Why? Why don't these people realize they are messing with people's lives?

[Impish]

That's just so wrong. There's no excuse for workers not to be paid, none.

 

I'm completely boggled that 'the ends justify the means' to anyone in this case (not talking you, Faith, but the idiots that lock workers in, don't pay, etc).

 

I still don't get how it's not some form of slavery. Seems like another term for forced labour/forcible confinement = slavery

[Hockey Mom]

I'm struck by what you wrote here, in that this is not new. This already happened to half the country when the housing bubble burst and the government bailed out the banks instead of the populace. Everyone that had anything to do with the building, selling and buying of houses was effected, and it tanked the country. As an example my husband works in civil engineering in urban land development. Over the last three years we've gone through 2 moves, and a stint of unemployment, ALL of our saving is gone. If we have to start over again we'll be SOL.

 

It's sad that the policians seems to want to strike another blow, when the country is finally starting to show signs of life again :(

 

I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments!

 

To the bolded:

Those of us who owned IT support companies lost construction industries, realtors, payroll companies, attorneys, etc. as customers because THEY were going out of business as a result of the housing industry. Which in turn, caused the IT support companies to go out of business. We lost our house. We lost a car. All of our savings was gone. Our credit is gone. All stuff that we could easily afford on our income (for over 10 years), was gone when the housing industry went belly-up.

 

Edited: duh..just read the "tanked the whole country" part. Yeah...It affected a LOT of different industries. We were all tied together. No one bought cars...car lots went out of business. No one went out to eat....restaurants went out of business. And so forth and so on.

[Upward Journey]

To the bolded:

Those of us who owned IT support companies lost construction industries, realtors, payroll companies, attorneys, etc. as customers because THEY were going out of business as a result of the housing industry. Which in turn, caused the IT support companies to go out of business. We lost our house. We lost a car. All of our savings was gone. Our credit is gone. All stuff that we could easily afford on our income (for over 10 years), was gone when the housing industry went belly-up.

 

Edited: duh..just read the "tanked the whole country" part. Yeah...It affected a LOT of different industries. We were all tied together. No one bought cars...car lots went out of business. No one went out to eat....restaurants went out of business. And so forth and so on.

 

 

Yup. And then our government went and "helped out" the guys the started the whole mess to begin with :thumbdown:

[FaithManor]

I'm signing a petition today to recall one of our senators and ask the committee to take on the other plus reps. I'm fed up...I'll help them circulate their information.

 

18 states allow this. That's 36 senators or more than 1/3. If all 18 states did it, I betcha that would shake things up.

 

Faith

[Parrothead]

That's just nuts. I understand emergencies, etc...but there's no excuse for not paying ppl.

 

I don't see how being an essential service means you can be held prisoner for an undetermined period of time. Insane.

 

We had a natural disaster when I was a cop. I got opted for something administrative. I couldn't leave the building for a couple of days. Luckily I got paid (well) for it.

 

Dh would be in the same shape if he'd not taken the new admin job in December.

[RoughCollie]

The problem is that way too many politicians are paid off to vote in what big businesses essentially buy for their benefit. Those politicians are puppets. Huge and powerful corporations and firms control a big chunk of government this way.

 

ETA: My husband is a federal worker who has to work even if the doesn't get paid. Someone has to run his department. That sucks, too.

 

 

I agree. I also think these politicians and captains of industry are sociopaths. They take risks, they know what they are doing will or could harm the general public, and they don't care. We are pawns.

[FaithManor]

I agree. I also think these politicians and captains of industry are sociopaths. They take risks, they know what they are doing will or could harm the general public, and they don't care. We are pawns.

 

 

Sometimes I think we should post a sign at the Statue of Liberty that says, "Welcome to Rome. The Visigoths have arrived."

 

Looters and pillagers...that is what they are.

 

I think I need chocolate and maybe a homemade mocha.

 

Faith

[Mrs Mungo]

 

 

DD is a medic. She can be forced to work without pay for an extended period. People get very, very angry when they call an ambulance or have a car wreck and there is no reponse.

 

We had a hospital not all that far from here that got into a financial crisis a few years ago. They locked all of the employees in. People weren't being paid and so they were going to quit. Well, that means patient's die since none of the area hospitals could combined, take all of the patients of this larger hospital. Politicians consider this the kind of thing that makes it hard to get re-elected since if it happens, you can bet CNN, Fox, NPR, Associated and the like are going to be all over it like ugly on an ape. So, it's a lot easier to have some little known law that allows medical personnel, fire, police, sheriff, etc. all forced to work without pay for however long you feel like it, and occasionally trot that out if you have to, then have it splashed all over the international news agencies that lots of people died because medical personnel walked off the job or that the bank robbery went unnoticed or the mall was looted and pillaged because there is no law enforcement on the job. It just doesn't play out well with the general public. The citizenry has come to expect a certain level of service at.all.costs. and so that would include, forced labor.

 

Faith

 

 

All this does is allow the government (small and big) to ignore the bigger problem. The longer you don't come up with a budget the more people, systems and budgets are affected. The potential of losing those people and services *should* be the incentive to do your damn job.

[TexasRachel]

From what I understand, it will go through the end of the fiscal year, which is the last day of September (unless they come to some agreement before then). So starting in October, things should get back to normal, whatever that means.

No, it'll go on until they actually get a budget in place. We haven't had on in 4 years. And now it's biting our rear, instead onfDC's. There was talk a few years ago about furloughs, but they put in a temporary budget until a real one could be voted on. But they've yet to do it.

 

And because it's the govt they do what they want. DH has mandatory overtime, yet he doesn't get paid time and a half. They throw in some acronyms, spin some numbers to say it's like time and a half, but the employees don't get paid that amount. It's the govt.

 

As far as legalized slavery, it's one of those things you know about when you go in. DH's job carries numerous risks. Having to stay in an emergency is just one of them.