^^^^ I wish I could hit "like this" multiple times!

We need to have a discussion.

800,000 civil servants are "on vacation" as you seem to think. I'm sure their mortgage and auto companies will understand when their payments are late.

What about the 2.4 million federal government contractors who may or may not get back pay? What about the small business owners supporting the federal government? The restaurants and food trucks that rely on the patronage of the federal employees and contractors? What about the vendors who rely on tourism to the National Parks and the Smithsonian museums? Where are their paychecks coming from?

Yes, in an ideal world, 3 months salary as a rainy day fund would be nice. It disappears real quick when there is an emergency. There are too many people living paycheck to paycheck as it is. I hate to think of what happens when they miss a single check. But 2?

ETA

What about the small businesses I don't support because my funds are tight?

I don't think your rose colored glasses are allowing you to see how wide spread of an impact this shutdown is having.

@msimon-2000 wrote:

As usual, I have a contrarian point-of-view.

Perhaps with Gov't shutdowns becoming more commonplace, employees should heed the standard financial planning advice of saving somewhere between 3-12 months of living expenses in a liquid account. Some call it a rainy day fund. Even without Gov't shutdowns, this is a sound personal financial strategy regardless of what sector you work in.

All these furloughed employees crying the blues about the shutdown and missing two paychecks...should take responsibility for their own financial well-being and save enough for any unexpected event in life. Many of the reports say the hardship emanates from the no warning aspect of the shutdown? Bull, the US Gov't has been operating on temporary budgets for some time now. With each continuing resolution, the Gov't was only temporarily funded for a short time. This standoff over the wall has been brewing for some time now. The only people who had no notice or inkling of a potential shutdown have not been paying attention.

I personally have a hard time sympathizing with these folks who essentially had an extra 5 week vacation, around the holidays no less, with full pay.

As always -- just my opinion....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2019 07:04PM by HonnyBrown.

honny, I agree with you 100%, with the cost of housing, kids in college medical Ins and on and on, many can't save for an unknown emergency...yes, it would be nice if everyone could save, but what about those that can't...the shutdown has been unseen and preparing for it when it shouldn't have happened, do we really need a 5 billion$ wall because one person says we need it. High Tech can put in a tower watching drug dealers cross and stop them for a lot less. Just my humble opinion, but a human one from where I sit. Another idiot solution from someone trying to place this first, so we can get away from his real issues like Russia.

1. 70% of folks in the United States live paycheck to paycheck. While it is really important to save for emergencies, most folks don't. Moreover, many folks do not earn enough money to do so. As it is, a $2,000 car repair can be financially devastating to a lot of folks. There are a LOT of folks on this forum who would find it very difficult to suddenly go with zero income for a month. For that reason alone, shutting 800,000 folks out of work over a political squabble is beyond disgraceful.

2. The "wall" is NOT a national emergency. If it were one, it would have been built long ago, or our country would have collapsed long before Trump became president. $5.6B is a lot of money, but not in the grand scheme of the U.S. Budget. We've wasted more than that in national budgets before.

3. At any time during negotiations, the following folks/groups could have gotten the government re-opened:
* Trump. All he had to do was give up on the "wall."
* Pelosi, Schumer: If they had agreed to the "wall" the government could have opened.
* McConnell: Had he stopped kissing Trump's hindquarters earlier, he could have rallied enough Republicans to pass a budget without Trump's signature.
* The entire Senate: Schumer tried to work around McConnell to get votes on bills. Had the Senate voted to bring bills to the floor anyhow, they could have circumvented McConnell and past bills anyhow.

4. The fact of the matter is that Trump trapped himself politically by demanding a wall - something that is not well-supported by other republicans (notice it did not pass when the GOP controlled both Houses the last two years). Moreover, the Democrats trapped themselves as well, leaving no room to give a little during negotiations. The U.S. political system only works if folks are willing to compromise. However, we are so divided right now that anybody who compromises is seen as weak. This is not good. Neither party can dictate policy, so, either we compromise or we all lose. This time 800,000 federal employees and their families got their butts kicked. Trump got "embarrassed." Democrats are celebrating. I find this sickening. Moreover, what happens in three weeks?

My suggestion: The next time that the government shuts down, every member of the legislature, the president, and all White House senior staff must eat all their meals at local soup kitchens until the shutdown is over. Their salaries, in the meantime, can be donated to their local soup kitchens to make sure that needs are met. I'd be my shirt that they'd find a compromise really quickly if *they* had to suffer the consequences of their political bickering.

#Rant Over: I needed that.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2019 10:20PM by MFJohnston.

Trump loves McDonalds, maybe he can open a Franchise and feed those without paychecks....only kidding, the country is a mess, something we can all agree on.

There's nothing like a good "hamberder."

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

Trump loves McDonalds, maybe he can open a Franchise and feed those without paychecks....only kidding, the country is a mess, something we can all agree on.

