RANDOM comments

[Skyon Archer]

Aside from me losing a ton of money with the recent (near) crash of the stock market . . . things are looking pretty good this year

Let's hope Helena gets off the couch and decides to participate. Maybe we can get this new PN system opened for business

[Sandy]

Ouchies, got a few dollars invested eh? God bless Trump and his doing dumbass things like the partial government closedown, I really feel for the thousands of workers sitting at home not getting paid, how are they going to pay for christmas or pay the day to day bills? I think it's 2 weeks now, so those folk must be getting really worried.. Thinking of the government workers, are they able to claim benefits, or are they deemed as still being employed, so not eligable for benefits of any kind?

[Skyon Archer]

Usually when a "government shutdown" happens, the employee sits at home with no pay but when the budget gets passed they retroactively receive pay. As such, even if they go a month without pay, they will receive the entire pay at once.

[Sandy]

Can they get any benefits while the shutdown is going? Looking at the news the shutdown could conceivably last some time, they have to live on something mean time, hopefully they can get welfare benefits or some such, especially as a lot will be in the poo now with christmas just over..

IMHO Trump has a lot to answer for puling a partial closedown right on christmas, I doubt many of the government workers will be able to pay their bills at present.. IF this drags on to long I can see a lot of staff resigning and going off to try and get a job elsewhere..

I saw Trumps comments yesterday saying the closedown could last months or even years, I guess that shows how little he thinks of all the thousands of government staff that keep things ticking over.. :(

[Skyon Archer]

Federal employees can, in most circumstances, file for unemployment benefits during a government shutdown. The Office of Personnel Management has recently updated information on how federal workers can file for unemployment insurance during the partial government shutdown.

Employees’ eligibility for unemployment varies by state. In most circumstances, the state where an employee’s official duty station is located is the state that will determine a worker’s unemployment eligibility in the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees Program. State unemployment insurance agencies administer this program on behalf of the federal government.

However, read these rules:

Question: Are Federal employees required to repay the unemployment benefits received when/if wages are paid retroactively for the time that they were not working during the Government shutdown?
Answer: In most States, including the District of Columbia, employees who receive unemployment benefits and also later receive a retroactive payment from their employer for the same time period, will be required to repay the UI benefits received.
The State UI agency determines whether or not an overpayment exists and, generally, the recovery of the overpayment is a matter for State action under its law; however, some State UI laws require the employer to recover such overpayment.

Question: Can an employee’s wages be garnished if there is an overpayment of benefits?
Answer: Yes, if the State law has provisions for wage garnishments. However, employees will be given the opportunity to voluntarily repay the overpayment first before the State proceeds with any garnishments.

Question: If I am overpaid benefits, will I be required to repay the entire amount all at once?
Answer: It depends on the State requirements; most States will allow an individual to set up a repayment agreement to satisfy the overpayment.

Kind of sucks really. So you are "laid off" so you file for unemployment compensation to help you cover bills. Trust me, it's not the same paycheck you were receiving, it's only a small portion of it. Then the government resumes operation and, yes you are paid back pay for the time you were off, but you must now pay back all the unemployment compensation you received!

[Sandy]

I guess it's fair enough paying back a percentage of whatever you get over a period of time.. The upside is that at least the workers get something to help pay the bills and possibly buy groceries.. I wonder if their wages or salaries are good enough for them to save a little each payday so they have something put aside for an event like this?

It seems to me that Trump is going to stick to his guns and stay in for the long haul, so if the workers do have savings, they'll be quickly gone through, especially if the workers have children and mortgages on their homes, so welfare payments may become the only option unless they quit and go look for work elsewhere..

[Sandy]

Seems the anusmuchus is finding the money to get everyone's tax returns paid, it makes me wonder if it's doing so in the hopes of not losing so many government workers who I assume can decide to hand in theur resignations and make them effective immediately..

I also wonder how the government workers are supposed to pay things like home loans and such at present, at this time of year I doubt many have much in their accounts after buying presents and feeding their families over christmas..

[Skyon Archer]

It's a hard pill to swallow. Most people will loose site of what he (we) are actually trying to achieve. This shutdown is a result of trying to safeguard our country from an influx of illegal aliens that enter our nation on a constant basis.

Yes, illegal aliens, not immigrants. Immigrants don't cut holes in fences and cross in isolated areas instead of going through an immigration checkpoint. Plain and simple.

