Shutdown stories

[nvmbr02]

8 hours ago, Drala said:

Expecting people to go to work when you don't pay them--there has got to be a law suit.  I googled it, and yes, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday (1/15/19) against issuing a temporary restraining order that would have allowed mission critical workers to stay home and/or force the government to pay their workers.  The judge (Richard Leon) argued that a "catastrophic" situation would result from allowing air traffic controllers, prison guards, and other mission critical employees to stay home rather than do their jobs without pay.   Even though the judge ruled against the restraining order, he hasn't ruled definitively on whether requiring federal employees to work without compensation violates labor laws or the 13th amendment against slavery.  Apparently there is another court hearing of the case on January 31. 

 

We know quite a few lawyers working on this case and none of the ones we knew expected to get a win with the TRO. But it was a step that needed to be taken and hopefully there will be a stronger case for the 31st, though I hope the shutdown is resolved by then.

[Cartmann99]

I normally start working on our taxes as soon as all of the forms I need show up, but. I am upset with Trump's decision to force the IRS workers who do the tax refunds to work for free. I know he's just doing it to pacify those who would come for his head if refunds were delayed. Fuck that noise,  I've decided that  I'm not filing our taxes until all of the IRS workers are back to being paid their usual salary.

[SilverBeach]

The government is saying that they will pay the workers, just not now. Untimely pay is against labor law for every other group of employees except feds.  Dump is indeed playing games by continuing popular services ala carte, making an end run around the shutdown. There are no words to express my contempt for this person. 

[onekidanddone]

57 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

I normally start working on our taxes as soon as all of the forms I need show up, but. I am upset with Trump's decision to force the IRS workers who do the tax refunds to work for free. I know he's just doing it to pacify those who would come for his head if refunds were delayed. Fuck that noise,  I've decided that  I'm not filing our taxes until all of the IRS workers are back to being paid their usual salary.

Looks like the Unions aren't taking this shit without a fight:

NTEU challenges administration’s decision to recall employees during government shutdown

Quote

The National Treasury Employees Union is challenging the Trump administration’s recall of tens of thousands of federal employees who are returning to work without pay during the partial government shutdown.

NTEU on Thursday added a third count to its lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the Antideficiency Act and the legal merits of the Office of Management and Budget’s definitions of an “excepted employee.”

The newly added count challenges the administration’s decision to recall more than 46,000 IRS employees back for work without pay. NTEU argued the IRS employees, who will return to work to process tax refunds and perform certain customer service functions, are not considered “excepted employees.”

“IRS employees who process federal tax returns and refunds do not protect human life or property from imminent threat,” NTEU wrote in its complaint.

But from OMB’s perspective, not having the IRS available to issue tax refunds would “thwart the will” of Congress. Performing that work, though not technically funded with a 2019 appropriation, is “necessarily implied by law,” a senior administration official told Federal News Network last week, citing a provision in the Antideficiency Act.

NTEU, however, disputes the administration’s analysis.

“There is nothing in Section 1324 [of the Antideficiency Act] suggesting that the execution of its terms would be significantly damaged in the absence of immediate performance, as OMB has stated is necessary for the necessarily implied by law exception to attach,” NTEU’s complaint reads. “Because the exception does not apply, the incurrence of salary obligations for tens of thousands of employees engaged in processing federal tax returns and disbursing federal tax refunds during the lapse of appropriations violates Section 1341 of the Antideficiency Act.”

NTEU’s lawsuit challenges the approach the Trump administration has been taking in recent weeks to find legal interpretations and workarounds to the Antideficiency Act and alleviate the more noticeable impacts of the government shutdown to the American public.

But from the union’s perspective, those interpretations are questionable.

This most recent count is in addition to the two others NTEU filed with its lawsuit last week.

 A federal district judge denied a temporary restraining order NTEU filed late last week as part of this lawsuit, but the rest of NTEU’s legal challenge is still pending.

First, NTEU argued that the Antideficiency Act, which essentially prohibits agencies from spending money they don’t have, violates the appropriations clause of the U.S. Constitution. The appropriations clause directs agencies to spend obligated funds only if Congress has appropriated such funds.

