Anyone else worried about a possible govt. shutdown/no social security checks?

[JJJ]

MWM -- IIRC your adoption subsidy is out of Illinois. If so, that is an entitlement and is one of the first bills paid.

 

[HaoZi]

Some politicians, like our new Governor who spent 7 million of his own money to get elected,

That would be he who committed 600mil in Medicaid fraud, was booted from his own company for it, and bought the gov seat? Every time I talk to family and friends back home I hear how much worse it's getting there.

 

[BusynMember]

We won't get any subsidy if Illinois r uns out of money. If the Feds have no money, neither do the states. This is Federal right now, not local. It's the Federal government that won't have money so the states won't either.They get it from the Feds. So it doesn't really matter what state you're from. The private sector doesn't pay the states the money.

I just hope that it IS political posturing. I know that a certain faction of people in the House (they control how the money is spent) will never vote to raise the debt and in that case, we will see a real depression in our lifetime...unless everyone else decides they don't want to go there.

I'm so with the poster who said I'm so mad I'm ready to vote out everyone who is currently sitting in our government. One thing for sure: If there is any money at all, THEY will be the first to get paid...grrrrrrrrrrr.

 

[Star*]

Ya'll stock whatever you think----We just bought a few more boxes of ammo. I'm keeping all the food I have stockpiled. I don't think your crazy either Lis......DF built shelves and we really had a discussion about what can and can NOT keep for long periods of time with and without freezers and fridges....Hadn't thought about the water.....VERY good idea though. Where do you get those tablets? Would be worth having.

 

[HaoZi]

Water purification stuff? Camping section usually.

 

[Hound dog]

Well Starbie, wasn't going to mention protecting my stock pile............but mine will be well guarded, as will easy child's. At the first hint of trouble Nichole is under orders to Bug Out straight for home. (me) She has no room for storage, unfortunately. As far as I'm concerned her husband can visit on weekends. Although he may be wary of being around me armed. LOL

I'll get a good link for you from either easy child or husband for the water purification stuff. I think easy child managed to find it cheaper than in stores, not sure. But yeah you could probably find it in a store with a good camping section. She's gone mega Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) on this, nothing much else for her to do......so she looks up information.

 

[Mattsmom277]

I absolutely don't think those of you taking precautions and stocking things are crazy or off base at all. It is so noticable here even and this affects Canada via trickle effect more directly than any other country due to our location to the US and our trade/border etc. We watched here back when everything tanked just a couple short years ago, in direct relation to the huge layoffs out of the blue in the US, within days the slips were everywhere here. Everyone here was taken aback as much as Americans (the world really) at the quick decline of industry, collapse of banks, mortgage crisis etc. Although we didn't have the same degree of effect as in the US, it hit hard here and the same signs you all are seeing there are happening here in direction relation, again. This is deja vu. In fact S/O and I were discussing this today for hours and then I noticed this thread that I hadn't read yet and when I started reading him the posts he said AHA SEE!!!! Confirmation what we are seeing is the same, actually worse than the economic crisis none of us have yet to fully pull out of.

As for the job creations, companies continuing to hire etc. This happened last time as well, thus the huge shock especially in many large and international companies with bases out of the US. S/O's former boss when calling him in to give his layoff slip was in shock, crying at the layoff of the final set of his remaining employees (S/O was there until the last cut, 4th round). The boss hadn't seen it coming, his entire company didn't. This is a huge international company in a supposedly lucrative booming industry. Our town of 56K saw over 5K men/women in S/O's field alone laid off and most ran out of employment insurance before any hire backs began again.

This last week, it turns out after follow up twice in calls to the company that was to hire him, this is what happened to have his offer of employment revoked. Friday they signed 4 mens contracts after a costly hiring process, S/O was due to be phoned to come do the same that Monday. HR woman comes in to find boss saying check email. Email from head office of this massive world wide company, email came from Utah (i am pretty sure) office and said STOP. NO HIRING. This in spite of being contractually obligated to the first 4. They got the same letter as S/O. They had been told to hire, and they weren't stopping at just 5 new hires, they were starting to build a complete fully staffed third shift due to this huge backlog of international contracts and business was booming. That was at close a week ago past Friday. Monday morning comes news, NO NEW HIRES, NO third shift, NO CONTRACTS. They were ALL pulled out of by the outside contractors hiring them and this is mining, this is also showing up all over town since knocked on doors in the other local businesses since last Monday. He put in resumes and for 3 straight days every single place but 1 was hiring, 3 confirmed he'd hear by week end for a interview time and 2 places said they'd call this week. he followed up today due to not ONE calling him back. Every one he reached (2 didn't even answer phones?!?!) said sorry, change, not hiring we're so sorry, we had planned to start interviewing this week, or they were already doing interviews, all came to a screeching halt. This is not a isolated thing. This is obvious pull back and collapse of a huge industry world wide. The effects are hitting, fast, since last week alone they ALL are changing their tune and there are NO hires. There are hints for one local company from management that their bonuses, SAVE them. Usually they get used for holidays etc. They are being warned to NOT spend them. That's not hard to see as the sign that the slips are coming again. This isn't a local issue only or a regional issue or a Canadian issue. This is a entire lucrative global industry. It is VERY telling. Needless to say we had a LOT to talk about and discuss today in wondering WTH are we going to do?!?!