Building border walls is not a new thing. Many, many, countries have walls separating them from their neighbors. See this list:

Countries With Border Walls
Country A - Country B - Status - Length (km)
India - Bangladesh - Under construction - 3,268
Pakistan - Afghanistan - Proposed - 2,400
Ukraine - Russia - Under construction - 2,000
Turkmenistan - Uzbekistan - Completed 2001 - 1,700
India - Burma - Under construction - 1,624
China - North Korea - Under construction - 1,416
Mexico - United States - Proposed - 930
Saudi Arabia - Iraq - Completed 2014 - 900
Uzbekistan - Kyrgyzstan - Completed 1999 - 870
Iran - Pakistan - Under construction - 700
Costa Rica - Nicaragua - Proposed - 650
Malaysia - Thailand - Proposed - 650
India - Pakistan - Completed 2004 - 550
Botswana - Zimbabwe - Completed 2003 - 500
United Arab Emirates - Oman - Under construction - 410
Slovenia - Croatia - Under construction - 400
Belize - Guatemala - Proposed - 266
North Korea - South Korea - Completed 1953 - 248
South Africa - Zimbabwe - Completed 2000s - 225
Uzbekistan - Afghanistan - Completed 2001 - 209
Kuwait - Iraq - Completed 1991 - 193
Hungary - Serbia - Completed 2015 - 175
South Africa - Mozambique - Completed 1975 - 120
Estonia - Russia - Planned - 108
Saudi Arabia - Yemen - Completed 2004 - 75
Kazakhstan - Uzbekistan - Completed 2006 - 45
Hungary - Croatia - Completed 2015 - 41
China - Hong Kong - Completed 1960s - 32
Macedonia - Greece - Completed 2015 - 30
Bulgaria - Turkey - Completed 2014 - 30
Brunei - Malaysia - Completed 2005 - 20
Spain (Melilla) - Morroco - Completed 1998 - 11
Spain (Ceuta) - Morroco - Completed 2001 - 8
Egypt - Palestine - Completed 1979 - 3

[Sandy]

IMHO building a wall that's going to cost over $6 billion to build is a waste of money, the only "aliens" going into the US are Mexicans who can't get work to feed their families at home, so they cross the border to work, and for well under the minimum wage and no health insurance should they have an accident on US building sites etc that only US citizens will benefit from.. I have to wonder how Trump classifies that as a "National Emergency", the Mexican's are working illegally and not paying tax in the US, but their working illegally in the US does lower the cost of a lot of things seeing they're paid well under the minimum wage, at a guess they're likely doing a lot of the s****y jobs that most US citizens won't do to earn a bit of a living..

I think it's a bit hypocritical of Trump, while he was building Trump Towers he had quite a number of illegal immigrants working on the sites, now he's supposedly no longer in charge of his business empire because of being President he wants the Mexicans out of the USand supposedly safe on the other side of a fence..

IF the fence gets done, I wonder how long it'll be before the Mexican workers find another way into the US to work? Not long I suspect..

[Skyon Archer]

Illegal aliens cross into our country and immediately apply for food stamps, medicaid, housing vouchers and any other form of government subsidy they can.

These illegal's can obtain all type of lawful tax payer provided benefits. For example, in New York state:
1. it is possible for illegal aliens to obtain legal hunting and fishing privileges in New York State, as well as access to all state parks
2. As a result of a 1982 Supreme Court decision, states are required to provide K-12 public education for students without legal immigrant status.
3. New York State law requires that hospitals treat everyone who requires emergency care.
4. illegal immigrants are eligible for workers' compensation, but not unemployment insurance.
5. Hospitals have a responsibility to treat patients with emergency medical conditions, including mental illnesses.
6. Whether illegal aliens can obtain state benefits is not clear-cut. The short answer appears to be that they are not legally entitled to most benefits, but do in fact receive them.
7. A fair interpretation of the federal statute and state regulation must result in the conclusion that illegal aliens should not receive any form of state public assistance. However, illegal aliens do, in fact, receive state public benefits. That's because the burden of determining lawful status in the U.S. is on the shoulders of county social services employees who have neither the legal jurisdiction nor the practical ability to determine one's immigration status. Only an immigration official or federal worker whom the Secretary of Homeland Security has authorized may determine the immigration status of a person in the country.
Source: US State Senator James L. Seward

Illegal aliens cross into our country and receive medical care, education, government assistance, and much more, yet do not contribute to the tax base that provides most of the money for these services.

$6 billion is only a small part of the $22.5 billion for the 2019 budget of Department of Homeland Security ($14.2 billion for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and $8.3 billion for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)). In 2018 their combined budget was $21.7 billion.
Source: Whitehouse FY19 Border Security Fact Sheet

The US is simply trying to stop the influx of illegals from entering the country. To do this, we want to COMPLETE the wall that's already there. Trump isn't looking to build some NEW, he's wanting to finish the job. Remember that in October of 2016 the US passed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 which Congress put aside $1.4 billion to build 654 miles of barrier from California to Texas. Trump wants $6 billion to complete the remaining 1,354 miles requested.

Like I said in my previous post, there are a lot of countries in the world that have walls on their borders: