Govt Shutdown

[Tom523]

Hey Dlaws...DJD is right, we already support you.

In all seriousness folks....what exactly does a government shut down mean? Does anyone know when we had the government shut done previously? My dad says it has but it was only for a couple of days, although he can't remember exactly when it ocurred, of course at the age of 85 it's a wonder he still remembers anything.

So what does a shut down mean...does it mean the local county clerks offices will shut down, does it mean the mail delivery will stop, does it mean my parents will no longer get a social security check in the mail? What does it mean?

I also wonder if the folks who work for the government are sweating bullets this week or if they're not paying much attention to it, thinking like they always do, which is they work for the government so their job is secure?

Kind of seems to me the citizens of this country aren't paying much attention to it....or at least they're not paying as much attention to it as I think they should be.

This is a big deal folks....ain't it?

I work for the government and I will go to work tomorrow even if it shuts down. This happened in 1995 and we were furloughed. WE will get paid when the shut down ends. If I am told to go home, I collect unemployment. Right now Obama is classifying a lot of people as essential and essential personnel must work.

[DJD]

Looks like they did it! They only put a bandaid on a gushing wound but it was a start. We are in for a war between these parties and unless they actually do whats right instead of what they have been doing we will not get a balanced budget again.
Looks like it could take 10-20 years to fix this crap.

Ohh and of course they are thinking of raising our cap on the Debt Ceiling. It has to do with how much we can borrow just to keep this country running. They are running the country by spending more than they are taking in. So oneday they will say sorry fellow americans we have to raise your taxes because YOU don't pay enough when if fact THEY spent too much!!! We are being led by total bafoons who have a disconnect with what the people want. When will we get a leader???

[Chubminnow]

Nobama was quoted as saying; "This deal is the biggest annual spending cut in history!"

My thoughts on that are; "Hell yes it's the biggest spending cut in history...only because it's on the end of the trail of the most spending in history!"

Don't be trying to turn it around Nobama, don't be trying to make this bit of news sound all shiney and bright!

[DJD]

Nobama was quoted as saying; "This deal is the biggest annual spending cut in history!"

My thoughts on that are; "Hell yes it's the biggest spending cut in history...only because it's on the end of the trail of the most spending in history!"

Don't be trying to turn it around Nobama, don't be trying to make this bit of news sound all shiney and bright!

Hopefully they will do alot more soon but my thought is they just don't get it. The fact that Harry Reid was re-elected tells me that some folks just walk around with their head in the sand.

[HURRICANEBOB]

I look at it this way "I support YOU!" Yes I earn a good wage for my work but I have to put up with more than anyone normally would in a job of the same type commercially. If you don't like it, don't pay your taxes and one of my colleagues will come and take your boat, tackle and anything else of value. Then everyone else will support you while your collecting Obamacash!

100% AGREE WITH YOU TOM. We be civil servants. So to all you taxpayers, if you don't want to pay, don't expect services for free.

HOOOOOAH!

[DJD]

I look at it this way "I support YOU!" Yes I earn a good wage for my work but I have to put up with more than anyone normally would in a job of the same type commercially. If you don't like it, don't pay your taxes and one of my colleagues will come and take your boat, tackle and anything else of value. Then everyone else will support you while your collecting Obamacash!

You can look at it that way if it's what makes you feel good. I'll continue to assist in paying your salary since I enjoy it so much.

[HURRICANEBOB]

Speaking of things to cut. Here's my humble opinion.

1. Birth control funding: 100% govt cut, zip to spend. Best birth control? "Just say NO", and stayed zippped.

2. Abortion. 100% got cut, zip to spend. Pregnancy resuting from a crime ought be covered under casuality life insurance and or medical insurance, just like injuries from a gun shot wound or a car accident.

3. 100% moritorium for the next 5 years on the purchase of any govt furniture except for hospitals, and govt provided family housing.

4. Take 50% of the GSA cars the govt uses out of the fleet. Analysis usually shows of 100% in the fleet, on average only 50% are properly utilized.

5. Force Tax reform, force the IRS to insure that personnal tax returns can never exceed 2 pages, not including filer attached proof required. Flat tax by income bracket, with 1 line deductions. All deductions for age, disability stay. All deduction equations can include not more than 3 operations. Example (### X ##%) X (#### + ####) - (#### / ####) ==== DEDUCTION . All fits on one line.

