[samstave]

This, I feel, is an underrated observation.

Critically think about the ripple effect of this situation:

1. It is clearly political shenanigans without a doubt, but;

2. Does this peal back the wool from the fact that, just maybe, we don't need this many government employees?

3. Reveals that senators who are both millionaires and still receiving pay, don't actually have your interests in mind

4. That taxes are wasted and a joke with respect to how they are implemented / allocated

5. that our security infrsastructure sold to us in the trillions is a 2-paycheck fragile sham (TSA) -- but the actual safety (Air Traffick Control) is in the same bucket?

6. That the media's only value is kvetching on the political bullshit of the literal moment (meaning: They teach nothing - only commentary)

7. the USA is a fealty based system beholden to literally a few hundred oligarchs

8. People have no recourse upstream.

9. People are apathetic to the entire display.

[dragontamer]

> 3. Reveals that senators who are both millionaires and still receiving pay, don't actually have your interests in mind

Senator Pay is $174k, which is less than senior developers around the tech world.

Your senior developer who frequents this site will make far more money than any Senator. The reason why Senators are millionares is because you need to be a millionare to even consider running for office (with all of the organization, ads, and stuff you need to buy...)

> Critically think about the ripple effect of this situation:

No. That's precisely WHY Republicans are shutting down the government. Because they want to push forward those viewpoints.

Its why Republicans are so happy to keep things shut down: the longer things are shut down, the more their point is proven ("That Government is inefficient").

Its a fundamental advantage Republicans have to shutdowns. Every shutdown "proves their point" innately.

----------

Government workers make far less than their counterparts in the private world. A "Senator" is the leader of an entire State, but will make far less money than a typical executive at any ol company.

Want to know where all of our good leaders have gone? They've gone into corporate leadership. Any ol' executive position at any major company will make multiples over a Senator or House member's salary.

[cat199]

> Senator Pay is $174k, which is less than senior developers around the tech world.

Isn't this just a stipend to cover housing/food while drumming up kickbacks, insider trade information, or cushy post-office executive positions in many (unfortunate) cases?

not sure if we can necessarily rely on base pay as being an accurate measure of income related to being a senator..

[dragontamer]

I'm not sure how that's much different to any executive position.

Your typical executive will have a base pay well over 200k, and then get a contract kickback based on performance. I have my doubts that any Senator actually makes as much as say... a Microsoft Executive.

And that's like, minor executive level. If you're a 3-letter executive (CEO, CFO, etc. etc.), expect $million+ paychecks with stock compensations on top of that, based on performance. Consider the Sears CEO who destroyed the company, he's making millions extra in bonuses, with a golden parachute to land safely even as the company withers and dies.

https://money.cnn.com/2018/03/29/news/companies/sears-ceo-ra...

He's got enough sense to wipe out his base pay to $1. But we all know that's a fake number anyway. In any case, the amount of money a Senator makes from their position or power is tiny in comparison to positions in private companies. The fact is: the US Government is not in the business of making money. They're in the business of providing essential services to the citizens (Military, Police, Post Office, etc. etc.), of which doesn't typically make a profit.

[mikeash]

I don’t see #2. What it has shown is that “non-essential” government workers do things that don’t have immediate consequences (kind of obvious), and that “essential” workers still show up without being paid at least for a while. As it drags on, it’s also starting to show that what these people do is actually kind of important.