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28 sats \ 1 reply \ @Cje95 OP 19 Dec 2024 \ parent \ on: With So Many Cooks In The Kitchen Speaker Johnson's CR Was Always In Trouble Politics_And_Law
So idk what you think people in the Federal Government are making but let me tell you you make DRAMATICALLY more in the private sector. I think you are mixing up the beurocrats and the federal contractors and those contractors shutting down the government is a bad move since they already either got paid or have legally binding contracts with the Government. Not to mention the unions in the Federal Government and the Biden Admin just extndd the CBA for the biggest ones for 5 years to “protect” them from DOGE.
If you lay off millions of people suddenly you tank an economy and the federal government employs I want to say ~3 million directly and then almost another 20 mil through state, local, and other services.
A ton of people are also going to be listed as essential think FAA, Customs, etc. and they are required to work as if they are getting paid without getting paid. Horrible for moral and has been linked before to well criminal activity so its a security risk.
Lastly the court of public opinion because of this paralysis and economic downturn will be dramatically against the Republican Party. Every shutdown has led to Republicans losing control in the next election.
I'm not mixing anything up. I'm a labor economist and this is a known thing. For comparable job descriptions, the Feds pay more and require less. What is true is that industry will often pay more for the same profession, but they're different jobs and are generally much more demanding.
Laying off unproductive people does not tank an economy. That makes no sense and is just more Keynesian nonsense. I think there are more than four million federal workers, but they don't all get sent home during shutdowns, as you said. I don't know what the ratio is of "essential" and "non-essential" workers, though. Three million is probably about right. I was under the impression that the essential workers still got paid, but I certainly may be wrong about that.
Why bring up state and local? They don't shutdown when the feds do.
The last point is probably true, but I'm not a Republican, so I don't care. I get why that factors in to what's likely to happen, though. If they can make a permanent (or long-lasting) dent in the bureaucracy, I want them to take the opportunity. No other plan that I've heard strikes me as remotely plausible (and you didn't really contend with that).
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