U.S. military personnel don’t automatically get paid during a government shutdown – but they’ve been paid before during government shutdowns, either through stopgap legislation or because Congress was able to pass a spending bill to keep the Department of Defense funded. Congresspeople always get paid during a government shutdown under federal law.
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I appreciate the comparison here, but in the rare instance that a working class person is elected to congress, it might be vital that they are paid during a shutdown—as they could be the only hope of solving it for unpaid troops, etc. Congresspeople worth tens of millions of dollars can survive a shutdown.
An incremental wealth tax on congresspeople during shutdowns, well that’s something I’d support wholeheartedly.
Many of the non-essential federal workers who are furloughed without pay “can’t survive a shutdown” and have no choice in the matter. They have no power over passing a budget. That duty belongs entirely to Congress. So the comparison here is more than fair. The ones capable of solving the problem are the ones who don’t get punished when they choose not to, which is bullshit. That’s the point of this article.
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When was the last time a working class person was elected to Congress? For that matter, they cease being working class as soon as they’re elected. They make a $174k-$193.4k per year, and have far fewer expenses than an average working person. They are the ones responsible for the shutdown, usually because they refuse to do their jobs, throwing temper tantrums instead. They should be the ones weathering the consequences, and no one else.
I’d argue that applies at least as much to the troops themselves. Making the literal entire DoD suddenly WAY more susceptible to bribes is a great way to get a lot of people (military or otherwise) killed.
A point I would like to make is that we shouldn’t pick and choose which government employees lose pay. Facing a shut down should mean no more government activity, because it’s a desperate situation.
Contracts like those the military personnel are under are difficult to break from the employee side. It’s abusive that they can be made to go without pay under the conditions many experience. An E-3 makes less than $10/hr, you can’t really plan and save on that. Many entry level gov positions are similar and lower pay. I don’t think a park ranger deserves to skip meals for rent because the people who are paid to manage finances refuse to work together.