Government Shutdown - September, 2025 Editiion

[Anonymous]

Shut. It. Down.

[Anonymous]

Shut it down. Revisit in 2026

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the GOP hate government workers so much? They’re paid less than private industry and no raise this year but an increase in healthcare premiums. I don’t understand where the deep loathing comes from?

I live in northern Virginia near Herndon. my gov workers call it middle class welfare. one works at commerce. he is middle manager and does so little work. he says it is like 20% of private industry, mainly herding the cats of incompetent workers that have been hired to work there. the deep state is there because these people are incapable of working anywhere else .

my own personal experience working as a contractor at GSA was similar. 6 to 2:30 shifts. no one did anything before 9:00. then of course a couple meetings and lunch. then not too long to fight the long commute south. you could fire 50% and the office would be better off.

then there is the secret agencies. never worked there but had 2 friends. one from CIA and retired with huge pension and health care covered. he always had his weekends free during his work years,. never worked late, and now he is a multi millionaire after working for the government.

another one was LT colonel when retired , got huge pension with cola, and then worked as contractor , now he has huge sound side property and condo and lives like a king.

that is where the deep loathing comes from.

Congratulations, you'll get to see all those houses sit on the market and bring overall property values down. You seem to think that you are special and won't be affected by all this economic turmoil. Well, hope you enjoy all those important things you voted for as well as iving in the new Detroit of America..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the GOP hate government workers so much? They’re paid less than private industry and no raise this year but an increase in healthcare premiums. I don’t understand where the deep loathing comes from?

I live in northern Virginia near Herndon. my gov workers call it middle class welfare. one works at commerce. he is middle manager and does so little work. he says it is like 20% of private industry, mainly herding the cats of incompetent workers that have been hired to work there. the deep state is there because these people are incapable of working anywhere else .

my own personal experience working as a contractor at GSA was similar. 6 to 2:30 shifts. no one did anything before 9:00. then of course a couple meetings and lunch. then not too long to fight the long commute south. you could fire 50% and the office would be better off.

then there is the secret agencies. never worked there but had 2 friends. one from CIA and retired with huge pension and health care covered. he always had his weekends free during his work years,. never worked late, and now he is a multi millionaire after working for the government.

another one was LT colonel when retired , got huge pension with cola, and then worked as contractor , now he has huge sound side property and condo and lives like a king.

that is where the deep loathing comes from.

Your anecdotes are exaggerated. Nobody comes out of government with a huge pension -- it's based on salary, and those are below-market. (And people under the old plans got bigger pensions, but those people are pretty old now.) You are probably ignoring things like your friend being highly educated in a specialized area, worked for a single employer for decades, was a good saver and investor, was a prudent spender, etc.

Anyway, the claims you make about gvt workers are not what I see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the GOP hate government workers so much? They’re paid less than private industry and no raise this year but an increase in healthcare premiums. I don’t understand where the deep loathing comes from?

I live in northern Virginia near Herndon. my gov workers call it middle class welfare. one works at commerce. he is middle manager and does so little work. he says it is like 20% of private industry, mainly herding the cats of incompetent workers that have been hired to work there. the deep state is there because these people are incapable of working anywhere else .

my own personal experience working as a contractor at GSA was similar. 6 to 2:30 shifts. no one did anything before 9:00. then of course a couple meetings and lunch. then not too long to fight the long commute south. you could fire 50% and the office would be better off.

then there is the secret agencies. never worked there but had 2 friends. one from CIA and retired with huge pension and health care covered. he always had his weekends free during his work years,. never worked late, and now he is a multi millionaire after working for the government.

another one was LT colonel when retired , got huge pension with cola, and then worked as contractor , now he has huge sound side property and condo and lives like a king.

that is where the deep loathing comes from.

Your anecdotes are exaggerated. Nobody comes out of government with a huge pension -- it's based on salary, and those are below-market. (And people under the old plans got bigger pensions, but those people are pretty old now.) You are probably ignoring things like your friend being highly educated in a specialized area, worked for a single employer for decades, was a good saver and investor, was a prudent spender, etc.

Anyway, the claims you make about gvt workers are not what I see.

+1 as someone at a federal agency right now. Everyone is working very hard with very few resources and always has. The pensions in the 80’s were generous but now they’re pretty meager and we have to contribute a lot more to them up front.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the GOP hate government workers so much? They’re paid less than private industry and no raise this year but an increase in healthcare premiums. I don’t understand where the deep loathing comes from?

