All Furloughed Federal Employees Will Be Paid

[LyraM45 0]

Quote

(CNN) – A bill that provides back pay for furloughed Federal workers during the government shutdown unanimously passed the House during a rare Saturday session on Capitol Hill.

Some 800,000 federal workers have been stuck at home without pay since October 1 when Congress failed to pass a budget for the new fiscal year.

On Friday, the White House said the president would sign the measure.

House Speaker John Boehner and GOP House leadership held the vote as part of a strategy to pass piecemeal spending legislation that addressed the issues brought up by the government shutdown.

Although Democrats oppose the incremental approach, saying it amounts to conservatives choosing to fund programs and services they like, the bill passed with strong bipartisan support.

Retroactive pay is guaranteed under the bill, but federal workers can't expect their paychecks until after the government shutdown ends and Congress reaches a resolution on the budget.


http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/05/house-votes-to-give-furloughed-federal-workers-back-pay/?hpt=hp_t1

I have mixed feelings on this. I sympathize with the people who were negatively impacted by being placed on furlough status during the shut down. Personally, I have been at work every day since the weather service is deemed 'essential.' While I sympathize with the people who got an undeserved furlough, part of me also thinks it's not fair for their furlough to just turn into paid time off. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bitter that I had to be in work for all of these days and will end up getting paid just the same as the people who stayed home.

My question with all of this is-- why the essential and non-essential statuses through all of this? If I had to show up to work and work on an IOU as an essential employee, why can't everybody just show up to work and work an IOU since they end up being paid anyway even if they stay home? This is exactly what happened in the 95' shut down too.

Interested to see what others' thoughts are on this.

Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

[JerryBaumchen 1,075]

Hi Lyra,

Quote

I have mixed feelings on this.

I'm a retired fed. One year we had a rather severe ( for us ) snowstorm so I called in and stayed home on Annual Leave. The agency gave Admin Leave to those who just stayed home without calling in.

Wait a year or two and you will be OK with it. Or wait until the day you retire and think about it then.

Time heals all wounds.

JerryBaumchen

[Bignugget 0]

LyraM45

Quote

(CNN) – A bill that provides back pay for furloughed Federal workers during the government shutdown unanimously passed the House during a rare Saturday session on Capitol Hill.

Some 800,000 federal workers have been stuck at home without pay since October 1 when Congress failed to pass a budget for the new fiscal year.

On Friday, the White House said the president would sign the measure.

House Speaker John Boehner and GOP House leadership held the vote as part of a strategy to pass piecemeal spending legislation that addressed the issues brought up by the government shutdown.

Although Democrats oppose the incremental approach, saying it amounts to conservatives choosing to fund programs and services they like, the bill passed with strong bipartisan support.

Retroactive pay is guaranteed under the bill, but federal workers can't expect their paychecks until after the government shutdown ends and Congress reaches a resolution on the budget.


http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/05/house-votes-to-give-furloughed-federal-workers-back-pay/?hpt=hp_t1

I have mixed feelings on this. I sympathize with the people who were negatively impacted by being placed on furlough status during the shut down. Personally, I have been at work every day since the weather service is deemed 'essential.' While I sympathize with the people who got an undeserved furlough, part of me also thinks it's not fair for their furlough to just turn into paid time off. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bitter that I had to be in work for all of these days and will end up getting paid just the same as the people who stayed home.

My question with all of this is-- why the essential and non-essential statuses through all of this? If I had to show up to work and work on an IOU as an essential employee, why can't everybody just show up to work and work an IOU since they end up being paid anyway even if they stay home? This is exactly what happened in the 95' shut down too.

Interested to see what others' thoughts are on this.

Umm yes for sure. Getting paid? Go to work.

Otherwise they are just freeloading govt. teat suckers.

[LyraM45 0]

I would say the last week I can sympathize with. It's not peoples fault there was a furlough and it's not their fault for being deemed 'non-essential,' so I feel like they shouldn't be punished. But from here on out, to announce they will get paid no matter what, then I feel like if the government is paying for service, then why not bring them back to work? Why are only the essential employees forced to work on an IOU and the non-essential employees have an IOU for continuing to stay home? If they're going to be paid, then get rid of this essential vs. non-essential b.s and just let everybody work on the same IOU promise of eventual retro pay.

Doesn't make sense to me! And again, this is not the fault of the federal workerbees. This is a larger scope problem that has to be fixed in DC that controls what is happening in shut down status. This doesn't make sense, IMO.

Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

[Bignugget 0]

I think its hilarious personally.

How does the far right side justify paying them to just sit at home?

It is 1000% everything that is wrong with America in their mind. People being paid to do nothing.

