Doesn't make any sense, seems like if a huge portion of the population colluded to not pay their taxes at once then the whole military overspend would collapse? Or do they already have a backup plan to hand out trump-crypto to military and ICE?
Doesn't make any sense, seems like if a huge portion of the population colluded to not pay their taxes at once then the whole military overspend would collapse? Or do they already have a backup plan to hand out trump-crypto to military and ICE?
As with ALL things; true democracy is the actions of the people; if everyone treated tax laws like they do speed limits; well, we have countries where that’s so.
The problem is getting everyone to work in such a concerted manner.
My (admittedly naive) understanding is that when the U.S. government shuts down, ALL funding stops. If a department still has dollars in the the bank, they can operate until those dollars run out.
Complicating the matter further, employees may choose to work without pay, because backpay is legally required by law (certain individuals are trying to undo this, however, I lack the patience or desire to get into this on HN). That means that if employees have the means to hold out, they will ultimately be compensated.
Perhaps someone more informed can provide more detail.
> Complicating the matter further, employees may choose to work without pay
This is wrong. If they're furloughed, they aren't working. Yes, by law (passed in 2019) they will get back pay, but they do not have the option to work without pay. If they're not furloughed, they may not be getting paid but it's not by choice that they continue working, it's because they weren't furloughed.
This isn't correct. All nonessential work stops immediately regardless of funding and all essential work continues. Individual workers don't choose whether they work or not, their departments do. Historically, everyone gets their backpay when the shutdown ends, essential or not, based on their salary level.
And after the 2018-2019 shutdown, a law was passed guaranteeing backpay. But the WH has gone back and forth on whether that very plainly written law would apply to this lapse in appropriations even though the law very clearly does apply to it. I believe today they are back to paying furloughed employees.
The source of funding matters. There are parts of the Federal government that are not entirely funded by annual appropriations from Congress. Funding from permanent appropriations or fee collection has not stopped, and agencies are allowed to operate to the extent that those other, non-lapsed funding sources can support. For example, a National Park campground that can support a basic level of services with the fees it collects doesn't have to shut down.