6. Every congressman and teh President takes a 10% pay cut. Good leaders always do the things they expect the subordinates to do (George S. Patton). Hey Pres, you all expect us to pay more taxes for the budget fixes, or go with less, than "Leader, follow, or get out da way".

What do you all think we ought to cut (Except for my govt job, I'm the mission essential stress relief whipping boy in my office......without me, govt health care expenses for employees will rise)

[Devils Horse]

Interesting thread. We just got back from DC Sat night. I wanted my 9 year old daughter to experience our nation's capitol with her mother and I before she goes with her 8th grade class.

If you've never been to Washington DC, save up, pack up the family and go! It's expensive but I promise you it's more than worth it. EVERY citizen should spend some time in the capitol of this great country.

We were there during the govt shutdown hysteria, and the overwhelming sentiment in the area was that it was the Republicans' fault. Not surprising considering the demographics and their voting preference. Also they make up a large contingent of the 800,000 federal government employees.

Anyway, after being scanned/security checked twice, we sat in the House of Representatives gallery about 9 hours before the shutdown deadline Friday. The budget issue was before the Senate, but we watched them vote in the 'Internet Neutrality' resolution.

Pretty interesting seeing the pols you normally see on the news in person. Charlie Rangel was the only one standing by himself aside from some mostly asleep really old guys, and our guy, Brett Guthrie had his 2 kids with him. They were all in small groups that near as I could tell were mostly along party lines, but a few transcended the Rep/Dem line.

After the given Committee Chairman (sorry don't remember his name) hammered away and announced the Internet Neutrality resolution a done deal, Paul Ryan, Chair of the Committee on the Budget took the floor and told the Reps to expect to continue working.

Meanwhile I was quietly talking to one of the ushers, a very sharp young man. He said the talk around the halls was the House would come up with a last minute resolution to temporarily fund the government. He said there really wouldn't be a shutdown. The kid was dead on the money.

My conclusion is there was never that much danger of a shutdown in this particular situation, just plenty of politics and manipulation of the frenzied media morons.

[DJD]

Interesting stuff Jim. I have never been but I plan to go. Do you stay at a Hotel in DC and just walk around? Drive around? Public transit? Any info would be appreciated.

[Devils Horse]

Interesting stuff Jim. I have never been but I plan to go. Do you stay at a Hotel in DC and just walk around? Drive around? Public transit? Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks Don.

We got a deal on a timeshare condo at the Wyndham in National Harbor, Md. Bought tickets from a hop on/off trolley service that has 3 routes, each route having a bunch of stops at points of interest. The trolley service had a shuttle from National Harbor to downtown DC at a central stop. All the route drivers provided a narrated tour.

You really only need to take a trolley to anything beyond reasonable walking distance from the National Mall. Things like the National Cathedral (gargantuan awe inspiring church constructed by conventional means using NO steel) or Arlington are too far to walk to.

There is more than you can do in several days within walking distance on the mall, so all you need to do is don a good pair of shoes (pun intended) and get yourself there. Each museum can take the better part of a day, and there are some great, great, GREAT museums in DC. American History, Natural History, Air and Space, Spy, Holocaust, American Indian just to name a few.

It's a bit of a hike, but you also can walk to the Capitol, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, etc from the National Mall area. I'd avoid the Whitehouse, there's a bad smell in that area for some reason.

BTW, you need tickets to go up in the Washington Monument, they give out 2000 tickets at 8:30am, but you have to be in line early to get any. We avoided the lines and went up in the Old Post Office instead, no lines and bigger windows with almost as good a views
as the WM.

Set aside enough time! The Capitol for example will take at least a full day assuming you also visit the Library of Congress, which by all means you should do. I know kids are overstimulated these days, but you'll see their jaws drop in DC for sure, and so will yours.

Go for it brother, you'll be moved to tears many times if you love this country as much as I do. Send me a PM if you want, and I'll give you company names and details.

[Tim_T]

A lot of the stuff in D.C is free. The Smithsonains, the zoo etc. If you are there on a weekend you can buy a day pass on the metro for $5. At least this was all the case a few years back. We went a few times, Mr B-I-L was an attorney up there and when in law school did an internship for McConnell.

[Devils Horse]

Good call Tim, forgot to mention admission is free at almost everything there. We took the metro in one day. $4.25 to park all day, and about $5.50 apiece for the round trip tickets. Didn't see anything about a weekend pass, but didn't look for it either. If you take the green or orange line in, get off at the L' Enfant station.