I live in northern Virginia near Herndon. my gov workers call it middle class welfare. one works at commerce. he is middle manager and does so little work. he says it is like 20% of private industry, mainly herding the cats of incompetent workers that have been hired to work there. the deep state is there because these people are incapable of working anywhere else .

my own personal experience working as a contractor at GSA was similar. 6 to 2:30 shifts. no one did anything before 9:00. then of course a couple meetings and lunch. then not too long to fight the long commute south. you could fire 50% and the office would be better off.

then there is the secret agencies. never worked there but had 2 friends. one from CIA and retired with huge pension and health care covered. he always had his weekends free during his work years,. never worked late, and now he is a multi millionaire after working for the government.

another one was LT colonel when retired , got huge pension with cola, and then worked as contractor , now he has huge sound side property and condo and lives like a king.

that is where the deep loathing comes from.

and I can not forget childhood friends of my wife, that were in the air force as officers. travelled the world on the gov dime. now they have million dollars house in west washtingont state , and million dollar condos in chicago and a house in turkey and nother in florida. you know to keep the residence there so no property tax on their toys and no income tax all that taxpayer money payed out as pensions. They never were in armed combat. Wow,

You are complaining about military officers which is entirely different than the civilian workforce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the GOP hate government workers so much? They’re paid less than private industry and no raise this year but an increase in healthcare premiums. I don’t understand where the deep loathing comes from?

I live in northern Virginia near Herndon. my gov workers call it middle class welfare. one works at commerce. he is middle manager and does so little work. he says it is like 20% of private industry, mainly herding the cats of incompetent workers that have been hired to work there. the deep state is there because these people are incapable of working anywhere else .

my own personal experience working as a contractor at GSA was similar. 6 to 2:30 shifts. no one did anything before 9:00. then of course a couple meetings and lunch. then not too long to fight the long commute south. you could fire 50% and the office would be better off.

then there is the secret agencies. never worked there but had 2 friends. one from CIA and retired with huge pension and health care covered. he always had his weekends free during his work years,. never worked late, and now he is a multi millionaire after working for the government.

another one was LT colonel when retired , got huge pension with cola, and then worked as contractor , now he has huge sound side property and condo and lives like a king.

that is where the deep loathing comes from.

Your anecdotes are exaggerated. Nobody comes out of government with a huge pension -- it's based on salary, and those are below-market. (And people under the old plans got bigger pensions, but those people are pretty old now.) You are probably ignoring things like your friend being highly educated in a specialized area, worked for a single employer for decades, was a good saver and investor, was a prudent spender, etc.

Anyway, the claims you make about gvt workers are not what I see.

They also seem very off. All the CIA/State people I know worked weekends and late on weekdays. They've generally jad good retirements but that's because they barely spent when they were working because they were so busy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the GOP hate government workers so much? They’re paid less than private industry and no raise this year but an increase in healthcare premiums. I don’t understand where the deep loathing comes from?

I live in northern Virginia near Herndon. my gov workers call it middle class welfare. one works at commerce. he is middle manager and does so little work. he says it is like 20% of private industry, mainly herding the cats of incompetent workers that have been hired to work there. the deep state is there because these people are incapable of working anywhere else .

my own personal experience working as a contractor at GSA was similar. 6 to 2:30 shifts. no one did anything before 9:00. then of course a couple meetings and lunch. then not too long to fight the long commute south. you could fire 50% and the office would be better off.

then there is the secret agencies. never worked there but had 2 friends. one from CIA and retired with huge pension and health care covered. he always had his weekends free during his work years,. never worked late, and now he is a multi millionaire after working for the government.

another one was LT colonel when retired , got huge pension with cola, and then worked as contractor , now he has huge sound side property and condo and lives like a king.

that is where the deep loathing comes from.

Your anecdotes are exaggerated. Nobody comes out of government with a huge pension -- it's based on salary, and those are below-market. (And people under the old plans got bigger pensions, but those people are pretty old now.) You are probably ignoring things like your friend being highly educated in a specialized area, worked for a single employer for decades, was a good saver and investor, was a prudent spender, etc.

Anyway, the claims you make about gvt workers are not what I see.