We've decided he's taking a cash paid daily construction job via a friend who has a company and has room on a crew. This is a educated man with what appeared a host of opportunities 14 days ago. He's going to hammer nails, sweat on roofs, pour hot rubber, in this insane heat. Because it pays horrible but its cash daily and its cash NOW. And he has no options anyhow here given what the companies are saying, other than a crud paying retail job or something. So temporary construction it is. Right now Matt is baling hay 12 hours past his rural town, middle of nowhere. Making hundred and hundreds cash DAILY. We've discussed S/O flying to stay with him for a few weeks to just get quick good money. We've NEVER settled for being apart, its what decided him AGAINST our plan for him to join the military. Today and this past week is a HUGE wake up call.

I hope the US gov can figure out this mess, for all of your sakes in the US, for ours here, for the global economy. Yet this is happening in how many countries???? Not ONLY the US. It's a scary bleak picture today. I just hope for the best but I'm with you all, preparing (and stocking!) for the worst. This isn't going to be even the way it was 2-3 years ago. If this happens, it will hit harder, and those of us hit hardest then will hurt devestatingly worse this time around.

Wish I had a good place for more storage, I have storage space envy from many of you.

 

[hearts and roses]

I wasn't, but I am now! Thanks ladies. Seriously, my concerns are for the elderly on fixed incomes or in nursing homes...they truly cannot afford any cuts. Next, I'm concerned for the children of people on welfare, for they are the ones who suffer first and most of all. I know that not all portions of government are threatened, however, when one section of government is under duress, it stands to reason that other services the government supplies will also be threatened.

 

[BusynMember]

I chat on a politics channel (IRC) and a lot of people there (probably most) know a lot more about politics than the average American (which is why I find it interesting). Regardless of their political views, everyone agrees that if the debt ceiling is not raised ALL of government will be affected, if not in August certainly soon afterward. That, in turn, will effect other countries. I am trying not to get too worried (and hope they come to some agreement), but I am going to buy some food I can store.
The people who are on that site also say that government workers and veterans won't get paid. This is potentially much worse than last time...I hate politicians.

 

[Mattsmom277]

MWM, I try to follow things like this as much as possible but admit that I sometimes have a lack of understanding of other countries government, policies, individual specific issues etc. I've read a lot on this but obviously I'm no comparison of knowledge even compared to a average american citizen who hasn't paid much attention at all, simply due to geography. Maybe you can answer what you think on something S/O and I have been pondering tonight.

So lets say the US govt raises the debt ceiling etc and avoids a Aug 2 shutdown and dodges a imminent financial meltdown, won't it just reoccur next time the US is required to make debt repayments on schedule and meet new budgets in individual states that occur yearly etc? Is raising the debt ceiling a practical solution to stabilize things long enough to fix this situation away from the brink? Or is it just a incredibly temporary solution and will reoccur in 4 months or 6 months or whatever? We don't know enough to discuss it (S/O and I) and are incredibly curious. We're about to google it and check it out but we'd love opinions of board members, always a great wealth of info!

 

[BusynMember]

Usually there is no big fight over raising the debt ceiling. During Reagan they raised it 21 times and under Bush seven. I'm not quite sure why they are willing to default now, unless it's just a political game of chess. Obama has warned that without the debt ceiling raised there simply will not be enough money to pay out everything that needs to be paid and he specifically mentioned social security and vet benefits, but it goes much further than that. I am not sure why any politician would risk our country's financial ruin, but we certainly do need to stop spending so much! And I'm not sure why Obama is scaring seniors or vets except maybe to play political games...even if it's true, he could have pointed to other government programs as examples. I'm not happy with either party right now so I'm not taking sides.

If they actually do come to an agreement, the most popular one (and I say "popular" loosely) would give Obama the ability to raise the debt ceiling twice before 2012 and our next presidential election. At the same time, he would have to name where he is going to cut an equal amount of spending. How well that would stick, I don't know.

