Saturday, December 22, 2018

Partial Shutdowns: Total Kicks in the Teeth



There is a school of thought that America needs a draft, because without one, rich chicken-hawks can start stupid wars (see, e.g., the Iraq War of 2003-2011) and do so without any risk to their families.  There is also a school of thought Congressional staffers need to be the first people who are furloughed in the event of a Government shutdown, because otherwise, Congresspeople can start stupid shutdowns (see, e.g., the shutdowns of January 2018, February 2018 and December 2018) and do so without getting any grief from their staffs.

Oh, let’s be clear.  Don’t pay attention to what Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are saying.  This latest shutdown isn’t owned by Donald Trump.  President Trump hasn’t been asked to sign a bill to keep open the Government.  This shutdown is the responsibility of Congress – and the Republicans in the House, to be specific.  They are the ones who refuse to send him a bill to veto.  They are the ones who can’t get a two-thirds majority in support of keeping the Government open.  They are the ones who are willing to destroy the morale of the federal workforce so that we can build a “wall” that covers a tiny part of our southern border – a wall that would cost more than ten times what Congress funded for the so-called “Bridge to Nowhere” and would be just as pointless.

But don’t just take my word for it.  This is what the new White House Chief of Staff said when he was asked three years ago about building a wall:  [T]he bottom line is the fence doesn't stop anybody who really wants to get across. You go under, you go around, you go through it. And that's what the ranchers tell us, is that they don't need a fence. What they need is more manpower, and more technology, and more willingness to enforce the law as it exists today. There are parts of our border that are secure and parts of our border that are not. A lot of that comes down to whether or not we are just willing to enforce the law as it exists. So it's easy to tell people what they want to hear, 'build the darn fence, vote for me.'"

Let me translate -- it’s easy to demagogue.  It’s difficult to govern.

I will never forget what I saw five years ago, during the Shutdown of 2013.  Many of the people in my office were allowed to work, many others were sent home.  I was coming home on the subway after having worked that day when I ran into a colleague -- a respected, hard-working attorney with many years of experience in the federal workforce.  Somehow he had received the impression early in the day that he was not going to be furloughed.  When he learned that was a mistake, he became depressed.  “I’ve got to get out of here,” he told me.  “I’m through with working for the government.”  And sure enough, it wasn’t long before he would find a job in the private sector – for more pay – and he has never returned.   If not for the Shutdown, I’m convinced he would still be a Fed.

From one standpoint, that man’s perspective is an odd one.  After all, didn’t he get a 16 day paid vacation?  Neither he nor I was guaranteed to be paid, but I had to go to the office whereas he could have been hiking the Appalachian Trail.  Which one of us was better off?  In fact, less than a week ago, a retired friend of mine asked me if I was going to be furloughed or if I was going to get a paid vacation.  He, obviously, shared that same perspective that the best thing that can happen to a federal employee is that you can get furloughed – because they’ll pay you anyway but you don’t have to work.  It’s all good, right?

Wrong.  People like my former colleague work for the federal government knowing that they could get more pay in the private sector.  People like my former colleague put in extra hours on their (non-essential) federal jobs knowing that they won’t get paid overtime.  They do it because they believe in what they do.  They think their work actually matters.  They want to be allowed into their office so that they can serve their client (the United States of America).  They truly are public servants.

Of course, they harbor no allusions that they are especially well-appreciated.  We hear all sorts of tributes to the troops, or to school teachers, or even to the Congresspeople who shut down the government.  (In the last case, they are customarily referred to as “the Honorable” whenever correspondence is directed to their attention.)  But who is paying tribute to the Labor Department economist?   Or to the statistician at the Consumer Product Safety Commission?   I can answer the last question pretty well, because my dad was a Labor Department Economist and my mom was a statistician at the Consumer Protect Safety Commission.  Not only did I never hear tributes paid to them, but when I got older and left the friendly confines of Washington D.C., I even had to listen to right-wing assholes make fun of them for how they made their living. 

It is difficult to imagine a more stupid motivational tool than separating the workforce into essential and less-essential components, and into essential and non-essential employees within the less-essential components.  It’s not surprising that it is responsible for people leaving the federal service and never returning.   

Today, if you read this blog, I want you to think about the so-called “non-essential” federal employees.  I want you to think about the “Honorable” Republican Congresspeople who are putting them into a position thrice a year where they are reminded of just how inessential they are.  And I want you to think about the word “partial” the next time you see a reference to the shutdown of the government over a pointless wall.  What is being partially shut down isn’t just the government but the morale of those who work for it.

On behalf of my mom and dad and all other non-essential people, Merry Christmas, Congressmen.  Happy New Year.  I hope you can live with yourselves.  I would find it challenging.

No comments: