Government Shutdown

[Jamiet99uk]

Why isn't this breach of contract?

Why can't the govenrment workers sue their employer for failing to pay them?

[Octavious]

And why aren't the streets full of government workers protesting against this crap? If the government in the UK tried it there'd be marches through every city every day. If the government in France tried it there wouldn't be a working speed camera or government building without smashed windows within a week.

[JECE]

And why aren't the streets full of government workers protesting against this crap? If the government in the UK tried it there'd be marches through every city every day. If the government in France tried it there wouldn't be a working speed camera or government building without smashed windows within a week.

There was a big protest last week. Also, many are forced to work anyway without pay on pain of retaliation.

[Randomizer]

Besides this has become an almost annual occurrence, although under Trump it's almost quarterly.

There are lawsuits proceeding through the courts to force government payments to workers, but the last ruling was against a temporary injunction on the grounds that the judiciary shouldn't interfere.

[Jamiet99uk]

Seriously though, why isn't this a breach of contract?

Anyone on here know anything about US employment law?

Do government workers' contracts have some weird clause that says "any time the government is having a stupid row about the budget, we can just stop paying your salary" ??

[orathaic]

If the government in France tried it there wouldn't be a working speed camera or government building without smashed windows within a week.

I feel the French have a much stronger tradition of burning the whole thing to the ground and starting from ruins again...

I mean, the French revolution was far more revolutionary than the American war of independence (which was a war, not a revolution... They kept their colonial institutions in place...)

[orathaic]

Seriously though, why isn't this a breach of contract?

Anyone on here know anything about US employment law?

Do government workers' contracts have some weird clause that says "any time the government is having a stupid row about the budget, we can just stop paying your salary" ??

Surely the govt would be smart enough to protect themselves from lawsuits on this... From what I've gathered, usually a shutdown doesn't last a full month, so everyone still gets paid at the end of said month...

This time it is different.

I love how sueing the govt seems like the American norm, rather than getting out pitch forks and torching the White House...

[Randomizer]

I love how sueing the govt seems like the American norm, rather than getting out pitch forks and torching the White House...

The last time the White House got torched was by the British. Trump would like that because it would give him an excuse to renovate the remains in his gaudy image.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/17/ex-fbi- ... talks.html

Negotiator explains how to deal with Trump. :)

[Manwe Sulimo]

02/18/2019

[ND]

The government stays shut down until Democrats act like adults and work with Trump on a compromise. God bless Mr. Trump. Only adult up there.

[Randomizer]

The government stays shut down until Democrats act like adults and work with Trump on a compromise. God bless Mr. Trump. Only adult up there.

Snowflake Trump keeps crying I won't compromise until I get my wall after Limbaugh and others called him weak. Which isn't the definition of compromise.

Meanwhile the White House and other government agencies quote statistics on the amount of drugs and terrorists stopped entering US when almost all of them are stopped at ports of entry. Why isn't Trump calling for more funds to upgrade areas that really need them?

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/07/politics ... index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/12/us/drug- ... index.html

[Jamiet99uk]

The government stays shut down until Democrats act like adults and work with Trump on a compromise. God bless Mr. Trump. Only adult up there.

So, all of the other Republicans are not adults? Interesting you hold that view.

[ND]

No the Democrats are children. Trump is the only adult in the room. I'll respond to random later. He is wrong as per usual.

[ND]

Negotiations are between Trump and the congressional Democrats. The Democrats appropriate money. Trump can only say yes or no. It's freaking sick the Dems refuse to reopen the gov. They are keeping almost a million workers from their paycheckz. It makes me sick.

[Jamiet99uk]

Negotiations are between Trump and the congressional Democrats. The Democrats appropriate money. Trump can only say yes or no. It's freaking sick the Dems refuse to reopen the gov. They are keeping almost a million workers from their paycheckz. It makes me sick.

@ND: You might know the answer to this - nobody else seems to know: Why can't those workers sue the government? Why isn't the government's failure to pay them considered a breach of contract?

[ND]

They can't sue because they will be back payed at some point. And, they aren't forced to work there. They can quit at any point. Plus there is probably language in their contracts already allowing for this.

[Jamiet99uk]

So can they just say "I'll make my mortgage payment at some point"? "I'll feed my family at some point"?

It's ridiculous.

[ND]

I know! I agree tell the Democrats to appropriate the money bro

[orathaic]

The Democrats proposed a Bill to pay them, Trump refused to sign it, because he seems to confuse 'democrats' with Mexico, and insists they will pay for his wall.

Though it is tax payers money, not Trump's of the Dems... So really...

They are being paid to run things, and thus far, the federal govt seems to be being run into the ground. Good job President.

[Randomizer]

Negotiations are between Trump and the congressional Democrats. The Democrats appropriate money. Trump can only say yes or no. It's freaking sick the Dems refuse to reopen the gov. They are keeping almost a million workers from their paycheckz. It makes me sick.

You skipped a very important constitutional step. The Senate has to vote to approve the spending bill. However Republican Senate Majority Leader McConnell has refused to bring a single spending bill to a vote. He even left while the Senate was in session to go home to avoid having to do it.

Trump's approval isn't needed if two thirds of each house vote to pass the bill and override a presidential veto.

It makes me sick that a rich man who has stiffed creditors and failed to pay contracted debts is making people not be paid. He is costing the government billions with taxable income that will never be paid to contracted workers, businesses that can't operate without government approval, government research projects that will have to be redone after worked stopped rendering them useless, and future lawsuits from governmental failure to act in a timely manner.