General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I think we are missing the most damaging aspects of the shutdown to the right... [View all]Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)in a deep red area of TX now, (generalization here), as long as they get paid, they get their tax return and their mail...they probably felt nothing and had nothing to complain about. Not like they frequent national parks, or travel much by air. In other words, if it doesn't affect me - who cares.
Personally I have always hated the meme that government and government workers suck. If you stop and think - SS works just fine - millions of seniors get their $$ deposited when the government tell you they will. IRS works just fine as well, and you get your refunds. The mail comes every day.
I worked in DC for a couple years - for USDA Forest Service. The computer systems were fast and NEVER down (unlike financial institutions I have had contracts with).
And, people I encountered, government employees, were dependable and diligent. The worst part, to me were the incredibly complex, restrictive, and time consuming policies that had to be followed. A simple change to a procedure took months to go through all the steps and approval hierarchies. And staff from one area can't just help out another area - which seemed crazy to me. I remember a group who was under a deadline and short-handed and next to them were people who literally had nothing to do. Although they wanted to help, they couldn't because of rules/policies.