The government shutdown.....

[Williamsmith]

IRS agents have access to information that I was able to use to turn otherwise uncooperative witnesses into fountains of useful information. It is the kind of information that requires one to declare income streams, sources and amounts under penalty of incarceration. It is the kind of power that gets abused easily. Hardly unessential to the criminal investigator. Mostly unnecessary since there are other ways of structuring a tax than to club society over the head with constant threat.

[Miss Cellaneous]

Unemployment--It is my understanding that if a federal worker is working unpaid, they are considered to be working and cannot collect unemployment. If they are not working at their federal job, they can collect unemployment but they must pay the unemployment money back when they receive back pay. I'm not sure how that works; one would hope that they aren't expected to pay it all back in one lump sum the moment they get their back pay but instead have a few weeks/months to repay it.

How some of the federal workers who are not getting paid are paying for gas and tolls and child care, I do not know. I suspect some of the "sick days" being taken are really because the employee has no way to get to work or no one to watch the kids.

[sweetana3]

In my former agency, there are hardship exemptions for lack of child care etc.

[catherine]

Luckily we are not flying until the end of February.

Shoot! I'm flying out to the West Coast February 6. I hope the shutdown is over by then.

[Teacher Terry]

California is giving all federal employees not being paid unemployment whether they are working or not. Yes they will have to pay it back.

[jp1]

So, do we think trump completely and utterly caved because airports were shutting down, wilbur ross’s ‘let them eat cake’ moment or something else?

[LDAHL]

So, do we think trump completely and utterly caved because airports were shutting down, wilbur ross’s ‘let them eat cake’ moment or something else?

I think he just got bored. I hope that doesn’t mean we’ll be invading Venezuela.

[Williamsmith]

Have we made America great again yet?

[Teacher Terry]

The next crisis is 2/15 and we fly out on the 20th. Ugh!

[Williamsmith]

The partial government shutdown was a trial balloon by Trump which served two purposes: it provided feedback as to how a prolonged shutdown might play out as either beneficial or detrimental to the President’s public approval and it prepared the way for a declaration of national emergency which would provide a means to begin border wall construction.

The national emergency declaration draft is already in the works.

Perhaps other global happenings have the Presidents attention ....Venezuela. Securing access to the vast natural resources of that country would prove very beneficial and having a military presence there would be equally satisfying for hawks. Many NATO governments have given Maduro a week to hold a pop up election.

Aka the wall, is on the back burner for now.