Is everyone surviving the government shutdown so far? I know it must be rough. I've stocked up on water and MRIs, but I am worried about making it through the weekend.
WOW ! MRI’s are pretty expensive, and I never heard that people could (or would want to ) stock up on them, @Ken Anderson . Kidding......I am sure you meant MRE’s instead; but it was so funny that I couldn’t resist teasing you a little bit. Yes, we are surviving just fine thus far. Besides the really BAD days are supposed to be between Christmas and New Year, and by then we can live on leftovers from our Christmas turkey if need be.
You wouldn't be laughing if your paycheck was on furlough; if you were temporarily working for no pay; or, if you had a holiday weekend planned & paid near any National Park or Monument. Bet Nero laughed while he played his fiddle.
IMO the government shutdown is serious and is happening all too frequently. Two things that I can't quite comprehend: The budget is always passed eventually so why can't our elected officials pass it on time. Do we really need the roughly 380,000 people that are furloughed during the shutdown?
One of the only jobs of Congress is to pass a budget, and yet they rarely do that, although they involve themselves with thousands of other things that are none of their business so no, I am not concerned. If you're working at a non-essential job for the federal government and you don't have money stashed away for this sort of thing, then you're an idiot, since it occurs frequently and you can have a pretty good idea when it's coming up. Those who aren't going to work because they work a job that we probably shouldn't be wasting money on anyhow will get a fully paid vacation out of it. Most of our national monuments and parks should be sold on the private market, anyhow.
'Tis the season for Christian charity, compassion, understanding -- OR-- Maybe not for idiots 1 out of 3 Americans are 1 Paycheck away from being Homeless "Americans are feeling better about their job security and the economy, but most are theoretically only one paycheck away from the street.................According to personal finance website Bankrate.com, approximately 62% of Americans have no emergency savings for things such as a $1,000 emergency room visit or a $500 car repair." https://medium.com/@baxleyjames/the-homeless-are-lazy-bums-so-i-used-to-think-f911dedc4cc5 Jesus wept.
I wouldn't be laughing about the Government shutting down but honestly the threats to do this come so often now that it's nothing but a big joke to me...and just another way of showing us that our Government is not doing their job anymore and they don't care one way or the other if if affects any of us. If there was some way it could hurt them, then they would do something about it...but it doesn't hurt them so they will keep right on playing their games instead of doing their job.
Sorry, but I'm not really sure Lulu, where your addition to the OP is actually going. I really do not have to look at a link to know just about everything there is to know about homelessness. It's true, my secular advocation is in the culinary industry but my Christian position was in the Rescue Mission ministry for around 23-24 years. There's very little that the government has to do with the subject. Until President Bush Sr. was in office and met with the AGRM (Association of Gospel Rescue Missions) the only thing the government had to do with homelessness was the 501C3 that ministries have to have in order to get a break on taxation. Since Bush Sr., rescue missions can and do apply and receive grants for programs that they enact such as the New Creations and Overcomers programs which are primarily life skills without alcohol or drugs. Almost everything else a mission needs is by donation. Now, what @Ken Anderson was writing about was the government workers who might be affected by the shut down. They still get paid but whatever work that they do for the government isn't critical to the workings of the Fed so they do not go to work. A paid vacation in every sense of the phrase. Does that mean that contractors on government projects are laid off? No. Their project money is already approved and in escrow accounts for draws by the mother company. No one who works for the government is going to go without a paycheck. Granted, there will be no overtime and the pay will be minimum but still, unless someone is living way above their means, folks should be just fine. After all, throughout the Obama administration, they had a very long uh, what did they call it? A sequester. Yup. Just another way of saying government shut down but a heckova lot messier. Plus, during those eight years there were a few actual shutdowns and I didn't get any reports that missions were unusually full at those times. A shutdown at this time of year simply gives Congress their much wanted paid vacation for indeed, Congress always seems to like to take some hefty breaks especially when a new bunch of Congressmen and Senators are being ushered in at the first of the year. You have a good heart Lulu and I understand. A government shutdown is ugly at best but we will all survive as we always have.
Concerning the government shut down.... I think the politicians in Congress are reacting to what could hurt them personally. They want to get re-elected. Each is supposed .to be representing the will of the constituents in his/her district or state. However, they also take an oath of office to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. The Preamble of the Constitution includes: "...in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, ..." I think this oath takes higher priority, meaning occasionally they should override the majority will of their constituents, or big donors, if that will is not good for the country at large according to the Constitution. So sometimes you can't really fault some of them for being stubborn about unimportant things, if that's what their constituents want. Especially if all it costs the country at large is money. There is no balanced budget amendment in the Constitution.
All day today, the news has been emphasizing that this is day number two of the government shutdown, and there is no end in sight. Think of it. Day one was Saturday, day two is Sunday, day three will be Christmas Eve day, and day four will be Christmas day, and then we'll get into the New Years holidays and the fact that most people probably had the Christmas-New Years period off anyhow.