@ wrote:

Moreover, what happens in three weeks?

Hubby is happy to be going back to work tomorrow. Fortunately, we’re at a time in our lives that the missing paychecks weren’t an issue, other than a cash flow inconvenience that unemployment helped with. (I would hope that money doesn’t have to be repaid until back salary comes out.)

My prediction is that in three weeks they will be no closer to having things figured out than they do now. There will either be yet another continuing resolution or the President will turn out the lights again.

My wish is that a bill will be passed into law, preventing government shutdowns.

Not wearing rose colored glasses at all. AND I did not elaborate on my political viewpoints either. My post (and I knew it was contrarian) was that we all need to take care of our financial lives and well-being.

I did not comment on the ripple effect of the shutdown, the many contractors who may not receive backpay (Been there and done that), nor the local businesses affected by the shutdown. I also did not state how I felt about the shutdown personally, or the politics beind it. The ONLY group addressed in my posting were those Gov't employees who were crying the blues over two missed (but coming) paychecks. I applaud the many Govt employees who DID put away a rainy day fund as recommended by every financial adviser on the planet. I have little sympathies for those who could have saved, but did not.

While there are some folks who truly cannot save a dime at the moment, the vast majority of Americans could save more if they made some hard financial choices instead of living beyond their means, racking up debt, and not being willing to sacrifice personally.

There is a powerful message in the story of the grasshopper and the ant....

Entitlement. Blame. Responsibility. They are three sides of the same coin.

I was looking at the overspenders and debtors anonymous materials recently. We are entitled to examine how we got into our situations, but we are not entitled to blame others instead of taking responsibility for our financial situations. If we have a debt, or if we overpay for things instead of finding an affordable price, we can't blame anyone else or even ourselves. What we can do is a little financial reality check, own our financial difficulty, and deal with it on the basis of ourselves. We can learn more about how we as consumers can be manipulated via marketing and other methods. Perhaps we could find out when things go on sale, buy them used, or barter for them. We might learn how to negotiate. We can find our spending hot spots and cool them down in some way. But we cannot get away with blaming others for what is our responsibility for very long because some insightful soul, such as the poster above me, will call us on the carpet. Sooner or later, someone will confront us and and bring us face to face with our own issue, which does not belong to the government (as in a shutdown) or to anyone else. We have met the enemy, and he is us. Pogo said that, and we should remember it.

Here's a link to the newbie section so anyone who wants to start can find help: [www.mysteryshopforum.com]

I would suggest searching for companies who pay quickly rather than those that are 90 days out.

The government had the money to pay the employees, they just weren't. The government should not be allowed to shut down.

I work as a contractor for a federal agency. Where I am located in DC, there are numerous supporting businesses: office supply stores, parking garages, food trucks, restaurants. All of us took a big hit. Public transportation took a loss. Non-essential businesses (hair salons, nail salons, etc.) took losses.

This trickle down is so wide spread. Fox 5 news said the hit to the national economy was close to $3B. What kind of sense does that make?

Businesses might have some sort of insurance for disruptions in anticipated income, and/or they might derive some sort of tax benefit from the situation. The long-time business have had time to establish reserves for times of slow or stopped business activities. Their leaders should have been ready for this or other situations. People entering the other businesses should have gone in with eyes wide open. The risks existed before the most recent government shutdown. If these business are lower on the food chain. they can insure or find another job or jobs. They can move to an area where their business is more likely to be steady. The government is not the big, bad per here. Unpreparedness is the issue. Some are so newly in business that any disruption could devastate them in days. Early days are precarious. This is well known. Others have time and presumably know-how and should have been ready for years for any situation.

Meanwhile, I am hoping that whatever it takes to wrestle down the Dems will happen. Will this be another shutdown? Can it be an impeachment of House members? Certainly, it can include voter education. Could this branch of education become a lucrative business for someone? After all, it is needed everywhere, and not just in California.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Businesses might have some sort of insurance for disruptions in anticipated income, and/or they might derive some sort of tax benefit from the situation. The long-time business have had time to establish reserves for times of slow or stopped business activities. Their leaders should have been ready for this or other situations. People entering the other businesses should have gone in with eyes wide open. The risks existed before the most recent government shutdown. If these business are lower on the food chain. they can insure or find another job or jobs. They can move to an area where their business is more likely to be steady. The government is not the big, bad per here. Unpreparedness is the issue. Some are so newly in business that any disruption could devastate them in days. Early days are precarious. This is well known. Others have time and presumably know-how and should have been ready for years for any situation.

Meanwhile, I am hoping that whatever it takes to wrestle down the Dems will happen. Will this be another shutdown? Can it be an impeachment of House members? Certainly, it can include voter education. Could this branch of education become a lucrative business for someone? After all, it is needed everywhere, and not just in California.

