Mitch McConnell; The Voice of The People and of Reason.

[Guest]

Mitch McConnell (R, KY) introduced a ONE PAGE bill in opposition and as an alternative to the 2,000 page omnibus monstrosity that spends a HALF BILLION DOLLARS A PAGE.

Senator McConnell's bill would simply extend the funding of the government through Feb. 18, 2011. The new Congress and Senate would then have time to come up with a bill that better reflects the will of the people as demonstrated on November 2nd.

I would also like to see them make Harry Reid eat those 2,000 pages one by one, but that's just me.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/12/16/mcconnell_dems_using_christmas_break_as_an_inducem ent_to_pass_omnibus.html

Breaking News!! Harry Reid has pulled the Omnibus Bill and says he will work with McConnell to fund the government; we'll see.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9K5BA5O0&show_article=1

[Guest]

A mere extension is really nothing to brag about. The Federal Agencies still do not have funding for the year - and their fiscal year begins on October 1. At least, Mitchie is not holding out to shut down the government agencies like his slimy ancestor (Newt) did back in the 1990's.

I was working for the government at that time in Washington DC and that shut-down gave me a 3 week paid holiday as no government employee lost any money due to being out of work for that time period. There was retroactive pay for everyone - but Newt's grandstanding cost the public millions of dollars all for nothing. That was part of his Contract On America.

Of course, I also got my regular 6 weeks of vacation time that year. All in all, lots of vacation time that year all at full pay.

[Guest]

day to day. They have to re-fund periodically and have been for years. The process (lack of one that is) is a joke that only narrow minded politicians can live with.

If we ran our home finances this way we would all be bankrupt.

btk

[Guest]

Billy -

You are 100% right. :beer3:

[Guest]

Well TBUGS I guess your comments pretty much says it all. That is why we are in the mess we are in, 6 weeks paid vacation, plus 3 weeks with with retro pay. I am sure you could through some sick pay time in there , plus the generous Healthcare package.I bet you are now retired:BigApplause: on a full government pension.

When did you actually work?

[Guest]

Of course, I am retired on a full government pension. I worked for the Dept of Veterans Affairs for 36 years - helping veterans find jobs. When did I work for the government? US Army 1966-69, VA 1971-2005.

The 3 weeks of retroactive pay for the government shutdown was due to Newt. The 6 weeks (240 hours) was what I earned each year.

Did I have sick leave? Yes, I earned sick leave each year that carried over the unused balance to the next year.

Did I have a generous health insurance plan? I had Kaiser Permanente HMO which was excellent. I paid for it, too, just like anyone else. I also paid into the Civil Service Retirement System - at a higher rate than Social Security. I paid into Medicare, too.

Sounds as though you are jealous of my benefits. You certainly had the opportunity - as I did - to take the Civil Service exam and compete for a government job after getting out of the military or college.

I do not know what kind of career you had, but I would not mock it due to the inactivity of Congress one year that shut down the government workforce and cost the public an untold amount of money.

So, JFlynn, where did you work for your career? Did you belong to a union? Did you ever go on strike? Did you get to buy health insurance? Did you get annual vacation and sick leave days? Do you get a pension? Do you now have health insurance (paid by your former employer or entirely on Medicare)? So you get Social Security in addition to your company pension plan? You asked me about my perks - I answered, you please answer, too.

[Guest]

of a lack of a budget....which is amazing unto itself, to operate without a budget. It is a silly game the politicians seem to enjoy.

However on the other hand the approved study for analyzing bat droppings in the front of the cave VS the back of the cave goes merrily on it's multi million dollar way since it was an approved special interest item. The preceding is a purely fictional, sarcastic stone throw!!). But there are real programs with really big $$ numbers that are spent every day and are apparently untouchable. They must be because why else would the government continue spending and borrowing money to spend on non essential pork? (more sarcasm!!).

btk

[Guest]

Way to blow things out of proportion there, jflynn.

First, it's not like TBugs asked for those 3 weeks. That came courtesy of Mr. Gingrich.

Second, there was no guarantee that the workers would get paid for those weeks. Never mind the fact that they had no income while their bills continued to come due.

Third, if he's getting 6 weeks paid vacation, that means he's got a LOT of seniority. However, that puts him about on par with a low-lever worker in Germany.

Fourth, "through sick time pay"? I know some states still have this problem but federal workers cannot (and have not been able to for a while) cash out their sick time in a lump sum.

Fifth, define "full government pension". If I work 20 years and retire, I get 20% of my base pay as a pension - and that doesn't include geographic adjustments. In other words, I get 24% higher than "base pay" because I work in the Boston area (other areas get different percentages according to cost of living). My pension will not include that 24%.

Sixth, what "mess" are you referring to? And how is Gingrich's forced "vacation" with the retroactive pay that HE agreed to THE reason why we are in this "mess"?

[Guest]

Thank you, djplong for knowing what the Civil Service is and how things work.

I am still waiting on jflynn for his apology.

[Guest]

Bill: One of the local items singled out as pork was a VERY REAL study that UNH (University of New Hampshire) was doing analyzing what cows ate versus what they produce in terms of methane. Sounds like crazy pork. However, when you think about it, it could very well produce results that influence the whole "Climate Change" argument one way or the other (humans being more or less responsible for certain greenhouse gasses)

[Guest]

Way to blow things out of proportion there, jflynn.

First, it's not like TBugs asked for those 3 weeks. That came courtesy of Mr. Gingrich.

Second, there was no guarantee that the workers would get paid for those weeks. Never mind the fact that they had no income while their bills continued to come due.