Now we have Americans who believe, and have a right to believe, that we should just not raise the debt ceiling and nothing will happen (I think that's true if you have nothing invested in the government, although the stock market is supposed to crash too if this happens). So the politicans are playing to their particular constituents and I'm mad at all of them for scaring the most vulnerable of us. And if it actually happens...we could very well go into a real depression. Scary stuff. I am keeping a close eye on this, but I'm sort of a politics junkie, so I usually know way too much. I wish I didn't know this...there is nothing I can do about it.

 

[muttmeister]

Yes, I'm sure that both parties are playing political football with this issue - trying to make themselves look good and make the other side look bad.

I don't understand the people (politicians and others) who are willing to default. It is fairly certain that the stock market will crash, interest rates for all of us (credit cards, mortgages, etc.) will rise dramatically, and government payments and services will be reduced and, if the situation continues, will end. We will probably end up in a depression that makes the 1930s look like the good old days.

Most people agree that government spending is out of control. The problem lies in where to make the cuts. One side wants to cut social programs and help to individuals and give breaks to big corporations and rich people with the idea that they will have the money to invest in business and hiring and will create jobs. The other side wants to raise taxes on the richest of us and continue services at the level they are (at least). Maybe I'm wrong but I think that most Americans can see that the real answer lies, as usual, somewhere in the middle.

We have reached a point where a lot of politicians seem to have decided that "compromise" is a dirty word. I wonder where they were when they were supposed to be studying American history. Our founding fathers set up a system that was supposed to work only when the two sides were willing to compromise. Neither side would get everything they wanted, but both sides would get something. That is why we have 3 branches of government. THat is whay we have a two house legislature. That is why the Senate has two members from each state (to prevent the most populous states from imposing their will on the smallest states) and it is why the House of Representatives membership is based on population (so the less populous states cannot impose their will on the larger states). The people who complain the loudest about not doing what our "founding fathers" intended and about not following the Constitution seem to be the most in the dark about how the system works.

I still say we should throw all of the buggers out and start over.

 

[Hound dog]

The debt ceiling issue is a darned if you do. darned if you don't thing. Raising it is only a temporary fix, which may backfire quickly due to the current state of the country and the world. Not raising it would bring what is coming to a head more quickly, perhaps abruptly. I think the issue is just plain no win for either side.

Some food for thought. Katie had some supposed mix up with welfare over M's income, and then M losing his job (the idiot). She kept telling me she filled out the paperwork and got it in to them. She's been telling me this for more than a month. But they dropped her food stamps to under 200.00, way under for a family of 4, and if M is there, 5 due to this "mix up". She's told me she's been calling them ect for all this time. They tell her she has no caseworker yadda yadda and is on a "List". At the end of last week she called and called up the list of supervisors (according to her, she is a difficult child afterall). They told her she should not have been hanging in limbo so long and they would look into it. But also warned her that her food stamps would NOT be coming for August. WTH? M was a dishwasher.....no way in hades did the man make enough to wipe out their FS and he hasn't worked since at the very least MAY! Which she promptly told the supervisor on the phone. Supervisor once again repeated that she would NOT be receiving FS in August.

Katie told that to me thinking it was a mix up.....or that it is based on whether or not her issue is resolved.

easy child said to me last night, "Mom, what if katie was told this because there just won't be FS next month? Maybe the state knows something we don't know."

Not sure what to think about that. Katie has received a reduced amt of FS while they were clearing up the issue over M's income/losing his job deal. Normally, there would be no reason to drop it, as even making money there was not enough income to warrant such an act. I'm a little confused over this BANK of people waiting to hear about their own benefits too. Our county processes claims quickly, I've never known there to be a delay. And they normally resolve issues quickly too, longest period of time is usually a wk to 10 days.

Katie is one of those if she opens her mouth she's probably lying types. But when we talked this weekend.....it didn't seem to be the case of I was too lazy to do what I was supposed to do......she was genuinely confused and scared. She was terrified when I told her to hold on to every penny as I expect the way things are going for welfare to close down soon. AND I told her that husband and I can't help feed her and the kids.

Makes me wonder if people applying for welfare are being put off with excuses because the state doesn't expect to have the funds soon. And if people who's claims are changing for various reasons are being put off for the same reasons. A keep them in a holding pattern until we see what we have to work with type thing. No point in putting through paperwork if they don't expect to be paying out. Know what I mean??

That would be very very bad for our neck of the woods. Things would turn ugly quickly. Our food banks are already old Mother Hubbard's Cupboard.

 

[AnnieO]

I'll be honest with everyone.

