# Trump's Shutdown **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 11, 2019, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577 "2019-01-11T06:18:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/1 "2019-01-11T06:18:02Z")
News of agencies cutting staff, services being curtailed, etc. are all over the board, popping up in threads in this forum, MPSIMS and in Elections (primarily) and it’s getting hard for me to remember where I saw what, so I thought a thread with a catchy and historically accurate title might help us all to consolidate events and our thoughts on them. The thing that particularly caught my eye tonight was the notice that the EPA Superfund sites were shutting down: [Shutdown suspends federal cleanups at US Superfund sites](https://www.apnews.com/550bec0c92024124893c97abc4ccf707). > [@](#): > > The government shutdown has suspended federal cleanups at Superfund sites around the nation and forced the cancellation of public hearings, deepening the mistrust and resentment of surrounding residents who feel people in power long ago abandoned them to live among the toxic residue of the country’s factories and mines. > > “We are already hurting, and it’s just adding more fuel to the fire,” says 40-year-old Keisha Brown, whose wood-frame home is in a community nestled among coking plants and other factories on Birmingham’s north side. > > The mostly African-American community has been forced to cope with high levels of arsenic, lead and other contaminants in the soil that the Environmental Protection Agency has been scraping up and carting away, house by house. There are reports that the military is looking at re-directing money meant for Puerto Rico, still devastated more than a year after Hurricane Maria. It is looking more and more likely that the lack of services will soon be actively hurting American citizens. I predicted in another thread that this shutdown would last 1-2 months, but that I wouldn’t be at all surprised for it to last much longer. How long will the American people put up with the lack of services we are all about to experience? How long will the American people put up with a president who actively harms them? Who lies to them? Who steals from them? This is Trump’s Shutdown: every bad thing that happens is his fault and no one else’s. ETA: What a fucking jackass he is. Just a complete fucking asshole. 100% a dick. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/2 "2019-01-11T06:22:41Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > How long will the American people put up with the lack of services we are all about to experience? > > How long will the American people put up with a president who actively harms them? Who lies to them? Who steals from them? > > This is Trump’s Shutdown: every bad thing that happens is his fault and no one else’s. What a fucking jackass he is. Just a complete fucking asshole. 100% a dick. I’m bullish on American apathy and stupidity.🆒 As I keep sayin, mate. We’re going to have to go through hell…before we can get to heaven. That’s a fact. Keep whistlin past the graveyard and cursing my name if y’all wish, but this is where we’re headed. What I want everyone to remember is that we’re past the point of just a normal correction, a normal adjustment at the ballot box. This country needs to get shocked in the balls. It needs to get angry. It needs to be pissed off. I don’t see that happening when we’re at full employment. I see it happening when we’re standing in line at soup kitchens, fighting in the streets over loaves of bread, and veterans are rioting over not getting their retirement. That’s not my prediction…that’s our history. History will repeat itself. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/3 "2019-01-11T13:08:12Z")
You’re incredibly boring. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/4 "2019-01-11T13:17:10Z")
I just read the FDA has now stopped inspecting for food safety in many places. What? How can that be acceptable to anyone! Ever? (I think I’ll be buying Canadian!) ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/5 "2019-01-11T13:59:49Z")
Air traffic controllers are not being paid, but are still required to show up to work. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/6 "2019-01-11T14:06:01Z")
I’m getting increasingly angry at the Senate and congress for letting this continue. My stance isn’t that they should give in and give him the money, but that he needs to be impeached and indicted for extortion. I also feel strongly that our federal workers should NOT be furloughed or work without pay. It should be congress and the senate who are working without pay until this is resolved. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/7 "2019-01-11T14:06:33Z")
They’ll put up with it for awhile. The functions that are actually services such as in the air travel sector can be done privately. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/8 "2019-01-11T14:11:24Z")
The other day at work, I was trying to find the commercial description of a light bulb ( ie 7w G40 LED Warm Glow) based on an uninformative manufacturer model number ( ie PHILIPS 1234567890 ). I was trying to purchase a bulb based on a test report that only referenced the model number. I thought it would be easy but none of the commercial listings referenced the model number. So I googled the model number and found a site that purported to contain a cross-reference table. The site was a government site though, and a banner on the site said the information on it is not available during the shutdown. So I had to buy the most likely candidate and test it myself. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/9 "2019-01-11T14:20:13Z")
Yeah getting on the horn with a manufacturer is tough. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/10 "2019-01-11T14:22:19Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > They’ll put up with it for awhile. The functions that are actually services such as in the air travel sector can be done privately. :rolleyes: Not if the “private” company isn’t being paid, they’re not. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/11 "2019-01-11T14:32:04Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > :rolleyes: > > Not if the “private” company isn’t being paid, they’re not. Why wouldn’t they get paid? Everyone else who supplies a service that satisfies consumers’ desires gets paid. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/12 "2019-01-11T14:34:14Z")
One thing is certain: Trump supporters will blame Democrats for this. Even if they suffer as a result of this, they’ll blame Democrats. Trump supporters, as is quite visible on this board, are not the sharpest spoons in the drawer. Shit, Republican lawmakers and then run of the mill Republican voters will by and large blame Democrats for this. The idea that anything on the Republican side of politics is dependent on making sense is long gone, America. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/13 "2019-01-11T14:43:02Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Why wouldn’t they get paid? Everyone else who supplies a service that satisfies consumers’ desires gets paid. Because the government is shut down. Have you not heard this? Even the topic of this thread is called “Trump’s shutdown.” Government contractors aren’t getting paid. Therefore, if you have a contract with the government to supply, say $50,000/week in air traffic controllers to whatever airport(s), you’re not getting that $50k this week. Meaning that either: 1. Your employees go unpaid, or 2. You eat the payroll cost until you get paid I mean, seriously, Will: How do you not know this? ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/14 "2019-01-11T14:48:26Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Because the government is shut down. Have you not heard this? Even the topic of this thread is called “Trump’s shutdown.” > > Government contractors aren’t getting paid. Therefore, if you have a contract with the government to supply, say $50,000/week in air traffic controllers to whatever airport(s), you’re not getting that $50k this week. Meaning that either: > > 1. Your employees go unpaid, or > 2. You eat the payroll cost until you get paid > > I mean, seriously, Will: How do you not know this? I assume he is assuming complete privatization of air traffic control. So, I guess, the airlines pay the controllers directly. Not sure how that works - if different companies have contracts in different airports, how do they talk? And if Southwest has a contract with company A, and United with company B, how does that work? Maybe two companies both put up a tower in the same airport (competition is good, ya know). And then fight over who gets to land their flight next? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/15 "2019-01-11T14:51:20Z")
[Visitors Chainsaw Iconic Joshua Trees in National Park During Gov’t Shutdown](https://www.livescience.com/64467-visitors-chainsaw-iconic-joshua-trees.html) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/16 "2019-01-11T14:58:56Z")
You know which facility run by the National Parks Service in D.C. is still open and staffed? [The one at Individual-1’s hotel.](https://www.npr.org/2019/01/10/683638056/shutdown-shutters-many-d-c-tourist-attractions-but-not-the-one-in-trumps-hotel) ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/17 "2019-01-11T15:03:40Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Air traffic controllers are not being paid, but are still required to show up to work. Didn’t we fight a war about that? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/18 "2019-01-11T15:15:13Z")
No taxation without representation you mean? Because taxes are still being withheld from my checks, even though services are suspended. Oh, and the majority of Americans don’t want the stupid wall and elected representatives accordingly. Only their will cannot be expressed in Congress because now no votes are allowed in the Senate, not even on a CR that passed unanimously last month. So yeah, no representation. My thought this morning is that Trump and the GOP expect US to serve Them, when it is supposed to be the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/19 "2019-01-11T15:17:34Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Because the government is shut down. Have you not heard this? Even the topic of this thread is called “Trump’s shutdown.” > > Government contractors aren’t getting paid. Therefore, if you have a contract with the government to supply, say $50,000/week in air traffic controllers to whatever airport(s), you’re not getting that $50k this week. Meaning that either: > > 1. Your employees go unpaid, or > 2. You eat the payroll cost until you get paid > > I mean, seriously, Will: How do you not know this? Hey, back off. He’s read Ayn Rand and even a little bit of Milton Friedman too. He, like, knows stuff. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577/20 "2019-01-11T15:21:52Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > I assume he is assuming complete privatization of air traffic control. So, I guess, the airlines pay the controllers directly. Not sure how that works - if different companies have contracts in different airports, how do they talk? And if Southwest has a contract with company A, and United with company B, how does that work? Maybe two companies both put up a tower in the same airport (competition is good, ya know). And then fight over who gets to land their flight next? Assume that he is. This isn’t the thread for that, this is the thread to discuss real-world implications of Trump’s shutdown, not fantasy island crap found in _The Virtue of Selfishness_. ETA: Sorry, **Folacin** , the attitude above isn’t directed at you. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-shutdown/827577.md?page=2)