The government shutdown.....

[Teacher Terry]

I totally agree Tammy.

[jp1]

The other thing to keep in mind is that after today this will be the longest shutdown that's ever happened. woohoo! Go Trump! In past shutdowns the president worked to get things open again as soon as possible. Since our current president is completely incapable of empathy, concern for the plight of Schrödinger's government workers is completely not entiring his thought process. (he's called them both "mostly democrats" and "big supporters of the wall" depending on which depiction suits him at a given moment)

[Lainey]

I wonder if that’s what PATCO thought.

Ironically, with the sophisticated technology of modern aircraft, the air traffic controller function has become less critical.
But if anyone wants to forego TSA and book a flight on "Fly At Your Own Risk" airlines they can try it. It could be just like the good old days, walk right onto the tarmac and bring your cigarettes, booze and weapons with you. (was a skit about that from a comedian whose name I don't recall).


I agree that TSA is not the high level security we'd like to believe it to be. (although I did witness a bomb-sniffing dog in action this week for all flyers in a terminal when I went to pick up a relative at Sky Harbor in Phoenix - hadn't seen that before, wondered if it had something to do with the short-staffing due to TSA workers calling in sick.)
And that other post 9/11 changes, including fortification of the pilot's door, have a greater impact.

Back to the topic.

[ApatheticNoMore]

they have a job to go back to eventually. Like I said I know people in full crisis mode now about contracts potentially ending and no they have no job to go back to. They have contemplated driving for Uber. I wonder how many government workers have contemplated driving for Uber? So the government workers don't have money for one paycheck even though they can eventually (though there sometimes is a delay) collect unemployment. Meanwhile reality on the ground is the EDD here says it is taking people here an average of 6-12 months to get a job. Now newsflash: unemployment insurance itself only lasts 6 months (and add up how many missed paychecks 6-12 months of unemployment is, it's not one) And they get to hear about what a good economy it is to boot. How do the rest of us not just die I wonder since those government workers are all going to perish from 1 missed paycheck. All keep on the good fight I don't know how.

[Teacher Terry]

Some states give extensions on unemployment. My husband was on it for a year when he lost his job.

[jp1]

I agree that TSA is not the high level security we'd like to believe it to be. (although I did witness a bomb-sniffing dog in action this week for all flyers in a terminal when I went to pick up a relative at Sky Harbor in Phoenix - hadn't seen that before, wondered if it had something to do with the short-staffing due to TSA workers calling in sick.)

I don't think that was because of the shutdown. They've been using them regularly at SFO for a couple of years now.

[Williamsmith]

Well, the real “non-essential” employees are members of Congress. Perhaps if they didn’t get their paycheck today, they might do what they were elected to do.....govern. Those that are not getting paid today have been guaranteed all back pay. Why would I have any confidence in a government that is this dysfunctional? This is why we do have a real lack of rule of law regarding the border and the immigration process. Those that support the President, the Rust Belt in particular do not remember anyone championing their cause when they were losing jobs at an alarming rate and stuck living in communities that were mired in a crumbling infrastructure and plagued with violent crime. The Wall, is a symbol for them of a promise made. A National Emergency declaration is on the horizon.

[Yppej]

I heard on the news that TSA workers can earn as little as $20,000.00 a year. It's hard to build an emergency fund with that.

[jp1]

Various sites give various numbers and ranges so it's hard to know what the actual wage for a TSA worker is. This article cites a BLS statistic, which seems like it would probably be the most accurate, of just over $40k per year on average. No mention of differential depending on experience, cost of living in one's region, whether this includes overtime, etc.

In any case, $40k isn't going to leave much room for savings of any significant amount. Especially if one has dependents to take care of.

https://work.chron.com/tsa-officers-make-16008.html

My situation is similar to what Tammy described above about herself. Ten years ago I was earning a little bit more than the $40k that a TSA agent supposedly makes. I was conscientiously putting a modest amount of money into my 401k and managed to have a couple of months emergency fund, but that was it. I could have withstood a brief emergency but not much longer without help. With the luck of being in the right place at the right time and happening to have, without planning, the right background experience, I stumbled into one of the few rapidly growing areas in insurance ten years ago and now make quite a bit more than that. Saving is remarkably easy now. Not because I somehow "saw the light" or whatever, but because it's easy to save when you can easily live on just 40% of your gross income. And the compounding effect of more and more savings just makes things snowball.

[Tammy]

And to address contractors with no guarantee of a job next month - yes that’s hard too. I don’t deny it. But I also don’t see how their suffering means it’s ok for the govt employees to also suffer. Both situations are not good. And both deserve compassion.