I would love to hear Rush (MC and Limbizzle) weigh in on this one. I might have to turn talk radio on for a few minutes in the car to see how they have spun this one to be an "ok" entitlement.

[jimmytavino 16]

it seems that the GOVT. has been found to have Overpaid for MANY things, for years and years....
and has also been known to throw away money like it grew on trees, for all sorts of silly and/or useless things..... since...... well Since about FOREVER..

Classic case of people deciding how to $PEND money which really Isn't THEIRS, in the first place...

good, I suppose for those who are affected by the furlough.. bad for all of us who pay taxes to contribute to the "cookie jar" into which politicians reach,,,,, endlessly.

I have always been of the mind that IF you are getting PAID,,,, then you OUGHT to be Working for it..
It will be interesting to SEE if any of those folks, REPORT for work..... whether called in or Not.... IF they ARE in fact "unessential ",, why not just eliminate such positions in the first place.. The last time I looked,,, didn't we HAVE a Huge budget DEFICIT ??????? in this country...????
The inmates are Running (AND Ruining) the asylum

[LyraM45 0]

I made a case for the essential vs. non-essential issue in another thread. Basically, they assume the shut down is going to be very short term. Say, even a day. You have to look at is as what positions would have direct harm, or maybe even result in injury or death of citizens, if it weren't there? First one that pops to a lot of peoples minds is ATC. For planes to fly around safely, or at all, you need ATC without even a little break in service. I'm with the NWS. We protect lives and property. Weather doesn't stop if we do (as seen with the blizzard up in south dakota and a tropical system hitting the gulf coast this week). So, we're also 'essential.'

My friend who works for the bureau of reclamation is non-essential this week so far. Does that mean her job is any less valuable than mine or that because she is not immediately essential, that she's not needed at all? Of course not. I think if you put this in a long term perspective (say months) then you'd have a lot more of these 'non-essential' jobs on the essential list. Nobody is going to be immediately put out if she's gone this week, but in the long term it would be a problem. In particular, her job deals with the water reservoirs, which includes the large resource up in the mountains that the entire San Francisco Bay gets their water from. As a Bay Area resident, I know I would like a civil engineer monitoring my main water source!

Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

[wayneflorida 0]

Watching Washington is like watching "Queen for a Day"

Except those people had real problems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_for_a_Day

[airdvr 200]

Quote

While I sympathize with the people who got an undeserved furlough, part of me also thinks it's not fair for their furlough to just turn into paid time off. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bitter that I had to be in work for all of these days and will end up getting paid just the same as the people who stayed home.

Hmmm...how conservative of you. You don't like someone getting something for free that you had to work for. Irony meter off the scale.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[OHCHUTE 0]

All the fed and congress shouldn't get one red cent while out. But try getting the folks that control the fed that.

[sfzombie13 310]

i think they should get the backpay, it makes up for the stress from not knowing this for the first week. i had the good fortune to be able to put two furloughed techs to work this week, as soon as they were out. just because they will get paid when it's over, the bills do not stop while they are out. my company seems to be doing great, i hope to be able to hire at least 10 more by this time next year.

on a side note, anyone that knows anything about printing locally from a remote connection, pm me.

_________________________________________
Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes

[billvon 2,463]

>Hmmm...how conservative of you. You don't like someone getting something for
>free that you had to work for. Irony meter off the scale.

No, actually most liberals think that. You may have watched too much FOX News if you think that's not true.

[airdvr 200]

billvon

>Hmmm...how conservative of you. You don't like someone getting something for
>free that you had to work for. Irony meter off the scale.

No, actually most liberals think that. You may have watched too much FOX News if you think that's not true.

Absolutely Bill. You can see it in the outrage liberals have voiced in the domestic policies of the last 60 years.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[LyraM45 0]

airdvr

Quote

While I sympathize with the people who got an undeserved furlough, part of me also thinks it's not fair for their furlough to just turn into paid time off. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bitter that I had to be in work for all of these days and will end up getting paid just the same as the people who stayed home.

Hmmm...how conservative of you. You don't like someone getting something for free that you had to work for. Irony meter off the scale.

Whats ironic about that? Since I'm an independent who is more fiscally conservative and socially liberal and all......

Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

[billvon 2,463]

>Since I'm an independent who is more fiscally conservative and socially liberal and all......

Get back in your pigeonhole before you cause cognitive dissonance!

[yoink 321]

OHCHUTE

All the fed and congress shouldn't get one red cent while out.

We agree on something!


Hell, I'd give the entire government pay cuts for the future as well, the senate, congress, the president; everyone. The reasoning? They suck at their jobs...


