So many vital government employees got furloughed and/or have been pressured to show up and work without getting paid. From people who process Social Security stuff, to troops getting paid late, to NASA personnel, to those who safeguard our nuclear weapons and even TSA employees, both terminal workers who screen passengers and baggage AND Air Traffic Controllers. Worse, unlike past shutdown the administration has openly floated not giving them back pay as the shutdown dragged on. But ONE group has not only gotten paid (and on time) but even gotten special paychecks. ICE and CPB agents.
Think about it. Seldom does a day go by when some fresh atrocity by Trump and Noem’s THUGS isn’t in the news. For too long now it’s been damned hear every day. Including during the shutdown. Even some MAGAs are getting uncomfortable but more importantly Independent voters have mostly joined with Democrats in speaking out against this modern version of Hitler’s Brown Shirts. While the economy, more precisely Trump’s effing it up was responsible for the GOP bloodbath last week what Trump’s goons have been doing was an issue that mattered.
Once it was known that during the shutdown these A-HOLE A$$HAT’s actions should have been brought up by every Democratic elected official (and former ones who are now pundits) holding up their phone with video to EVERY journalist that wanted to talk with them and saying ‘THESE people are getting paid while other essential federal workers are NOT. Why aren’t you covering THAT story?’ Yet until today I wasn’t aware of it. Yes, the fight over health-care is hugely important but while the sticker shock as new premiums (without Obamacare subsidies) is real and easily understood the larger issue of the shutdown and its other impacts involve some nuance.
Through a deliberate effort going back over four decades conservatives have been engaged in dumbing down the electorate and nuance doesn’t “sell” so well with voters anymore. However citing people not getting SNAP, and federal workers like Air Traffic Controllers and TSA workers not getting paid, then holding up pictures and video of ICE in action and saying “BUT THESE THUGS FROM DHS ARE GETTING THEIR PAYCHECKS” should have blanketed the news. It was a great chance to truly put Trump and the GOP on the spot day after day and our Democratic leaders blew it! I say when expressing your thoughts on the shutdown ending remind them of the opportunity lost, and that if they aren’t up to recognizing and utilizing an opportunity handed to them on a silver platter then get the hell out of the way for a Democrat who will.
Let’s take a closer look at all this. Unlike in the past when a shutdown was looming most departments made plans to shift money to cover paying essential workers. Not this time, except for DHS which as this article from Business Insider tells us ICE Barbie, aka DHS head Kristi Noem made damned sure her masked marauders would get paid for going out ant terrorizing immigrants and citizens alike! The linked article is a bit dated (October 22) but states DHS will pay over 70k people across Customs and Border Patrol, ICE, Secret Service and the Transportation Security Administration (Air Marshals):
“President Trump and I will always stand by law enforcement, and today we are keeping our promise to always support them by making sure they are paid during the Democrats’ shutdown, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said, adding, “DHS remains deeply grateful to our law enforcement for their continued professionalism, vigilance, and service under challenging circumstances.”
That bullshit about Trump being soooooo supportive of federal law enforcement jumped out at me. Where was his “concern” as he roamed the West Wing for hours on Jan. 6, pointing at the TV screens saying ‘isn’t it great?’ as his insurrectionist mob assaulted hundreds of Capitol Police Officers? Over hundred and fifty seriously, and some permanently. Some lost their lives even. Yet Trump pardoned EVERY SINGLE RIOTER for those and other crimes committed that day.
Now we have this. The message to anyone in federal law enforcement is clear. Follow your oath of office and be loyal to the Constitution and your actual duty or obey Trump without question. Including and especially when given permission to do so violating federal law and procedure by hiding your identity and even what agency you work for as you terrorize entire communities. If you make cruelty the order of the day by god YOU will get paid and on time. And, as the linked article notes some of you will get a “Super Paycheck.” If like me you’re outraged you haven’t heard the worst. I mentioned that unlike other departments DHS planned for this but guess where the money has come from? Hint, think three letters, all of which happen to be the second letter of the alphabet:
The funds to pay DHS workers are being drawn from the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a department spokesperson told Business Insider. The law allocates billions toward “activities in support of the Department of Homeland Security’s mission to safeguard the borders of the United States” to be available between 2025 and 2029. The move to pay employees during the shutdown comes alongside the administration’s deployment of ICE agents to US cities, such as Chicago and Portland.
The shutdown might be over but there will be plenty of aftermath. It for damned sure shouldn’t be forgotten and I don’t think it will be. However it’s important to educate people on what did and did not take place and this crap about federal agents/terrorists getting paid when decent, hard working essential employees (and don’t forget contractors) did not matters. For one thing some of those workers won’t come back at all. A dangerous example is Air Traffic Controllers, which we didn’t have enough of to begin with. But that’s only one example.
I urge you to read the linked article which has plenty more than I’ve gone into here. It’s got a lot of details that matter, and need to get parked deep in American’s minds. You know Trump and the GOP will spend now until the election blaming Democrats for all that has and will go bad due to the shutdown. You can verbally smack a MAGA across the face by asking them what they think of ICE agents and their beat-downs of even citizens. Then point out THEY got paid right on time while hundreds of thousands of essential employees didn’t. Knock em back some. Doing so will in the long run make a difference.
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