Second, the union claimed OMB guidance that instructs agencies to obligate certain employees to come to work during a government shutdown violates the Antideficiency Act.

OMB’s instructions on this matter “authorize agencies to designate employees as excepted and to require them to work during a lapse in appropriations, even where their services are not rendered in connection with covered emergencies, but instead involve the ‘ongoing, regular functions of the government, the suspension of which would not imminently threaten the safety of human life or the protection of property,'” NTEU said.

Because the act prohibits agencies from spending money they don’t have, those organizations can’t require certain employees to perform services they can’t be paid for, NTEU argued.

D.C. District Judge Richard Leon on Jan. 31 will consider a motion for preliminary injunctions.

The union had also filed another lawsuit, which is similar to those that several other federal labor organizations have brought to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Those lawsuits argue that requiring excepted employees to work without pay during the government shutdown violates the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The American Federation of Government Employees and National Federation of Federal Employees were among those who filed class-actions lawsuits with this argument.

AFGE made a similar argument during the 2013 shutdown and won.

Both parties met back in August to review a proposed methodology for calculating the damages, according to the most recent status report on the matter. Attorneys for the plaintiffs asked for information about the proposed methodology, while federal attorneys are working with agencies to quickly gather necessary payroll data for the impacted employees.

Federal employee lawyers are also contacting plaintiffs who likely won’t receive liquidated damages based preliminary determinations. Once both parties agree to the methodology and collect all outstanding data, a consultant can begin to calculate damage payments.

The next update on the status of the damage calculations is due Jan. 21.

 

[nvmbr02]

I may have misread what was put out by my husband's union but I think there are 5 or 6 unions suing . It sounds like some of the lawsuits are joint and some are separate but the unions are working together, which is still an uphill battle but at least it is something. 

[onekidanddone]

3 minutes ago, nvmbr02 said:

I may have misread what was put out by my husband's union but I think there are 5 or 6 unions suing . It sounds like some of the lawsuits are joint and some are separate but the unions are working together, which is still an uphill battle but at least it is something. 

We will not go gentle into that good night

[AmazonGrace]

Expecting more shit directed at California 

 

[AmazonGrace]

This is such a dumb way to govern 

 

[AmazonGrace]

Starving poor Americans to own the libs

 

[fransalley]

I am afraid of guerilla warfare starting on our southern border.

[Cartmann99]

10 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Expecting more shit directed at California 

 

Just wanted to note that Gavin Newsom is Kimberly Guilfoyle's ex-husband, so Trump has extra incentive to be a complete jackass to California.

[onekidanddone]

#imscrewed Shutdown Day 28

My credit union is offering an interest free loan for 60 days based on my last direct deposit. I was really happy about that and tried to enroll YAY.....but wait there's more: My last paycheck was for half a week of work, so  I'm getting less than half of what I should be getting from this loan.

The woman I spoke to said this has been happening to many customers. It is like the fuckers at my agency knew this was coming and fed us a line that they had funds for a few extra days. So that tiny paycheck screwed me.

Fuck Trump. 

Update: I was able to get my mortgage and electric bill deferred for February. 

[Cartmann99]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[SilverBeach]

A nearby restaurant is offering free meals up to $15.00 for furloughed feds. I partook of this offer for lunch yesterday.  It was much appreciated.

[fransalley]

Yesterday I downloaded a free cookbook,  The Flat Broke Cookbook.  A blogger, Daisy Luther, is offering it for free because of the shutdown.  (Available here for those who are interested.)

 

[milkteeth]

 

If the T. S. A. at even one airport in a major city went on strike, this shut down would be over. The Democrats need to promise to protect any federal worker who strikes in the legislation that ends the shut down. 

[onekidanddone]

#lifeinhell

Jack be limbo, Jack be quick
Jack go unda limbo stick
All around the limbo clock
Hey, let's do the limbo rock

So do I go back to work or not?

[Cartmann99]

This was published yesterday:

Quote

"We are about to announce next week that if the shutdown of America doesn’t end soon, we will be opening 20 other kitchens around the country," he said during his demo. 

