“America is at that awkward stage. It’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.”–Claire Wolfe
Yeah, we had to sell the sign, thanks to the sequester. From now on, we’re just training the bears to roar, “GET. OUT.”
Who’s going to be there to put the sign out? A lot of the bigger parks, Yellowstone and such, have plazas but don’t have a gate so one could just drive right on in. You wouldn’t be able to get in to the visitor centers and gift shops.
Yes, there is a possibility both of the GOP losing seats in the few remaining marginal districts, but also the possibility of losing seats in not-so-marginal districts by primarying the current occupants who have the advantages of both incumbency and sanity.
From the AP via MSN:
Ok, is it just me or did anyone else go 
when reading this? Isn’t the point of a prison that it remain closed? 
Heh.
“OK, you’re all free to go. Be sure to leave a contact number at the gate on your way out, so we can let you know when it’s time to come back.”
Traffic was even worse than usual this morning. You’d think with at least a third of government employees staying home, you’d catch a break on the commute.
Close down the TSA and 90% of Homeland Security and that will free up a shitload of funding. Chop the retirement pay of politicians to ONE package [as I remember Congressmen and Senators get one retirement package per term, though that may have changed]
Open up the whole Pentagon, remodel the empty offices into combination apartments and offices for the Congressmen and Senators, chop their pay to E6 over 20, put them on Tri-Care and make them live in the Pentagon instead of those town houses, houses and condos they currently have.
Remove most of the tax loopholes that the rich and corporations use to dodge most of the taxes. You want to do business in the US and be a citizen? Pay taxes like us poor folks.
I’m sorry, but the Federal Bureau of Idea Submissions is closed until further notice.
Sorry, but there’s nothing scary in that list. I’m wondering if anyone will even notice that the government is shut down if that’s the only impacts.
:rolleyes:
The 800,000 folk who simply want to do their jobs will notice.
I’d be fine with any reasonable group taking a careful eye to paring pretty much any aspect of government services. But continuing to demand the broadest range of services while chopping budgets/staff with a blunt across-the-board cleaver is insanity. Also insane is expecting quality service while treating those who provide the service like shit.
Our office has a pretty full workload, and is continually pressured to work down the “backlog”, while not being allowed to replace attrition. Our particular office is consistently in the top 10% of similar office nationwide - so the folk I see daily aren’t the (mythical?) shiftless, do-nothing government employees. Now for the foreseeable future we are expected to do the same with 12 excepted persons doing the work of 65? Ain’t gonna happen. Even if we wanted to.
And the 50 folk who simply wanted to do their jobs are going to be gleeful about digging into the mountain of work that piled up when they were forced to miss paychecks? I’m not an expert in human nature, but I don’t see that happening.
Just months ago, conservatives were complaining at every opportunity that the unemployment rate was bogus, and that people should be paying attention to the number of under-employed individuals.
With the stroke of midnight, we suddenly have hundreds of thousands of Americans who are civil servants in a non-emergency capacity who are not going to work and not earning a paycheck. Now, I see conservatives basically cheering on furloughs.
Talk about duplicity: jobs are important to the economy except when there’s a political axe to grind.
Those are government jobs, Ravenman. They don’t count.
This morning:
“Poll Indicates GOP Has Been Deeply Damaged By Shutdown Fight”.
It appears a huge number of Americans know who the bastards are. It’s the blockheaded Republicans who shut down the givernment to block Obamacare.
Several friends and family members who are now wondering when their next paycheck will arrive have noticed. Amazingly, there are a lot of people in this country who actually rely on money from their job in order to pay for their living expenses.
Will the civil servants receive back pay to October 1 after everything returns to normal? Or are they literally in an unemployed state right now and will never receive pay covering the duration of the shutdown?
As your friendly, currently unemployed National Park Service Ranger here is the current ruling
Are national parks open?
No. If there is a lapse in appropriations, all 401 national parks will be closed. Examples include: Statue of Liberty, Independence National Historical Park (including Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell), Yellowstone National Park, and Golden Gate National Recreation Area. As part of the shutdown, the following closures would apply:
• all park entrances closed and secured
• visitor centers and other facilities closed
• interpretive and education programs and special events canceled
• permits issued for special events by outside organizations rescinded
• guests staying in hotels and campgrounds will be given 48 hours to leave
I have a reservation to stay at a park hotel; would I get my deposit back?
This is a question each individual park concessioner will have to address.
If I’m already staying in a park hotel/campground; can I stay during the shutdown?
No. Visitors in overnight accommodations and campgrounds will be given 48 hours to leave the park.
Will there be anyone around to enforce that?