I work on a military installation. I ship stuff. You would be digusted if you knew what we spend to ship stuff everywhere. And what we're sending.

No one seems to care about the amounts - until September - then we are suddenly "out of money" for basics. Pens, paper? HAHAHAHA.

Government waste is positively rampant. And the government really does not care.

I've been teaching myself more recipes from "scratch", but you have to have ingerdients to cook.

 

[donna723]

Step, I've seen the same thing going on at the State level too, especially with equipment. They buy this stuff on contract, usually paying twice what the same thing goes for in the stores. And without fail, what they buy is absolutely top of the line, multi-function equipment, usually much more than what we need. When the fax machine in my office died, it was replaced by a $700 monstrosity that did everything but fly around the room! None of us ever learned to use all the functions because we didn't need them. We could have done very well with a simple little fax machine from Walmart. Same with printers. I had a simple little single sheet printer in my office and also an older model tractor-feed wide carriage printer that we needed to print inventory reports everyday. We had to use this printer for them because that's the way the program is set up. First thing they did was to take my little printer and make me share a bigger model with another office. Then they took my old tractor feed printer and replaced it with with an unGodly expensive multi-function single sheet printer that would not print our reports and was extremely complicated and confusing to use. The State bought THOUSANDS of these printers "because they were on contract" and put them in almost every office, whether they were needed or not! And the cartridges for these printers cost three times more than what I paid for the whole printer that I use at home!

We also have a branch of the Dept. of Correction that is supposed to provide inmate jobs by running factories where road signs and furniture for State buildings are made, which was fine. But now they have become the "middle man" for almost everything that is needed in State institutions, even food and clothing. They buy it cheap and re-sell it to institutions at a huge markup. They buy shoes for the inmates from China for $5-$8 a pair and resell them to the institutions for $28-$32 a pair! Where does all this profit go? Who knows! But 1,200 inmates go through a lot of shoes and we paid $28-$32 a pair for them instead of $5-$8! But at the same time the State employees went four years without a raise and when they finally did get one, it was a paultry 1.6%, not even enough to fill your gas tank! And there are cut backs everywhere and they're saying there is NO money?

 

[Hound dog]

Well, why not spend that way? It's not their money they're spending.........is the attitude. A really poor attitude that has gotten us into this mess.

Same with research grants. You'd be stunned at the ridiculous amts of money thrown at equally ridiculous research.

Govt doesn't want to do the work involved to do real cutbacks. Like I said, if they wanted to work for a living they wouldn't be politicians.

 

[busywend]

Funny thing is the budget was approved months ago (the first threat of shut down) and it was clear then the debt ceiling would need to be raised. Not sure why it was not just agreed to then.

It really is a mute point. If you approved the budget - then you should approve the raising of the debt ceiling. Period.
it is like the parties LOVE drama for some reason. I am sorry, it makes none of them 'look good' so it can't be for that reason. Can they really think this drama is good for getting re-elected? Not sure where their heads are at.

 

[DammitJanet]

Step...when I worked for the county, we were held to a tight budget. We even had to turn in our old ink cartridges in to get a new one! Every month or maybe it was two months, they came around with a sheet for us to order supplies and you better show a need for what you ordered...lol. I normally bought my own pens. They supplied the worst cheapest pens. Well actually I got the pens for the clients but I bought my own pens for me to use.

 

[DDD]

It's a shame that government is too huge for monitoring. Obviously employees can't jeopardize their jobs in this tought economy trying to help save taxpayers money. Obviously those who are serving their own self interests are not going to help save taxpayers money. There's no way politicians are going to, or have time to, explore the accumlation of "small" patterns of wasteful spending Heck they don't often know about the waste in their own backyard because...ta da...they haven't worked in the lower levels of government. In my Pollyanna mind I would love to think that in each State there are a few honestl to the core people who understand that every buck counts and that they could get together to find all the missing millions or billions frittered away in operations. Alas it's a shame that taxpayers are so close to powerless except occasionally grabbing headlines. Sigh. DDD

 

[BusynMember]

Seems like they have enough time to campaign and throw fundraisers. They should be able to take just a little time to cut waste so that needy people get some help. It's not like people get A LOT of help like in some European countries (although I hear that they are in trouble as well...Italy and Spain are said to be next in line for a European bailout).

On the other hand, we ALWAYS raise the debt ceiling. ALWAYS. Why not now too? Because times are bad and people would even suffer more??? This is not rocket science...we need to raise the debt ceiling to avert a depression (and it would affect all the states and several other countries) AND we need to stop wasteful spending. I agree with throw them all out...although I thought we already did that and it's not any better