a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by nowaypablo
nowaypablo  ·  2498 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: U.S. Government shuts down

This is just as far as the DoD, but the biggest impact that I've seen so far is that civilian federal employees, of which just in the DoD there are more than 700,000, are no longer employed until the budget is passed. The implications of that take on all shapes and sizes of administrative fuckery, but military still come to work without pay in the meantime and will receive back-pay later on.

The budget will eventually get passed but in the meantime, systems that rely on a slice of the federal budget just don't get receive their slice until Congress gets their shit in order.





FirebrandRoaring  ·  2497 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Damn. That's bad. Do government jobs pay well in the US? I hope the temporarily-laid-off have enough in the back pocket to last through this nonsense.

If anyone's gonna reply to ThurberMingus' question, tag me as well: I want to know the question, too

nowaypablo  ·  2497 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The benefits provided through federal employment make for a misleading salary. In the army a newly commissioned officer makes 30-40k but gets a number of allowances for housing, etc. not to include healthcare, which can rack up past 60k.

snoodog  ·  2497 days ago  ·  link  ·  

They pay enough but Americans are notoriously bad at saving and many live paycheck to paycheck regardless of income. Those people will suffer, hopefully for some it’s a wake up call but most will suffer then continue the same pattern

user-inactivated  ·  2497 days ago  ·  link  ·  

On average, they pay better the lower your education level is.

https://www.cbo.gov/publication/52637

snoodog  ·  2497 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I bet if you correct for hours worked you would get parity or better across the board for gvt

nowaypablo  ·  2497 days ago  ·  link  ·  

What? The graph in the article you cited doesnt reflect that, neither does your claim in general make sense.

Quatrarius  ·  2497 days ago  ·  link  ·  

i think they mean "pay better in relation to what you would be getting in the private sector, given your education level" - notice that the gap between government and private salaries is large and positive on the low end of education, whereas that totally switches towards the high end

nowaypablo  ·  2497 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I jumped on the bad writing without attempting to discern what he meant, my bad. That makes a little more sense.

user-inactivated  ·  2497 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It's ok, my writing is pretty bad.

nowaypablo  ·  2497 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Mine is not even marginally better, don't worry :D Just internet things.

ThurberMingus  ·  2498 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I assume essential civilian roles are treated the same as the military, but not essential govt employees (like my dad at the EPA) are sent home with no pay until it is funded again. In the past they have also received back party.

user-inactivated  ·  2497 days ago  ·  link  ·  

FirebrandRoaring

Yep, more or less the same deal. I've had various family members in essential roles during other shutdowns. Work now, back pay later.

FirebrandRoaring  ·  2497 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Are we talking "month"-singular or -plural later?

johnnyFive  ·  2497 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Whenever Congress decides to pass something.