For furloughed US employees and their families, the uphill struggle becomes more difficult by the hour.
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The political jockeying continues, the debt ceiling crisis drags on and the talking heads bicker. Meanwhile, actual human beings are struggling greatly. Although furloughed US federal workers will, at least in part, be compensated, that doesn’t help the here and now. Voices:
Gregory, a man with Lou Gehrig’s disease whose partners’ job, now shutdown, helps them combat the disease:
“I know what’s happening. I’m very aware of it. I can feel my body shutting down. Don’t get me wrong. I wish I could live longer. I don’t want to die, but I don’t have a choice. I’m probably going to suffocate. That’s one of my biggest fears.”
Jay, a Social Security administrator near Philadelphia, will suffer a “flurry of late fees and added interest” because he has to prioritize his mortgage payment over other bills.
Dan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, on the back pay news:
“Right now, I don’t know when I’ll have money coming in. Back then, I didn’t know if I would have any money coming in.”
Mark, president of the New England chapter of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists Union:
“The fact that these guys aren’t inspecting the aircraft and holding air carriers to the rules and regulations that they fall under, it just adds a small piece of risk in there that shouldn’t be happening.”
Shaun, a Disability Examiner for the Social Security Administration:
“I have individuals whose files are sitting on my laptop, who I can’t help out. If I had returned to work, two of those individuals would be close to receiving Medicare payments right now.”
Damaris, a single mother of two children who works for the Environmental Protection Agency:
“I have no child support or alimony. I won’t go out to dinner, I won’t pay for any activities, I won’t do anything. We’re called on for public service and then we just get dumped on.”
Howard, a father of two and an employee at Brooklyn VA Medical Center’s IT unit:
“I’m behind on my rent. Not being paid is going to put me on the eviction notice soon.”
Cindy, Vice President of the National Network to End Domestic Violence:
“We’re two weeks from programs closing their doors.”
Kim, a mother now desperately juggling work hours after her son’s Head Start program shut its doors:
“I was bawling on Interstate 10. It just hit me. I feel so bad for Matthew being stuck in the house and I’m not having the money to put him in another program.”
Joan, a recent widow unable to get her social security benefits because the offices closed down:
“…they have no idea how many people they’re affecting.”
And then there are the thousands of veterans and their families who, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, are enduring situations like this:
“The families of five U.S. servicemembers who were killed over the weekend in Afghanistan have been notified that they won’t receive their benefits.”
There are more voices by the minute.
–Original Photo: stumayhew/Flickr
NotTom , you said, “These problems are inherent in the system, and massive restructuring of gov’t and the monetary policy of this country is the real fix. While you emote wildly about these poor people and your misrepresentations of Tom’s post, you are missing the root of the problem.” You summed it up perfectly, thank you.
Yes,I feel badly for these people and the situation they’re in but the truth be told, there are thousands of others, who did not have government funded jobs that could easily mirror what these people are going through. We’re talking a week and maybe this may go on for a month, I know of people who have not recovered from 2008, that have lost their homes, have taken drastic pay cuts and many who have simply left the job market all together. I did take note of the one gentleman who’d mentioned he was on the verge of eviction. This… Read more »
Tom, so what are you saying by this comment? That these people deserve to be treated like this? Why? Because others had to go through it? Because it was worse for them? How do you determine what’s harsh for someone and easy for another? I’m curious how you have it all figured out. Your first line of the top. ‘ Yes,I feel badly for these people and the situation they’re in but the truth be told, there are thousands of others, who did not have government funded jobs that could easily mirror what these people are going through. ‘ When… Read more »
Most things that happen to most people are not things they “deserve”. Not many would say anyone “deserves” hardship, but in this case, it is a consequence of the bloated gov’t structure and gov’t job creation being out of sync with the market. Were it not for a monopoly on force and the printing press of money, some of these jobs would not exist and most of the others would not be funded by government. Like many financial and economic harships people endure, this is a crisis created by government and endured by the people. Do people “deserve” it? If… Read more »