If I let a deadline that affected millions of my clients just blow past, even though I knew it was coming for months, I'd be fired!

[sfzombie13 310]

not sure if i mentioned it, but they should get some time off with their families with the opportunity to make some money to pay the bills with a side job, like i helped with. and they should get the backpay as a bonus paid for having to put up with bullshit from supposedly adults in charge of the fucking country.

this irks me to no end. i don't give a fuck about partisanship or any other division. they are toying with the country for what? pride? power? stupidity? they ought to be fucking shot, the whole lot of them, and replaced by others who could put aside differences for the good of the whole nation. makes me embarrassed to be a fucking american. if it weren't for my family, i'd join snowden in russia.

_________________________________________
Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes

[billvon 2,463]

>All the fed and congress shouldn't get one red cent while out.

You'll definitely have a fight on your hands there:

=========
Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) won't be joining the more than 100 lawmakers who are giving up their pay during the shutdown.

"I'm staying here, and I'm working . . .my office is open, we're taking phone calls, I'm voting every day, I'm debating every day, I'm going to countless meetings. I'm working to earn the salary that the people pay me to do the job. I don't get into those sort of stunt-y things, and I'm not going to do it. I will continue to earn it, and I will continue to collect what I earn, yes."
=========
Two advocacy groups have been putting some heat on Republican Rep. Walter Jones for not agreeing to forfeit his pay during the government shut down.

ProgressNC Action and Protect Your Care showed at Jones' district office with a petition of 15,000 signatures and life-size cardboard cut out of Jones on Thursday, urging him to forgo his salary.
=========
Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) said this week that there is no way he's giving up his salary during the government shutdown.

"Dang straight," he said when asked by the Omaha World-Herald Bureau whether he would keep his paycheck. . . .

"But you know what? I've got a nice house and a kid in college, and I'll tell you we cannot handle it. Giving our paycheck away when you still worked and earned it? That's just not going to fly."
==========
Rep. Gosar says Congress should give up salaries, but won't give up his

Posted on July 3, 2012 at 1:07 PM

PHOENIX -- Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar, who's wrapped-up in a tough Republican primary fight, wants to get paid for a job he says he didn't do.

According to a campaign press release, Gosar co-sponsored a bill that would strip lawmakers of their pay if Congress doesn't pass a budget by the start of the fiscal year.

Since Gosar was elected two years ago, that hasn't happened. But that doesn't mean the Republican politician is willing to give up any part of his $174,000 congressional salary.
============
Wisconsin Democrat Rep. Gwen Moore has vowed that she will not give up her $174,000 congressional salary during the government shutdown.

A large number of members from the Wisconsin delegation who have either refused to draw their federal salary or who have pledged to donate their salary to charity: U.S. Senators Ron Johnson (R) and Tammy Baldwin (D) as well as Congressional Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI-03), Reid Ribble (R-WI-08) Tom Petri (R-WI-06), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI-05), Sean Duffy (R-WI-07) and Paul Ryan (R-WI-01).

However, Moore is standing firm — and collecting a paycheck.
===============

[livendive 8]

I work for a federal contractor. We've been able to stretch through this week on carryover funds from FY13, but the bulk of our last few days has been preparing to default on our sub-contracts (paying some companies in full for work that will be abandoned incomplete and telling others that we're not sure when we'll be able to pay them for work they have in-house) We've also been trying to prepare our infrastructure for indefinite shuttering which will start Friday, and the cost of shutting down will pale in comparison to the cost of restarting (I think Friday is when we kill all the microbes in our bioremediation facilities and start winterizing them). None of us will receive back pay, and because about 400 of us were absorbed by our "client" on October first, we also have no vacation accrued that we can burn. Basically, I'm expecting to be unemployed in two days. With an abnormally expensive summer that required some heavy withdrawals from savings, I'll probably start sending out resumes on Day 1 even though I've technically only been with my current employer for less than 3 weeks (I've had the same job for 9 years, just different companies writing my checks). If something better comes along, I'll take it, and the government can pay to train someone else to take my place whenever they get their act together. If a couple months pass and I haven't found anything better, I'll take something worse. I don't begrudge anyone else for getting paid the salary they expected when they agreed to their jobs, nor do I begrudge "essential" employees who get to keep doing their jobs. Business is business, and the government isn't looking like a particularly great client right now. Sure, they need plenty of help, but that requires a payment for services received. If they can't pay me to do their work, I'll try to find someone who can.

Edit to add: I don't know what my coworkers make and honestly don't care. I'd guess some make more than me and some make less, but what they get is no concern of mine. The litmus test in my book is whether I feel my services are being adequately compensated. If they are, cool, if they're not, see ya. I assume others take the same approach.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)