# The tea party shut down is going to hurt my family **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 7, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620 "2013-10-07T21:04:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/21 "2013-10-08T13:15:20Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What about the cop and the Indian? Harmony. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/22 "2013-10-08T13:32:40Z")
This really sucks. But it’s not just the TP. It’s the entire Republican caucus in the House. They shouldn’t let the TPers hold the country hostage like this. My outrage meter is rising everyday. And as bad as this is, I do hope the Democrats don’t cave. If they do, we can expect to face this kind of bullshit every time the budget or debt limit comes up for a vote. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/23 "2013-10-08T14:20:14Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > Also, [visa issuance is still going like gangbusters.](http://sansalvador.usembassy.gov/news/2013/10/03.html) Again, stuff that is funded by user fees rather than budget appropriations should be more or less unaffected. I don’t think thats the way it works. If they’re on the budget then they are affected. Unless they are considered essential. My guess is that this stuff is considered essential. > [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > My son in law is furloughed and not getting paid, so it’s affecting my family too, though not quite in the same way. I can help them out with some food, but that’s about it, so I hope this doesn’t last too much longer. > > I think the tea party shut down is an appropriate way to describe it. Sorry for your troubles. For a while it looked like they would get back pay [http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-votes-to-approve-back-pay-for-furloughed-workers/2013/10/05/936c5b4c-2ddc-11e3-8ade-a1f23cda135e\_story.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-votes-to-approve-back-pay-for-furloughed-workers/2013/10/05/936c5b4c-2ddc-11e3-8ade-a1f23cda135e_story.html) Then the Senate decided to hold it up and try to get a few amendments in there (I don’t know if they realize this or not, but federal employees make horrible hostages, this administration has been pretty willing to throw federal employees under the bus). [http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/cornyn-back-pay-for-federal-workers-shouldnt-be-considered-in-a-vacuum/](http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/cornyn-back-pay-for-federal-workers-shouldnt-be-considered-in-a-vacuum/) And there are now right wing commentators that pushing for banning federeal back pay. [http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/bill-kellys-truth-squad/2013/oct/6/back-pay-backlash-no-vacation-pay-federal-workers/](http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/bill-kellys-truth-squad/2013/oct/6/back-pay-backlash-no-vacation-pay-federal-workers/) Whatever happens, your son-in-law might want to start looking for a new job, I think this might just be the beginning of instability in the federal work force. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > This really sucks. But it’s not just the TP. It’s the entire Republican caucus in the House. They shouldn’t let the TPers hold the country hostage like this. My outrage meter is rising everyday. > > And as bad as this is, I do hope the Democrats don’t cave. If they do, we can expect to face this kind of bullshit every time the budget or debt limit comes up for a vote. Thats why you never pay danegeld. Obama screwed this one up early in his first administration by giving up too much too easily, heck he was negotiating against himself for a while. He naively thought Republicans were his partners in government even as they were calling for his head. I regret supporting him instead of Hillary in 2008. I think the senate is just as bad as the house. A partisan house is nothing new, making everything subject to the filibuster is a bad turn of events. Even if the Republicans ever regain control of government, do they think the precedent they set will ever allow them to govern effectively? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/24 "2013-10-08T14:35:04Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > I think the senate is just as bad as the house. A partisan house is nothing new, making everything subject to the filibuster is a bad turn of events. Even if the Republicans ever regain control of government, do they think the precedent they set will ever allow them to govern effectively? Yes. They’ll amend the rules. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/25 "2013-10-08T14:43:49Z")
All your problems are petty trivialities. Boo-hoo, your wife can’t go to work; boo-hoo your fiancée can’t get a visa; boo-hoo, your son might have to eat Ramen once or twice this month and maybe skip a meal or two; boo-hoo-hoo. You want real problems? Both my in-laws work for the SSA and are on furlough. _They now have free time for an extended visit._ :eek: This post is not intended to be serious. I have great sympathy for the plight of the above posters. My in-laws are the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human beings I’ve ever known in my life ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/26 "2013-10-08T15:22:48Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > I don’t think thats the way it works. If they’re on the budget then they are affected. Unless they are considered essential. My guess is that this stuff is considered essential. I am telling you from my daily professional experience that visas are still being issued. [Here’s an example of an Embassy where a client of mine had his immigrant visa appointment as scheduled since the shutdown kicked in.](http://usembassy.state.gov/wha.html) Services that are provided and paid for by user fees are not affected by the shutdown. If you need to follow up on a FOIA response or something, though, you’re SOL. Eva Luna, U.S. Immigration Paralegal ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/27 "2013-10-08T16:26:42Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > This really sucks. But it’s not just the TP. It’s the entire Republican caucus in the House. They shouldn’t let the TPers hold the country hostage like this. My outrage meter is rising everyday. > > And as bad as this is, I do hope the Democrats don’t cave. If they do, we can expect to face this kind of bullshit every time the