Airport Collecting Donations for Federal Workers Amid Shutdown
Airport collecting non-perishable food and personal care items for TSA and FAA employees.
Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. Photo by Graham Kilmer.
Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport has set up collection bins for federal workers going unpaid during the government shutdown.
The bins are for non-perishable food items and personal care products, which will be donated to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees who have worked without pay since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, according to a social media post by Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. The bins are not for donations of cash.
The shutdown is caused by a congressional stalemate. Republicans, who control both the House and Senate, have been unable to propose a package suitable to attract enough Democrats to sign on. Democrats in the Senate are refusing to vote for the appropriations bill, as it currently stands, because it does not provide funding to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plan subsidies. Health insurance enrollment begins in November and the funding for the subsidies will expire at the end of December.
“As we do what we can to support those impacted by the shutdown, I call on federal officials to work together to reopen the government before residents and families continue to pay the price,” Crowley said.
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“The shutdown is caused by a congressional stalemate. Republicans, who control both the House and Senate, have been unable to propose a package suitable to attract enough Democrats to sign on. Democrats in the Senate are refusing to vote for the appropriations bill, as it currently stands, because it does not provide funding to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plan subsidies”.
Enough of the freaking “stalemate” nonsense! Why do the Democrats need to “sign on”? Republicans control the House, Senate, and Presidency. Is it because of the filibuster? That’s really not a thing as the Republicans have revised the filibuster rules for other things like confirming Trump’s appointments. Matter of fact they did that just last month. How quickly we forget!
(from the American Bar Assosciation)…
“On Sept. 19, the Senate confirmed 48 of President Donald Trump’s nominees in a single vote, using a new rule that changes the confirmation process. The legislative procedure, adopted Sept. 11 on a party-line vote, lowers the threshold for Senate approval of groups of sub-Cabinet nominees from 60 votes to a simple majority”.
Did you know that tariff money is being used to keep small airports open under the Essential Air Services program?
The White House is also using tariff revenue for the “Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children”. The President also plans to “use for the purposes of pay any funds appropriated by Congress that remain available to accomplish the scheduled disbursement of military pay for active duty military”.
(from the excellent “American Prospect”),
“Trump is taking money from an account specifically earmarked for research, development, testing, and evaluation, and spending it on military pay, which is forbidden by both the Constitution and law (the Antideficiency Act carries a jail sentence of up to two years), and something administration officials publicly promised Congress they would not do”.
“the precedent is gradually being established that the president can raise and spend money however he wants. If that is the case, there is essentially no point in Congress existing at all, and the Constitution is null and void”.