I understand your reasoning but I disagree in many ways. I think, YES, the government IS the "big bad" here. I am talking about the president and BOTH Republican and Democratic senators and reps. This has become more about winning a fight than about what they are fighting about. I do think we need a wall. We also need stronger enforcement and better immigration laws - and we've needed them for a long time. Many of the things Trump is saying sound exactly like what Obama was saying in 2014 .... except that Obama speaks softer and sounds more civil. Congress has massively let down the American people. As for the wall itself, the Democrats have previously voted for and supported the construction of a wall (when Obama was president) but suddenly the wall is "immoral?" The leading Democrat fighting the wall is from California, where the majority of the border does have a wall, while Arizona, New Mexico and Texas have many miles of border with no obstructions. So .... is California's wall immoral and other states should not be protected by an immoral wall like California's? Or does the change in the Democratic support for a wall have more to do with now having a Republican president rather than a Democratic president? Yeah, Congress, I'm looking at you. The idea that during a shutdown the Speaker of the House would go on vacation to Hawaii and then plan a trip outside the country appalls me.

As for impeachment of house members, that's highly unlikely. The Democrats control the House at this point. If any House members are impeached, they will most definitely not be Democrats. It would be more likely that there will be another shutdown, because the Democrats continue to refuse to add funding for a wall and the President continues to say he will not approve without wall funding. The more likely scenario would be that the House begins a presidential impeachment process. If Trump were impeached, the government would be back in service and Congress could continue it's status quo of not dealing with issues like border security, border walls, illegal immigration, DACA, immigration reform, etc. I'm very disappointed in our representation in Congress.

Okay, folks. This has veered back into politics. Time for more recipes before the mods shut the whole thing down. Does anyone have a good recipe for carrot cake? And cream cheese frosting?

Wales, I bought the most delicious carrot cake with cream cheese frosting at Ralph's (Kroger's). Today I will look on The Food Network for a recipe and post...wait for it.

Oh, I love carrot cake. We should take a poll, are you pro or con raisins in your carrot cake?? I am for sure a CON!

RECIPE...CARROT CAKE:
2 cups sugar, 1 1'2 cup veg. oil, 4 eggs, 2 tsp. Baking soda, 2 tsp, cinnamon, 3 cups ground carrots, 2 ounces butter, 1 cup walnuts. Mix sugar, oil and eggs...mix seperately flour, b. soda, salt and cinnamon. Fold dry into wet. Pour butter or spray 9 inch pan, bake 50/60 minutes in preheated oven...cool one hour before frosting.
Frosting: Powered sugar, light cream cheese, vanilla and 2 ounces butter, frost as needed.
I made it with half for a smaller loaf cake. Enjoy!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2019 04:34PM by Irene_L.A..

CON!!!
I hate raisins. If I bite into one they literally put my teeth on edge.

@oteixeira wrote:

Oh, I love carrot cake. We should take a poll, are you pro or con raisins in your carrot cake?? I am for sure a CON!

I appreciate all of your comments. I am a current furloughed federal employee. Yes, as of today, my department has yet to be called back to work, while many have already. Everyday we get updates pushing our start date out further. I work for the US Dept of Commerce. I have not received any pay since December 28 and live alone being the sole bread winner. All of my accounts are past due going into February by two months. My propane ran out in the middle of the night and it is single digits here. I applied for UE, food stamps and LIHEAP, but have only received food stamps as of yet. The $161 I was given is supposed to last until March 6. It is already gone. I use my vehicle on a daily basis for work and the insurance expires at midnight tonight. I have no gas to get to the food bank.
The reason I am telling you all of this is I am only one person, but this has affected million of people, not just the 800,000 federal employees. This includes millions of employees of federal contractors and their families. We are not getting any back pay. The rumors floating are that we are anticipating another shutdown (maybe why we haven't been called back yet) and are standing strong that all those who are essential will be walking off the job this time). This will cripple the economy, but I am with them 100%.
Please keep us in your thoughts and give whatever you can to your local federal employees who serve you day in and day out.

How is this related to mystery shopping?

No, point one is not false. We need the wall. Our Border Patrol agents do what they can, but they need help and unless you live on the Border you won't understand..

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2019 08:30PM by VolGal.

@jlux wrote:

How is this related to mystery shopping?

It is completely unrelated to mystery shopping. Jacob, the Forum Owner, defines the General Chat as:

"Chat about anything you want. This is for anything other than mystery shopping."

If you look over the threads in General Chat, you will probably see that virtually NONE of them are directly related to mystery shopping. What we are having for dinner, word games, song titles, discussions of teachers quitting in record numbers, and songs that put you "in the mood," all recent topics, are, like this topic, unrelated to mystery shopping. That's why they are in General Chat.

Roflwofl....thank you for being so grounded and understand rules of the forum....you are one member that speaks from a place easy for all to understand.....you are my hero...