Inmates getting paid, guards are not? What?

Two inmates were talking at a prison. One asks the other, "What are you in for, bud"? The inmate replied, "I knocked off a liquor store, you"? The other guy said," Well, I was furloughed from my federal job and I heard the inmates are still getting paid. Three squares and a paycheck sound pretty good right now".

So, yesterday we discover that the federal prison guards are not being paid, but the inmates are. What? How can this possibly be? I guess they're paid out of a different account. Still, this is a miscarriage of justice! First of all, we heard at the beginning of this nonsense, that only essential federal employees would be getting paid. That would mean to me that anyone who has to be at work would be essential, right?

Wrong. The secret service, protecting the first family are working, but not being paid. Federal prison guards, Secret Service, any federal employees that are forced to work should be considered essential personnel, and should be paid. This is insane!

We discovered that the families of our fallen war heroes were not receiving the compensation given by the government to help take financial pressure off of their shoulders while they grieve. Someone caught the error, but as we can see, there are far too many errors of this kind.

When the dust settles, and this ridiculous squabbling is finished, law makers need to redefine who are really essential employees and who are not. Who will be impacted the most that should be paid, such as the families of soldiers killed in action.

I realize that it is a very complex system, but if our representatives, including our president, are going to allow the shutdown of this system, clear lines of demarcation must be drawn because it will happen again. There should be no snafus during future shutdowns. It should be clear who needs to be paid, who is considered essential, which payments should be continued, etc.

After this stupid political meltdown, there should be no excuse for anything "falling through the cracks", as one lawmaker said. There is an Air Force base located in our town, where more than a thousand civilian employees were furloughed. There is also an IRS office that employs hundreds of workers. They were also furloughed.

Suddenly, the government representatives said that none of the employees at the base should have been furloughed at all! Madness. The IRS workers are still furloughed.

So many people are attempting to defer loan payments, rent payments, etc. Some are able to, others are not. A local credit union is offering furloughed federal employees interest free loans, up to $3,000, for 30 days. If need be, folks can extend their loans up to six months, paying only 5% interest. I realize this is also a brilliant marketing idea, but at least someone is lending a helping hand.

That will make a huge difference in the lives of many, who otherwise might be put out on the street or go hungry, or both. Once the idiotic shutdown is over, and everyone gets their back pay, they can pay their loans off and get back to business.

What will productivity be like after government workers return? Having worked for the government and witnessed the fraud, waste and abuse that took place when jobs were secure, it makes me wonder what kind of work disgruntled government employees will turn out.

What a disaster. If the government sees a disaster coming a year or six months down the road, and chooses to ignore it to make it a finger pointing, political circus that impacts the citizenry of our nation, I think the leaders of each party should be charged with a felony. I really mean that. Get your job done before innocent people are impacted.

See you tomorrow.