Harmony.
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.
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.
Sorry for your troubles. For a while it looked like they would get back pay
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).
And there are now right wing commentators that pushing for banning federeal back pay.
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.
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?
Yes. They’ll amend the rules.
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
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. 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
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.
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 
)
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.
BTW, what country is she from?
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?
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 :(.
As far as I can tell, yes.
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?)
Ted Cruz talked to *The New Yorker *last November…
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…
I had an appointment at Social Security last week, and *this was the first thing I heard *on coming in the door.
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.
you’re assuming that the money men are sane.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
Looks like passport services are as normal.
I will be the first to admit that I don’t know jack about how the IRS works.