budget or debt limit comes up for a vote. Like **Damuri Ajashi** said, in the beginning it seemed like Obama genuinely could not understand that republicans HATED him and would never work with him, and he literally negotiated with himself on multiple instances…he was the world’s worst negotiator and really set a bad precedent. But this Gov’t shutdown is a whole other fish. It sets the precedent that a minority power can get whatever they want whenever they want as long as they hate this country enough to shut down the government because they can’t get what they want via the democratic process. I too hope he sticks to his guns until the money men on the right reel the psychos in. > [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Congratulations on the marriage! Now would be a good time for her to get to know your area, learn the bus routes, and maybe volunteer at a local animal shelter or something similar. Yeah, she’s already pretty adept at the bus routes using her iphone and I gave her my unlimited bus pass I get through work. 🙂 She does want to look into volunteering during the days as well, which I think is a good idea for her. She comes from a big family, and just doesn’t handle being alone that well (my idea of heaven is to have no work and the ability to write all day and research on the computer and play games, but my wife has more initiative than I do thankfully, and all the time to herself is not something she enjoys 😛 ) ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/28 "2013-10-08T16:46:33Z")
Let’s call it what it is. It isn’t a shut down, it’s a LOCK OUT. People are locked out, paralyzing the government. They are out without pay, through no fault or choice of theirs. Others have been ordered back to work WITHOUT PAY. All this because people like Calgary Ted Cruz want to hold the country hostage. They hate Obama, they hate government, they hate the idea that ACA was passed and signed and became law. So they are using extortion and hostage taking in order to subvert THE LAW. There has been a push to get a “clean CR”, but Boner (Boner, Boener, whatever) is blocking the vote. So now we have a push for a Discharge, to get him out of the way. These assholes deliberately locked out the government, ensuring it can’t do its job, and in at leat one case, a certain asshole Rep from Texas castigated a park ranger for something HE voted for (caught on video). With a fvcking flag in his pocket like some sort of patriot. Subversive/saboteur is more like it. Scumbags, cheats, assholes. They are deliberately committing sabotage and subverting both THE LAW, the will of the majority, and the will of the people. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/29 "2013-10-08T16:54:26Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > Yeah, she’s already pretty adept at the bus routes using her iphone and I gave her my unlimited bus pass I get through work. 🙂 She does want to look into volunteering during the days as well, which I think is a good idea for her. She comes from a big family, and just doesn’t handle being alone that well (my idea of heaven is to have no work and the ability to write all day and research on the computer and play games, but my wife has more initiative than I do thankfully, and all the time to herself is not something she enjoys 😛 ) BTW, what country is she from? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/30 "2013-10-08T17:13:09Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > I am telling you from my daily professional experience that visas are still being issued. [Here’s an example of an Embassy where a client of mine had his immigrant visa appointment as scheduled since the shutdown kicked in.](http://usembassy.state.gov/wha.html) Services that are provided and paid for by user fees are not affected by the shutdown. If you need to follow up on a FOIA response or something, though, you’re SOL. > > Eva Luna, U.S. Immigration Paralegal Happy to see that that will continue, so visas are still made, and I also confirmed that USCIS will be open for my next appointment, what is the status of Social Security? Cards are still being delayed? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/31 "2013-10-08T17:20:10Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > … > This post is not intended to be serious. I have great sympathy for the plight of the above posters. My in-laws are the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human beings I’ve ever known in my life They know you post here, huh? 😉 A friend whose husband was a federal employee and retired on disability a couple months ago noted that she’s glad he did it when he did - apparently they’re not processing new retirement claims just now :(. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/32 "2013-10-08T18:34:31Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Happy to see that that will continue, so visas are still made, and I also confirmed that USCIS will be open for my next appointment, what is the status of Social Security? Cards are still being delayed? As far as I can tell, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/33 "2013-10-08T19:33:42Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Yes. They’ll amend the rules. What’s stopping the Democrats from amending the rules now? (The obvious answer is the Republicans, but wouldn’t the Republicans have the same problem when they try to amend the rules?) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/34 "2013-10-08T20:42:27Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > I have a similar situation, the delays will mean that the Ms. Buster 🙂 will not get a visa soon. Besides the lack of revenue there is the lack of cuddling. ☹ > > And then they think they will get the Hispanic vote… with this and the delays to Immigration reform the Tea Partiers and the Republicans are only gaining \*\*involved \*\*political enemies for life, and it is not just my family, but many friends also. [Ted Cruz talked](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/11/19/121119fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all) to \*The New Yorker \*last November… > [@](#): > > “If Republicans do not do better in the Hispanic community,” he said, “in a few short years Republicans will no longer be the majority party in our state.” He ticked off some statistics: in 2004, George W. Bush won forty-four per cent of the Hispanic vote nationally; in 2008, John McCain won just thirty-one per cent. On Tuesday, Romney fared even worse. > > “In not too many years, Texas could switch from being all Republican to all Democrat,” he said. “If that happens, no Republican will ever again win the White House. New York and California are for the foreseeable future unalterably Democrat. If Texas turns bright blue, the Electoral College math is simple. We won’t be talking about Ohio, we won’t be talking about Florida or Virginia, because it won’t matter. If Texas is bright blue, you can’t get to two-seventy electoral votes. The Republican Party would cease to exist. We would become like the Whig Party. Our kids and grandkids would study how this used to be a national political party. ‘They had Conventions, they nominated Presidential candidates. They don’t exist anymore.’ ” Since then, his anti-Obamacare crusade & his opposition of a route to citizenship have not shown him to give a fuck about the future of the Republican Party. In Texas or the US. He’s apparently eager to be nominated for President–but I don’t see him having much of a future… ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/35 "2013-10-08T22:22:40Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > Let me see what I can find out about Social Security, but there shouldn’t be any holdup for the I-485 or I-765. > > ETA: yep, [looks like new Social Security cards are being held up.](http://www.ssa.gov/shutdown/) I had an appointment at Social Security last week, and \*this was the first thing I heard \*on coming in the door. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/36 "2013-10-08T22:44:29Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Yes. They’ll amend the rules. ☹ > [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > I am telling you from my daily professional experience that visas are still being issued. [Here’s an example of an Embassy where a client of mine had his immigrant visa appointment as scheduled since the shutdown kicked in.](http://usembassy.state.gov/wha.html) Services that are provided and paid for by user fees are not affected by the shutdown. If you need to follow up on a FOIA response or something, though, you’re SOL. > > Eva Luna, U.S. Immigration Paralegal I believe you that visas are still being issued but there are services that are provided and paid for by user fees that are shut down. No action letters from the SEC require a hefty user fee, it fully funds the SEC and then some. We can’t get any progress on advance pricing agreements or private letter rulings from the IRS and the user fees are in the tens of thousands of dollars. > [@rogerbox](#): > > I too hope he sticks to his guns until the money men on the right reel the psychos in. you’re assuming that the money men are sane. > [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Ted Cruz…He’s apparently eager to be nominated for President–but I don’t see him having much of a future… Do you realize the amount of hubris it takes to run for president (figure it this way, Trump didn’t have the hubris to do so)? I’ve seen the most unlikely presidential candidates believe they could win until their campaign checks started bouncing. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/37 "2013-10-08T23:19:41Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > What’s stopping the Democrats from amending the rules now? (The obvious answer is the Republicans, but wouldn’t the Republicans have the same problem when they try to amend the rules?) Technically there was nothing stopping the Democrats from threatening to shut down the government or default on the debt when Bush was President and they had at least one chamber, either. The fact that the GOP is willing to take such extreme measures tells me that they very well might also take the nuclear option of filibuster reform if they win Senate control. I could very well be wrong, but over the past year or two, my estimation of its chances have increased greatly. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/38 "2013-10-08T23:30:50Z")
Another factor is the erosion of the Blue Balls Dead Dog Democrats, Dems from conservative districts who cling to their seats. The Dem leadership tolerated them because they counted in the caucus, thus bringing some political power to the Dems but without any real loyalty. The Republican leadership tolerated them because they came across in the pinch, and gave them the patina of bi-partisanship, back when that mattered. But the Blue Dogs were easy pickin’s for the Insane Clown Posse, so, poof! gone. That, in concert with very shrewd re-districting, has allowed the Republicans to become less popular and more powerful at the same time. Witness the recent miracle, where they got a million less votes for House seats, and yet won those seats. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/39 "2013-10-08T23:35:06Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > I am telling you from my daily professional experience that visas are still being issued. [Here’s an example of an Embassy where a client of mine had his immigrant visa appointment as scheduled since the shutdown kicked in.](http://usembassy.state.gov/wha.html) Services that are provided and paid for by user fees are not affected by the shutdown. If you need to follow up on a FOIA response or something, though, you’re SOL. > > Eva Luna, U.S. Immigration Paralegal I can confirm that the US Embassy in Bangkok and the consulate in the North are still up and running and continuing passport and visa operations. I renewed my passport last year, so I don’t have to worry. But all passports are done back in the US now, and I’m wondering if while the passport operations here are still continuing, would there be a hold-up at the US end? (I’m talking passports only, as visa approvals are granted here and not in the US.) ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620/40 "2013-10-09T01:28:37Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I renewed my passport last year, so I don’t have to worry. But all passports are done back in the US now, and I’m wondering if while the passport operations here are still continuing, would there be a hold-up at the US end? (I’m talking passports only, as visa approvals are granted here and not in the US.) [Looks like passport services are as normal.](http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html) I will be the first to admit that I don’t know jack about how the IRS works. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-shut-down-is-going-to-hurt-my-family/670620.md?page=3)