KC10 FATboy

USMCflyr

I feel for anyone who has been furloughed. We all have bills that have to be paid and mouths to feed. And I post the following not picking on you or anyone else.

However, many people in my neighborhood and circle of friends (those who have lost jobs, homes, or are still unemployed as a result of the economic slowdown), view this government shutdown and the complaining by government workers as extremely petty.

Sobering Statistic ...

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, as August 2013, a total of 90,473,000 working aged Americans are still not in the labor force.

80ktsClamp

Hmmm.... That graph raises questions as to what can be inferred from it.

The first would be "OMG MORE PEOPLE!" However....

A more appropriate display would be % of US not in the labor force, not just the raw numbers. Population total I bet follows a very similar curve.

USMCFLYR

Sorry - I'm not getting the point of the graph in the context of what we are talking about.
Your "people in my neighborhood and circle of friends" thinks that being told to come to work for free is complaining huh?
I wonder what you as a commercial airline pilot would do if your management told you the same?
Some people in my neighborhood and circle of friends think that airline pilots are overpaid and underworked. Does that make their view correct?
I'm not trying to draw any correlations between the past and current government furloughs and the many, many airline furloughs.
I'm not even a fan of this 'excepted'-vs-'non-excepted' division of gov't workers. If the people need to see what operating without a gov't is really like then truly shutdown the gov't. How long do you think it would last?
I'm sorry that you (and your friends) see angst by gov't workers as petty.

As far as the graph - maybe your friends and family should join the movement to vote every single sitting member of Congress and the President out of office and let another group try their hand at leading.
Vote out the entire Congress? You bet. - The Washington Post

FDXLAG

http://data.bls.gov/ Ask for labor force statistics.

Should be what you are looking for. Current number is about 58% of labor force employed. A more interesting number would what percentage of the labor force is employed by government.

brianb

I say get rid of ALL the bums!! Yes, I would like to see how far we could get without constant cries from the talking heads about how we NEED government, you can't survive without government, your life would blow without government. We need what the Constitution says in terms of a LIMITED government!! We have abandoned the blueprint that would have kept this country whole and would have kept us out of the current situation we find ourselves in at home and abroad. You honestly think we, as a nation, are going to be able to repay $17 trillion dollars? 500 plus idiots got us into this mess and it appears, once again, that the average US citizen is, once again, going to receive the proverbial shaft. Throw them out!!

JamesNoBrakes

So if your incumbent beats out the offerings from the same party in their primary and in the election it comes down to that incumbent and someone from the opposing party that you do not support, are you going to vote for that opposing party candidate just to "vote them all out"?

KC10 FATboy

Voting out everyone in Congress wouldn't solve the debt problem and would probably hurt us by putting rookies in charge. Don't get me wrong, I am all for term limits and I want severe penalties for government lobbyist/kickbacks to Congress.

During the last government shutdown (95/96), federal workers who were furloughed awarded back pay.

As with this shutdown, the House voted unanimously to support back pay, the President supports it, and now it is up to the Senate where they are expected to fall in line.

The point of the graph is this. There's a considerable amount of people who don't have jobs (42% by FDXLAG's post). And during the recession, government salaries increased and out paced inflation while many Americans lost jobs, lost their homes, saw their taxes rise, and/or took steep pay cuts. Currently, 5 of the top 10 richest counties in the USA surround Washington D.C..

Point: there's not a lot of love out there for the government worker whining about being furloughed or forced to work, especially considering they'll probably receive back pay.

I'm sorry you are caught up in this mess.

brianb

You want me to fall for the same ole trap again. I don't care who or what party, get the job done like the rest of us have to do on a daily basis. Drop all the party, incumbent b.s. and do whats best for the COUNTRY, period. Our system is broken and the $17 trillion in debt isn't the only indicator that proves it.

JamesNoBrakes

House Resolution 368. This was planned way in advance.

PerfInit

This thread needs a re-direct back to original topic. Would like to hear from anyone in the aviation industry whom have been directly affected by the government shutdown. Please be specific. Hypothetical Example:

135.293/.297 proficiency check cancelled; unknown date for reschedule.