You said it’s a beautiful thing and you hoped for it. And I’ll blame you for being an ass. Because you are literally saying you hope for this beautiful thing that’s going to cause for many people who didn’t bring this upon this country, including children, to suffer and even die.
Asahi is the sort of guy who, when getting his ass kicked in a bar, cowers on the ground while being pummeled, yelling to another group of guys, saying, “See! I told you this would happen! Now they’re going to get arrested, and won’t THEY be sorry!”
I am the last person who wants you furloughed, but I am not your problem. I have voted for rational members of the Democratic party almost exclusively since 2004 - even while living overseas, which requires more of an effort than being at home.
Your cite just says that the average federal employee salary is $84K (not counting benefits), but it doesn’t say what “average” means. What percentage of federal workers are actually earning that kind of money?
If the “average” is simply the mean, then a few very high-paid workers can boost the average salary level considerably. So no, I don’t think your cite is necessarily “dueling” with or contradicting SteveMB’s. Nor do I think you have any idea how many furloughed federal workers, if any, are actually wealthy enough not to need their salaries paid promptly every week.
(Even if some are, of course, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s ethically irresponsible to stop paying their salaries just so the Toddler-in-Chief can have his tantrum about the grownups refusing to give him their money for his silly wall boondoggle.)
I think the workers are probably safe here. Trump doesn’t know the meaning of “pay tax”, “fair market value” or “bartering”. Actually, “know” and “instruct” are probably unfamiliar to him as well.