Comments (11) (Please sign in to comment)

1. 

   ConserveGov said, 9 months ago

   They all got a PAID 2 week vacation and guess what?
   Most Americans didn’t feel a thing.
   Time to give them a permanent non-paid vacation.
2. 

   BrassOrchid said, 9 months ago

   @ConserveGov

   The President has full discretion as to declaring any part of discretionary spending as essential during a shutdown such as that which recently occurred. I’m uncertain as to exactly what that means. Fortunately, this is not common knowledge. It is best if the groundlings do not see the set changes and moving about of props during the show.
3. 

   Respectful Troll said, 9 months ago

   The cartoon gives me a chance to share this piece of info. Sheldon Adelson wants to drop a nuke in the Iranian desert to encourage them to negotiate in good faith.
   ^
   http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/adelson-suggests-u-s-nuclear-strike-on-iran-ahead-of-negotiations/?_r=0
   ^
   @ ConGov - In addition to the 24+billion wasted by the shut down, businesses that make their money from feeding gov’t workers and providing paper, other office supplies, fuel for cars and trucks, and many others lost two weeks of business and unlike the gov’t workers who will get their pay retroactively, pay they did not “earn” for reasons beyond their control, the private businesses will not get money for their losses. There are other victims of the shutdown as well.
   We need a conservative government. We also need a business sector that will pay people a living wage instead of rewarding themselves for raising the number of people in poverty while enriching themselves beyond reason.
   Respectfully,
   C.
4. 

   Enoki said, 9 months ago

   Why would he do something silly like that? A great job, no responsibility, good pay and benefits, and best of all when the government shuts down he gets a paid vacation!
   If you are “essential” you are forced to work for nothing!
5. 

   Joeywit said, 9 months ago

   @ConserveGov

   But for those who did feel an impact, it was painful. The closing on our house has been held up for weeks because with the shutdown, FHA wasn’t processing funds. Now there is a backlog, so we are still waiting…..
6. 

   Dogday88 said, 9 months ago

   @ansonia

   Ansonia, I agree that people must see the reward for their own hard work, ingenuity, resourcefulness, etc. But you cannot ignore the fact that a huge amount of money is being taken out of the economic system worldwide by a vastly disproportionate (make it even as high as 5%) number of persons — usually investors — for their personal wealth and is not being allowed to feed the businesses they invest in, creating jobs that pay people enough to maintain a moderate mode of living. Have we not learned yet that the global economic system is like the human circulatory system: finite, capable of collapse when all the blood pools in one spot?
7. 

   Respectful Troll said, 9 months ago

   @ansonia

   Ansonia, it is hard to believe you disagree with the notion that people should be paid a living wage with an opportunity to send their children to college or trade school and build retirement income. Certainly people should make money for themselves, but should they do so like medieval royalty on the backs of citizens reduced to a form of indentured serfdom? Isn’t there a point where the rewards of being the CEO of the business suffice and “trickle down economics” take place? Your first reply to me sounds like Michael Douglas’s “Greed is good” speech. As far as your second reply goes, your definition of “non essential” is over broad. Some of the people forced to remain on duty despite no promise of pay were the very men and women who protect the legislators who fail to pass bills and work together. The list of people you deem nonessential is frighteningly long and the fact that you don’t recognize it is equally frightening. Many gov’t workers are paid very low wages and are compensated more by their benefits than their paycheck.
   The purpose of gov’t is to defend the nation, promote commerce between the states and nations, and promote the common good of ALL Americans. It takes a dedicated group of workers to do this. It is sad that you think so little of these workers. There are some who waste taxpayer dollars and even oxygen with their attitudes, but no more wasteful than the legislators who have compensated themselves with high wages, numerous protections, and excellent pensions.
   There is no honor in being greedy. Just profit. If you value profit over honor and greed over love of your neighbor, then you are a poor example of what our Founders thought our citizens should be like when they wrote “All men are created equal.” There are also verses in the bible that take issue with t
   the view you convey about the wealthy. I hope I misunderstood.
   ^
   @ Adrian Snare - The word “conservative” have been poisoned by our political battles. In order for our people to prosper in health as well as wealth, we need to practice conservation of resources, talents, and money. Money IS a finite quality and as the chief method of exchanging product and services, needs to be used in such a way as to “rise all boats equally as the tide comes in.” The boats may be of different quality and size, but the raising and lowering should be equal across all incomes. It is not “UNliberal” to want to conserve the environment, nor is it “UNconservative” to invest in longterm public works projects that conserve and protect the nation and the people. We need to be conservative and not wasteful of our resources for which we are stewards on behalf of the generations that follow us.
   I hope that answers your question?
   Respectfully,
   C.
8. 

   pirate227 said, 9 months ago

   @Gore Bane

   Uh, the toon is about the SHUTDOWN.
9. 

   BrassOrchid said, 9 months ago

   @ansonia

   “We also need a business sector that will pay people a living wage”
   And every time they do pay a “living wage”, the government comes along with a new budget inflated by 10% per annum, calling for new revenue and pushing the “cost of living” beyond the means of the “living wage”. If you haven’t yet realized that the “living wage” is tied to the “cost of living” and that the “cost of living” is tied to the “cost of doing business”, then you should take a moment and sort it out, how a $0.15 can of beans can cost $1.45 because of taxes on property, labor, energy, transportation and all the tiny minute bits of material and effort required to move those beans from the field to the store shelf. Taxes upon anybody have their greatest effect upon the poor, who are supposed to be thrilled that they are getting a slice of what has been taken from them, slightly soiled and considerably lightened in value. And then we have the nerve to blame business, which actually contributes to the economy, rather than the government, which produces nothing but regulations and services that nobody would want if they were not mandatory. The entire nation will shut down, either from insolvency or from rampant social discontent, before too very long if the government is not kept to reasonable limits, less odious than those it would impose upon its teeming masses of unwashed commoners and other TEA Party members.
10. 

    bobwinners said, 9 months ago

    Bet there are a lot of 20 year olds considering this move!
11. 

    BrassOrchid said, 9 months ago

    @ansonia

    Well, now you’re just being cruel, turning on a bright light when somebody is obviously suffering from a Love Hangover.
    I propose we put the wealth redistributionists and the Climate Change people in a room and let them decide whether colder, deeper oceans, teeming with all the diverse life forms we know today, is worth scuttling the Aquarian redistribution of global ocean warming that would bring rain to the deserts and replenish our dwindling glaciers.
    They can chase their own tails until they have satisfied all their base urges.
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