They also seem very off. All the CIA/State people I know worked weekends and late on weekdays. They've generally jad good retirements but that's because they barely spent when they were working because they were so busy.

People working in intelligence can't work away from the office for security reasons. So, yes, they are free from work on the weekend and on vacation like more people were pre-computers. On the other hand, tele-work is not an option and they worked onsite throughout the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the GOP hate government workers so much? They’re paid less than private industry and no raise this year but an increase in healthcare premiums. I don’t understand where the deep loathing comes from?

I live in northern Virginia near Herndon. my gov workers call it middle class welfare. one works at commerce. he is middle manager and does so little work. he says it is like 20% of private industry, mainly herding the cats of incompetent workers that have been hired to work there. the deep state is there because these people are incapable of working anywhere else .

my own personal experience working as a contractor at GSA was similar. 6 to 2:30 shifts. no one did anything before 9:00. then of course a couple meetings and lunch. then not too long to fight the long commute south. you could fire 50% and the office would be better off.

then there is the secret agencies. never worked there but had 2 friends. one from CIA and retired with huge pension and health care covered. he always had his weekends free during his work years,. never worked late, and now he is a multi millionaire after working for the government.

another one was LT colonel when retired , got huge pension with cola, and then worked as contractor , now he has huge sound side property and condo and lives like a king.

that is where the deep loathing comes from.

Your anecdotes are exaggerated. Nobody comes out of government with a huge pension -- it's based on salary, and those are below-market. (And people under the old plans got bigger pensions, but those people are pretty old now.) You are probably ignoring things like your friend being highly educated in a specialized area, worked for a single employer for decades, was a good saver and investor, was a prudent spender, etc.

Anyway, the claims you make about gvt workers are not what I see.

They also seem very off. All the CIA/State people I know worked weekends and late on weekdays. They've generally jad good retirements but that's because they barely spent when they were working because they were so busy.

People working in intelligence can't work away from the office for security reasons. So, yes, they are free from work on the weekend and on vacation like more people were pre-computers. On the other hand, tele-work is not an option and they worked onsite throughout the pandemic.

As I said. My experience vastly differs from yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the GOP hate government workers so much? They’re paid less than private industry and no raise this year but an increase in healthcare premiums. I don’t understand where the deep loathing comes from?

I live in northern Virginia near Herndon. my gov workers call it middle class welfare. one works at commerce. he is middle manager and does so little work. he says it is like 20% of private industry, mainly herding the cats of incompetent workers that have been hired to work there. the deep state is there because these people are incapable of working anywhere else .

my own personal experience working as a contractor at GSA was similar. 6 to 2:30 shifts. no one did anything before 9:00. then of course a couple meetings and lunch. then not too long to fight the long commute south. you could fire 50% and the office would be better off.

then there is the secret agencies. never worked there but had 2 friends. one from CIA and retired with huge pension and health care covered. he always had his weekends free during his work years,. never worked late, and now he is a multi millionaire after working for the government.

another one was LT colonel when retired , got huge pension with cola, and then worked as contractor , now he has huge sound side property and condo and lives like a king.

that is where the deep loathing comes from.

So, “secret” agencies get the same pension as everybody else — and it’s not enough to live on in the DMV, especially if you still have a mortgage or college expenses (it’s about 1/3 of your original pay after paying for health insurance (we pay a portion, and it’s not cheap), taxes, etc.). Anyone with a “huge” pension retired under the old system, when they basically got their regular pay in retirement. That went out the door long ago.

I don’t know who you hang out with, but most of the feds I know work long hours and very few of my colleagues are incompetent — I’m not saying they aren'; there, but if a manager has a lot of incompetent employees that he’s herding, then he’s doing a poor job as a manager. Those that work 6-2:30 usually do so due to long commutes (many of my colleagues live really far out) or are trading off family duties with a spouse (I arrive/leave early and my husband arrives/leaves later); anyone in management is working more than 8 hours. I get to work at 6:30 because I can’t get anything done once the meetings start. Meetings usually start between 8-9 and you can have one after another.

Where former feds make money is when they retire and come back as contractors, because they will receive their pension (again, it’s only about 1/3 of your pay), but then they get their contractor pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the GOP hate government workers so much? They’re paid less than private industry and no raise this year but an increase in healthcare premiums. I don’t understand where the deep loathing comes from?