To Andrés, the move is not a political one, but rather a human one.

"We feed people of all parties," he said. "We opened a kitchen because right now we have workers who are in pain...I’m a guy that believes in building longer tables, not higher walls. I have friends of both parties, and when we are around the table, somehow, everybody knows where to find common ground. And we respect each other, and that’s the way it should be—in America or anywhere around the world. If anybody’s hungry, we will be there."

https://www.foodandwine.com/news/jose-andres-cayman-cookout-world-central-kitchen

[Soulhuntress]

Melania still gets to go on vacation on an Air Force Jet

Quote

First lady Melania Trump flew to Florida on an Air Force jet hours after President Donald Trump postponed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s planned trip with other members of Congress to visit U.S. troops in Afghanistan, NBC has confirmed.

What the fuck?

[Cartmann99]

Colbert's 'shutdown mug' seeks to benefit furloughed government workers

Quote

Sales are apparently piping hot for a "shutdown mug" created by Stephen Colbert that benefits a nonprofit working to help furloughed government workers.

The CBS "Late Show" host unveiled the mug - which bears the phrase, "Don't even talk to me until I've had my paycheck" - earlier this week. On Thursday, Colbert announced the drinkware would be available to buy at the CBS Store.

Colbert told the audience that he designed the mug to honor workers affected by the partial government shutdown, which has lasted for nearly a month with no end in sight.

One hundred percent of profits from the sale of the $15 mugs will go to chef José Andrés's World Central Kitchen, which has been providing free meals in Washington for furloughed workers who aren't getting paid.

A description for the ceramic drink holders says, "It also works as a mug even if you do get paid. Buy a lot of them!" 

"Help Jose Andres's team feed federal workers during the shutdown," Colbert, like the celebrity chef a frequent critic of President Trump, said on his show.

ITK hears that the mugs have become the fastest-selling item in the CBS store.

Touting the coffee cups, Colbert quipped, "Get a mug - it's great for a hot cup of morning bourbon."

"We all have our ways to get through the shutdown," he added with a grin

Bon Jovi’s restaurant to serve free meals to furloughed federal employees

Quote

Rock singer Jon Bon Jovi's restaurant announced Saturday it will be serving free meals Monday afternoon to federal employees who have been furloughed during the partial government shutdown and their families. 

"In line with our mission, Federal workers are encouraged to join us for a delicious meal and to learn about additional support and resources available in our community," JBJ Soul Kitchen on its Facebook page.

JBJ Soul Kitchen is teaming up with the Murphy Foundation, Gov. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) and his wife's philanthropic organization, to serve the meals at one of their New Jersey locations.

"Since founding the Soul Kitchen, we wanted to ensure that anyone struggling with food insecurity had a place to go," Bon Jovi and his wife said in a statement to NBC New York. "This Monday, we will be open for lunch as a way to create a place of support and resources for furloughed federal workers, many of whom are our friends and neighbors."

"We are thrilled to work together with Phil and Tammy Murphy on this endeavor, and this Monday we look forward to giving back in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."

JBJ Soul Kitchen, a "community restaurant" lets patrons pay a suggested donation or volunteer at the restaurant to pay for meals. The restaurant has served over 94,000 meals at its two locations, according to its website. 

Roughly 800,000 federal employees have been furloughed or required to work without pay since a quarter of the government was shut down on Dec. 22

 

[onekidanddone]

#inwhichistopgivingafuck: Shutdown day 29

 

[Briefly]

I have heard of several local restaurants offering free or reduced prices, which is wonderful.  I'm just waiting for a couple of specific relatives on Mr. Briefly's side to start another rant about how wonderful that idiot in the white house is.  They may never speak to me again!

[nvmbr02]

There are a few Facebook groups made up of government employees sharing their experiences with companies and posting offers from various companies. If you are on Facebook it is work checking out as another resource. We are fairly isolated here and so far there is nothing available for us, beyond a small loan through SkyOne credit union. Our rental company and none of the utility companies here are offering anything at this time. 

[fraurosena]

Looks like the GOP got their trickle-down economics after all.