continue.

About half of the Defense Department's civilian employees would be furloughed.

Science

Nasa will furlough almost all of its employees, though it will continue to keep workers at Mission Control in Houston and elsewhere to support the International Space Station, where two Americans and four others are deployed. The National Weather Service would keep forecasting weather and issuing warnings and the National Hurricane Center would continue to track storms.

Travel

Federal air traffic controllers would remain on the job and airport screeners would keep funneling passengers through security checkpoints, though some airports have warned of delays at security. Federal inspectors would continue enforcing safety rules.

The State Department would continue processing foreign applications for visas and US applications for passports, since fees are collected to finance those services. Embassies and consulates overseas would continue to provide services to American citizens.

Courts

Federal courts would continue operating normally for about 10 business days after the start of a shutdown, roughly until the middle of October. If the shutdown continues, the judiciary would have to begin furloughs of employees whose work is not considered essential. But cases would continue to be heard.

The US supreme court is scheduled to begin its new term on October 7. In previous government shutdowns, it continued to operate as normal.

Mail

Deliveries would continue as usual because the US Postal Service receives no tax dollars for day-to-day operations. It relies on income from stamps and other postal fees to keep running.

District of Columbia

The city, which does not have autonomy over its own budget, briefly flirted with the idea of using the potential shutdown to make a stand when mayor Vince Gray moved to designate all city employees "essential," thereby avoiding the cuts in services like libraries that were expected. Some District politicians were willing to go so far as to get arrested over the show of defiance, but on Friday the city's lawyers approved using a $144m contingency fund to make up the difference if the federal government funds dry up.

Homeland security

The majority of the Department of Homeland Security's employees are expected to stay on the job, including uniformed agents and officers at the country's borders and ports of entry, members of the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration officers, Secret Service personnel and other law enforcement agents and officers. US Citizenship and Immigration Services employees would continue to process green card applications.

Veterans services

Most services offered through the Department of Veterans Affairs will continue because lawmakers approve money one year in advance for the VA's health programs. Veterans would still be able to visit hospitals for inpatient care, get mental health counseling at vet centers or get prescriptions filled at VA health clinics. Operators would still staff the crisis hotline and claims workers would still process payments to cover disability and pension benefits.

But those veterans appealing the denial of disability benefits to the Board of Veterans Appeals will have to wait longer for a decision because the board would not issue any decisions during a shutdown.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/29/us-government-shutdown-services-affected/print

[+DieChecker]

Maybe the freaking Federal Worker Unions, should step up and pay the payrolls of their Members so that no one gets hurt? Oh, wait, that would make the Unions spend some of their Billions on helping their workers instead of spending it on lawyers.

A shutdown will hurt the Dems as much as the Reps. They don't want to admit it, but many more Dem voters are dependant on Fed Aid then Reps. Naturally though, this will be spun as, "Evil Reps take food from babies".

I wonder what a good hostage would have been then? Obamacare seems a fantastic hostage. It just is that to hold that hostage they need to take some incoming fire.

[questionmark]

Why is this dems not caring. It sounds like dems being dems.

McCain played poker on his iPhone while alleged talks about nuking Syria went on.

These idiots just don't care.

They will get paid no matter what so.

And why did obama whine on TV then?

I almost barfed when he went on about poor farmers.

Shall we list all the farmers he's destroyed over his last two terms?

Please b****es.....

Instead of Overhauling MEDICAID, Which IS what is wrong with the syste, hhe's making the middle class pay for even more now.

The rich don't pay for it, the poor don't pay for it, make the middleclass pay twice as much.

You mean the Reps cared more?

[Bama13]

The increasingly likely shutdown of the US government could have far-reaching effects throughout the US. If Congress fails to reach an agreement to avert a shutdown by midnight ET Monday, some services – mail delivery, Social Security and Medicare benefits – would not be affected. Others, like national parks and routine safety inspections of food, would be curtailed as the majority of federal employees tasked with their operation would be furloughed.

A look at how a shutdown could affect other services across the federal government:

Federal workers:

About 800,000 federal employees could see their paychecks jeopardised. Already hit hard by several unpaid furlough days caused by sequestration this year some workers have begun lobbying to receive back pay in the event of a shutdown. While Congress agreed to retroactively pay them during previous shutdowns, the fractured nature of this Congress makes such a step unlikely.

US military

The military's 1.4 million active-duty personnel would stay on duty, but their paychecks would be delayed. The US House proposal to delay Obamacare for a year – passed early Sunday morning but almost certain will be killed in the Senate – included a provision to ensure troops' paychecks continue.

About half of the Defense Department's civilian employees would be furloughed.

Science

Nasa will furlough almost all of its employees, though it will continue to keep workers at Mission Control in Houston and elsewhere to support the International Space Station, where two Americans and four others are deployed. The National Weather Service would keep forecasting weather and issuing warnings and the National Hurricane Center would continue to track storms.

Travel

Federal air traffic controllers would remain on the job and airport screeners would keep funneling passengers through security checkpoints, though some airports have warned of delays at security. Federal inspectors would continue enforcing safety rules.

The State Department would continue processing foreign applications for visas and US applications for passports, since fees are collected to finance those services. Embassies and consulates overseas would continue to provide services to American citizens.

Courts

Federal courts would continue operating normally for about 10 business days after the start of a shutdown, roughly until the middle of October. If the shutdown continues, the judiciary would have to begin furloughs of employees whose work is not considered essential. But cases would continue to be heard.

The US supreme court is scheduled to begin its new term on October 7. In previous government shutdowns, it continued to operate as normal.

Mail

Deliveries would continue as usual because the US Postal Service receives no tax dollars for day-to-day operations. It relies on income from stamps and other postal fees to keep running.

District of Columbia

The city, which does not have autonomy over its own budget, briefly flirted with the idea of using the potential shutdown to make a stand when mayor Vince Gray moved to designate all city employees "essential," thereby avoiding the cuts in services like libraries that were expected. Some District politicians were willing to go so far as to get arrested over the show of defiance, but on Friday the city's lawyers approved using a $144m contingency fund to make up the difference if the federal government funds dry up.

Homeland security

The majority of the Department of Homeland Security's employees are expected to stay on the job, including uniformed agents and officers at the country's borders and ports of entry, members of the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration officers, Secret Service personnel and other law enforcement agents and officers. US Citizenship and Immigration Services employees would continue to process green card applications.

Veterans services

Most services offered through the Department of Veterans Affairs will continue because lawmakers approve money one year in advance for the VA's health programs. Veterans would still be able to visit hospitals for inpatient care, get mental health counseling at vet centers or get prescriptions filled at VA health clinics. Operators would still staff the crisis hotline and claims workers would still process payments to cover disability and pension benefits.

But those veterans appealing the denial of disability benefits to the Board of Veterans Appeals will have to wait longer for a decision because the board would not issue any decisions during a shutdown.

http://www.theguardi...-affected/print

I didn't see where our elected officals (Representatives, Senators, President) were mentioned. I'm betting their pay won't be cut off.

[ninjadude]

Maybe the freaking Federal Worker Unions, should step up and pay the payrolls of their Members so that no one gets hurt?

Not sure what you have against unions but only about 1 in 3 gov employees is part of a union. I'm pretty sure whatever resources they have is not going to cover the furloughed employees.