Third, if he's getting 6 weeks paid vacation, that means he's got a LOT of seniority. However, that puts him about on par with a low-lever worker in Germany.

Fourth, "through sick time pay"? I know some states still have this problem but federal workers cannot (and have not been able to for a while) cash out their sick time in a lump sum.

Fifth, define "full government pension". If I work 20 years and retire, I get 20% of my base pay as a pension - and that doesn't include geographic adjustments. In other words, I get 24% higher than "base pay" because I work in the Boston area (other areas get different percentages according to cost of living). My pension will not include that 24%.

Sixth, what "mess" are you referring to? And how is Gingrich's forced "vacation" with the retroactive pay that HE agreed to THE reason why we are in this "mess"?

The one thing people who are in privately funded pensions or living on personal investments need to remember about the people on government pensions in these discussions, is that the people on government pensions do not live in the real world where your income is determined by the ups and downs of the markets or the general economy.

While your plans have to take in to account the future of your financial portfolio, the government pensioner is going to get his check and his extensive benefit package no matter what the government, which he worked for, does to bolster, or usually it seems, disable economic growth.

Of course, they may have some stake if they had a good enough pay package to invest supplementally, but it sure is nice to get guaranteed income and benefits no matter what happens in the economic world.

I'm just saying.

[Guest]

Yes, Richie, it is very nice to get the guaranteed retirement package.

Working for the Federal government will not make you rich but the retirement package is good - well, it is not as good now under FERS - but I am under CSRS.

I still pay for my health insurance every month. I paid into Medicare out of each paycheck.

Remember, Richie, everyone had the opportunity to go into the Civil Service. You could have had the same thing, too. Everyone chooses their career path.

I remember seeing a post of yours saying you were a long haul trucker for 40 years. I did everything in my job above the books and according to the law. Would you swear to the same thing?

[Guest]

...The new Congress and Senate would then have time to come up with a bill that better reflects the will of the people...

And therein lies the problem, Richie. The people of the U.S. haven't recognized the dire financial circumstances that their elected representatives have placed them in and will almost certainly never "tell" Congress to do what needs to be done. Both we and the Congress will wait until someone else tells us what we have to do--probably the Chinese, by scaling down their willingness to finance our spending and ballooning debt. Or it could be Moody's and Standard & Poors, who have indicated that unless the financial condition of the country improves (more balanced budgets and reduced national debt), they will reduce the rating of our federal debt from AAA to AA.

We're headed for the same fate as Ireland, Greece, Portugal, and several other European countries, just on a much bigger scale. And because we have been a world leader and because we have enjoyed such economic dominance, the fall will be all the more difficult for us to accept.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings during this holiday season, Richie, but someone has to do the arithmetic on debt and federal spending...starting with people like Mitch McConnell!

[Guest]

in many, many threads here and else where, eventually the math will come to roost. And I fear it will take a threat to either the politicians careers or an impact that may eventually personally involve them or their supporters to change the free wheeling spending. This is not a partisan issue. Both parties participate in the actions that allow the deficit to occur, continue and grow with no correlation to revenue what so ever.

The elective spending has to be curtailed....elective/pork, not essential spending.
The priority has to shift back to the needs of we the people and the needs of the stability and survival of the USA....not the politicians.

In other words.....REAL CHANGE in how Washington does business......

btk

[Guest]

problem resident in the existing programs let alone the impact of new spending proposals that no one understands the impact on the future:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/12/30/eveningnews/main7199116.shtml

The feces is already in the oscillator. It is just a matter of time before it breaks loose.

btk

[Guest]

...the math will come to roost...This is not a partisan issue. Both parties participate in the actions that allow the deficit to occur, continue and grow with no correlation to revenue what so ever...

Billie, I just wish more people would put aside the partisan platitudes and simply do the math. It's not hard at all.

The U.S. is like the family who spends more money than it earns and simply "fixes" their spending problem by getting another credit card, running up the balance on the new one and never paying off any of the old ones. Anyone who spends just a little time thinking about it knows how this story is going to end.

It's almost a dead certainty that in the future when people write books about what happened in the latter part of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, they will not be referring to those of us who had a say on what was happening as "the greatest generation".

[Guest]

Of course, I am retired on a full government pension. I worked for the Dept of Veterans Affairs for 36 years - helping veterans find jobs. When did I work for the government? US Army 1966-69, VA 1971-2005.

The 3 weeks of retroactive pay for the government shutdown was due to Newt. The 6 weeks (240 hours) was what I earned each year.

Did I have sick leave? Yes, I earned sick leave each year that carried over the unused balance to the next year.

Did I have a generous health insurance plan? I had Kaiser Permanente HMO which was excellent. I paid for it, too, just like anyone else. I also paid into the Civil Service Retirement System - at a higher rate than Social Security. I paid into Medicare, too.

Sounds as though you are jealous of my benefits. You certainly had the opportunity - as I did - to take the Civil Service exam and compete for a government job after getting out of the military or college.

I do not know what kind of career you had, but I would not mock it due to the inactivity of Congress one year that shut down the government workforce and cost the public an untold amount of money.

So, JFlynn, where did you work for your career? Did you belong to a union? Did you ever go on strike? Did you get to buy health insurance? Did you get annual vacation and sick leave days? Do you get a pension? Do you now have health insurance (paid by your former employer or entirely on Medicare)? So you get Social Security in addition to your company pension plan? You asked me about my perks - I answered, you please answer, too.

Well, JFlynn, you have not answered by questions about your working career. I answered yours. Man up here.