I live in northern Virginia near Herndon. my gov workers call it middle class welfare. one works at commerce. he is middle manager and does so little work. he says it is like 20% of private industry, mainly herding the cats of incompetent workers that have been hired to work there. the deep state is there because these people are incapable of working anywhere else .

my own personal experience working as a contractor at GSA was similar. 6 to 2:30 shifts. no one did anything before 9:00. then of course a couple meetings and lunch. then not too long to fight the long commute south. you could fire 50% and the office would be better off.

then there is the secret agencies. never worked there but had 2 friends. one from CIA and retired with huge pension and health care covered. he always had his weekends free during his work years,. never worked late, and now he is a multi millionaire after working for the government.

another one was LT colonel when retired , got huge pension with cola, and then worked as contractor , now he has huge sound side property and condo and lives like a king.

that is where the deep loathing comes from.

Your anecdotes are exaggerated. Nobody comes out of government with a huge pension -- it's based on salary, and those are below-market. (And people under the old plans got bigger pensions, but those people are pretty old now.) You are probably ignoring things like your friend being highly educated in a specialized area, worked for a single employer for decades, was a good saver and investor, was a prudent spender, etc.

Anyway, the claims you make about gvt workers are not what I see.

They also seem very off. All the CIA/State people I know worked weekends and late on weekdays. They've generally jad good retirements but that's because they barely spent when they were working because they were so busy.

People working in intelligence can't work away from the office for security reasons. So, yes, they are free from work on the weekend and on vacation like more people were pre-computers. On the other hand, tele-work is not an option and they worked onsite throughout the pandemic.

As I said. My experience vastly differs from yours.

Maybe those “secret” people weren’t really working at a “secret” facility.

[Anonymous]

So we're still barreling toward a shutdown and the deranged Republicans are shrieking about "radical" Democrats when all Democrats want is to extend the current ACA subsidies and current Medicare program, both of which have been around for years, and neither of which is radical.

[Anonymous]

What happened to the MANDATE? Now all the sudden Democrats can stop Trump's work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the GOP hate government workers so much? They’re paid less than private industry and no raise this year but an increase in healthcare premiums. I don’t understand where the deep loathing comes from?

I live in northern Virginia near Herndon. my gov workers call it middle class welfare. one works at commerce. he is middle manager and does so little work. he says it is like 20% of private industry, mainly herding the cats of incompetent workers that have been hired to work there. the deep state is there because these people are incapable of working anywhere else .

my own personal experience working as a contractor at GSA was similar. 6 to 2:30 shifts. no one did anything before 9:00. then of course a couple meetings and lunch. then not too long to fight the long commute south. you could fire 50% and the office would be better off.

then there is the secret agencies. never worked there but had 2 friends. one from CIA and retired with huge pension and health care covered. he always had his weekends free during his work years,. never worked late, and now he is a multi millionaire after working for the government.

another one was LT colonel when retired , got huge pension with cola, and then worked as contractor , now he has huge sound side property and condo and lives like a king.

that is where the deep loathing comes from.

Your anecdotes are exaggerated. Nobody comes out of government with a huge pension -- it's based on salary, and those are below-market. (And people under the old plans got bigger pensions, but those people are pretty old now.) You are probably ignoring things like your friend being highly educated in a specialized area, worked for a single employer for decades, was a good saver and investor, was a prudent spender, etc.

Anyway, the claims you make about gvt workers are not what I see.

They also seem very off. All the CIA/State people I know worked weekends and late on weekdays. They've generally jad good retirements but that's because they barely spent when they were working because they were so busy.

I worked 25 years in the private sector and almost 20 as a fed and I worked my ass off in both. There's a lot more regulatory burden and paperwork in government than in private sector, which comes from layers of oversight and accountability and reporting which uninformed conservatives don't think exists, and which certainly doesn't exist in the private sector anywhere to the extent it does in government. Wages were definitely higher in private sector, benefits like healthcare slightly better in public sector. Federal retirement (FERS) isn't all that great, it's far more about what I socked away in the TSP and in my outside brokerage account, Roth and IRA than what the government does on that front.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What happened to the MANDATE? Now all the sudden Democrats can stop Trump's work?

Trump wasn't elected with a mandate and has even less clout now than when he was elected.