How to Change the Law

[KeithE]

[William Thornton]

Had supper last night (bbq with a bluegrass band) with a couple where the husband was on gummit furlough in his dispensible USDA job.

My point was that we had an election last year where one of the main issues was Obamacare and the GOP candidate lost. It wasn't even close. While I see no legal issue with what the GOP is doing now and they have a right to battle in the legislative arena in such a fashion, it seems to me to be futile. Maybe I am shortsighted on the strategy.

I think there will be much more pain in the implementation of Obamacare than in a temporary gummit shutdown.

[ET]

[Haruo]

I agree with you all. How weird.

I.e., I agree that the Tea Party shutdown is legally permissible; the House GOP is not acting illegally or unconstitutionally in bringing it about. But I also agree that the tactic will hurt the GOP at the polls more than it will help, and will hurt them more the longer the shutdown goes on.

[Haruo]

When we saw a GOP congressman berating a Park Service ranger for not opening a park to a group of veterans, when he was one of those who had brought the closure about, it did not make him or his party look good (and I know this is true of the opinions of most veterans I know, too, one of whom posts here).

[Sandy]

[Ed Pettibone]

[Haruo]

[KeithE]

Here is my situation wrt work and being paid-

Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has not been given any new FY14 funds due to the shutdown.
Even when funded the plan is for an cut from FY13 funding due to “sequestration” (don’t recall exact amount -probably about a 10-15% cut).
But they have many mandates most notably Hagel’s demand to field 14 new missiles by FY 15 (don’t have the exact due date)
Government worker funding (off of leftover FY13 money) will run out by 18 Oct 2013; but they may stretch that out with only “essential people”.
Major hardware contractors- Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon have contracted efforts that will go on and must legally be funded for a few years (details differ)
Support contractors (like me) are in a variety of situations depending on when their task ends.
My task with ~250 people ended yesterday 5 Oct but had been extended in principle until 24 Aug 2014 but w/o funding.
This means we can and have (for the most part) extended our badges to get on base and into the MDA building complex where our offices are.
This 250 person task has ~15 subcontractors of which my company is one (we have ~20 on this task)
The prime support contractor for this task has received no money or promises of money (although an amount has been established - rumor is a 40% cut)
The prime support contractor has given their subcontractors no money and each company must decide what to do.
Most companies have told their people on this task not to report Monday until funding is received which will not happen until shutdown is over.
Our company has decided to “work at risk” and our President has said he will pay us for at least a week even if no money comes - very generous.
So I’ll report to work Monday and work next week.
Right now I’m really doing something both important and right up my alley.
I will continue to work past next week even if not paid because I’m passionate right now about my assignment.
Plus over the years they have been good to me.
Worse comes to worse (either extended multi-month shutdown, I’m told not to come in, or govt decides to ignore my wisdom ) I can retire comfortably. Many younger workers can’t.

NASA employees who work on the same base are already furloughed (most likely w/o pay). DoD components will mostly be backpaid for work not performed (as happened in the last shutdown in 1995) - but that is not a done deal especially for support contractors.

The way I look at it, this is the Republicans intransigence causing this loss/delay of upgrades to our defense against nuclear/biological/chemical attack via offensive missiles. Obama’s intransigence on the ACA is the high road here both sticking with the letter of the law (ACA is law) and the spirit of the common good - ObamaCare is enabling a larger number of unfortunate people (~30-45M people) to have health insurance, far more people than 800,000 “furloughed” govt employees most of which have had it good for a long time and if they have 5 years of govt service have health insurance for life.

You say we continue in our debt status as a nation and that has to stop. But do you realize Obama has lowered the $1.4T/year* deficit he inherited in FY 2009 down to ~$642B/year (beating the estimate of $972B/yr (see attached)). The small scale stimulus has worked; we need more stimulus to get back to near full employment, small deficits, and the prosperity that it will bring in a few years. This shutdown is exasperating recovery.

Bush had turned a surplus into the $1.4T*/year deficit through ineffectual wars, DoD increases, and tax reduction to the rich and to corporations. And his deregulation brought on the financial crisis (although the major fault lies with the greedy foolishness of the financial industry).

* Although about was due to Obama's start of stimulus funding by Sept 30, 2009 (enacted by the in March 2009); so Bush is strictly speaking only accountable for $1.293T/year deficit in 2009 (up from a $128B/year surplus he was handed in 2001 -again look at attachment).

I’m not enamored with a lot that Obama has done (or not done) either. But on the economic front, he does not deserve the hateful diatribes he is receiving from the partisan right.

[William Thornton]

OK, it's all Bush's fault. We got that.

Yeah, whatever happened to sequestration? The country didn't slide into oblivion, but take heart, obamacare gives us a much better chance of doing that.

More importantly, does the shutdown impact the duck penii study. I'm not sure the country can survive not knowing more about how harlequins are hung or how mergansers measure up (down?).

[Dave Roberts]

[Haruo]

I'm almost done with Obama's 1995 autobiography. An interesting book. I commend it to you all.

[KeithE]