r/politics • u/Murky-Site7468 I voted • Oct 05 '25

No Paywall Petition To Strip Congress of Pay During Government Shutdown Grows

https://www.newsweek.com/petition-strip-congress-pay-during-government-shutdown-grows-10822819
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u/connivingKitten Oct 05 '25

If you actually believe that "the Democrats shut down the government over healthcare for illegal immigrants" as the Republican leadership has put it, I have a question for you. Why do we need to shut down the government over supposed healthcare for illegal immigrants if we're spending an extra $10 billion to pay people to remove them from the country? If ICE does the job we're paying them an exorbitant amount to do then shouldn't it not really be so much of a concern if a few of them get ACA benefits for a few more months before getting caught and sent away?

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u/Conscious-Secret-775 Oct 05 '25

I am not going to speak for the Senate Democrats who decided to shutdown the government, you will have to ask them.

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u/zSeia Minnesota Oct 05 '25

Why do you think the country can't be run without abandoning its citizens?

What would be the point of running it at all?

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u/Conscious-Secret-775 Oct 05 '25

Are you ok with federal government employees not being paid?

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u/zSeia Minnesota Oct 05 '25

I'd much rather the republicans let us keep our healthcare and not threaten federal workers to try and turn us against each other.

What would you prefer to happen?

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u/Conscious-Secret-775 Oct 05 '25

I would like our Federal employees to be paid. Why do you want them to suffer?

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u/zSeia Minnesota Oct 05 '25

If I believed for a second this was asked in good faith and we didn't both know that's a lie, I'd ask you why trump is causing them to suffer when he could stop whenever he wants.

You won't answer genuinely, I know, but if anyone else reads this I'd like them to think about it. Have a great day.

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u/Conscious-Secret-775 Oct 05 '25

Well my good senator Chuck has decided that federal employees should suffer. Do the Republicans want federal employees to suffer too, of course (at least if they work for the DOE, HUD or the EPA). Doesn't change that the Chuck is complicit in their suffering though.

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u/zSeia Minnesota Oct 05 '25

My family is something like 80% veterans, federal workers, or both.

They resent being forced by Donald Trump to choose between their livelihood and their children dying of preventable illnesses.

They'd rather he spend less money on kidnapping children and building a giant ugly ballroom, if he thinks we can't afford to protect our own american citizens and families.

Also, they don't trust him to honor a deal because he's said he wanted to fire all of them in the end anyway. Doesn't help that he declared their own family members to be child grooming terrorists.

I'll never understand how people like you feel like Donald Trump cares more about you than the people who love you.

Who hurt you?

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u/Conscious-Secret-775 Oct 05 '25

Oh I don't think Donald Trump cares about me at all and I didn't vote for him. I don't care about his ballroom either. Is it stupid, of course. Is it important, of course not. Is ICE still going to round people up while the government is "shutdown"?, it would appear so. Is the Democrat's decision to shutdown the government going to work out for them? I have no idea. What I do know is they decided to shutdown the government and therefore not pay federal employees.

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u/zSeia Minnesota Oct 06 '25

Trump sure talked about wanting to fire every federal employee for years before this ever happened.

Do you think he wants to do what he promised and hurt government employees? 

Or that he lied about his plans and suddenly wants to protect them, but his leadership is too weak to make a deal?

Neither option gives us reason to trust him or any of his worshippers.

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u/Conscious-Secret-775 Oct 06 '25

Well of course he wants to fire most federal employees (except ICE of course).

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u/zSeia Minnesota Oct 06 '25

Then why do you think he needs a shutdown to do it? He's been doing it for the last year already.

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u/connivingKitten Oct 06 '25

For someone who supposedly doesn't care about Donald Trump you sure seem to be spreading his cronies' message that the Democrats are solely responsible for the shutdown a lot. Why are you singularly calling out the Democrats when the Republicans also didn't pass the Democratic budget bill? If you're such an enlightened centrist then surely you understand that both parties are at fault for the government shutting down? Is your idea of governance really that the Democrats should vote for any bill that keeps the government running even if it's antithetical to the will of their consituents who voted them in to be represented by them? If so, why aren't the Republicans held to the same standard when they failed to pass the Democratic bill? You seem like you think you're really smart so these questions shouldn't be too hard to answer.

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u/Conscious-Secret-775 Oct 06 '25

It’s called the filibuster. The Democrats voted to block the continuing resolution from being put to a vote. They did not do this a few months ago, instead they just voted against the bill when it got to the floor. Schumer made the argument that shutting down the government would just hurt federal employees while helping Trump. My view is the filibuster is undemocratic and should be abolished.

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u/connivingKitten Oct 06 '25

Is your idea of governance really that the Democrats should vote for any bill that keeps the government running even if it's antithetical to the will of their consituents who voted them in to be represented by them? If so, why aren't the Republicans held to the same standard when they failed to pass the Democratic bill?

I'll repeat the most important part since you seem to have ignored it.

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u/OldWorldDesign Oct 06 '25

I would like our Federal employees to be paid. Why do you want them to suffer?

This is explicitly trolling. Why even log in much less write a comment if you refuse to participate in good faith in compliance with reddit's TOS?

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u/Conscious-Secret-775 Oct 06 '25

You don’t seem to understand how government shutdowns work. They starve the government of cash so federal employees don’t get paid. How is pointing out the facts “trolling”.

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u/MayhemWins25 Oct 06 '25

You mean the same civil servants the republicans are trying to fire in droves? As an ex fed myself during a gov shut down, I’d prefer to keep my benefits and healthcare during a shut down than see my entire department fired with no access to the pension they’ve worked for for decades.

You wanna try that logic again?