Author Topic: The Trump Presidency  (Read 399520 times)

Offline Echnaton

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #540 on: January 21, 2019, 11:00:59 PM »
I have a friend whose husband is an air traffic controller.  He's missed two paychecks now, and they're worried about making their mortgage.  But, yes, he's expected to work every day anyway.

Once the shutdown finishes would he get back-pay for the time he's been working without pay?



This has happened during past shutdowns. But is not guaranteed.

I was surprised the FAA is skipping paychecks.  It is my understanding that ATC is funded with user fees not appropriations.  It's becoming more of  a problem. 
The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. —Samuel Beckett

Offline Echnaton

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #541 on: January 21, 2019, 11:08:12 PM »
Hey, Gerald Ford had the best attendance record on the Warren Commission!

I've read that not one Representative from a district along the border supports the wall.  That includes Texas Republicans.
There are four Congressional Districts along the Rio Grande in Texas. The three Democrats can naturally be expected to be in opposition.  The one Republican, whose huge and mostly rural district covers the longest stretch of the Rio Grande of all four districts, is adamantly opposed. 
« Last Edit: January 21, 2019, 11:15:50 PM by Echnaton »
The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. —Samuel Beckett

Offline gillianren

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #542 on: January 22, 2019, 12:40:15 PM »
I have a friend whose husband is an air traffic controller.  He's missed two paychecks now, and they're worried about making their mortgage.  But, yes, he's expected to work every day anyway.

Once the shutdown finishes would he get back-pay for the time he's been working without pay?

Some people probably will.  Some people probably won't.  Government employees are supposed to get their back pay.  Government contractors are not.  But if they stop going to work, they'll lose their jobs. 
"This sounds like a job for Bipolar Bear . . . but I just can't seem to get out of bed!"

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Offline raven

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #543 on: January 22, 2019, 01:09:52 PM »
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-22/supreme-court-lets-trump-s-transgender-military-ban-take-effect
"Imperative public importance" my fat tuckus.  I have no desire to serve in any military, but this is ridiculous on so many levels.

Offline Glom

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #544 on: February 09, 2019, 06:13:58 PM »
Apparently the Brits are seriously looking into rumors that some of the same skullduggery that aided the Hamberdler was also behind Brexit. Not that the Orangeman (as my Irish-leaning dad calls him) needed outside help. I'm unhappily willing to believe my countrymen are just that destructive.
Is that intentionally an Irish sectarian reference?

I have a friend whose husband is an air traffic controller.  He's missed two paychecks now, and they're worried about making their mortgage.  But, yes, he's expected to work every day anyway.

Once the shutdown finishes would he get back-pay for the time he's been working without pay?



This has happened during past shutdowns. But is not guaranteed.

I was surprised the FAA is skipping paychecks.  It is my understanding that ATC is funded with user fees not appropriations.  It's becoming more of  a problem.
Good thing our air traffic control is privitised.

Offline Ranb

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #545 on: February 10, 2019, 12:16:13 AM »
Trump recently voiced an opinion on his lack of concern about due process regarding civil rights.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4716589/trump-take-guns-first-due-process-second

It's about protection orders; people can obtain a court order to have guns taken away from those who may be a threat to themselves or others.  Several states have them on the books already. 

Trump wants to rush things by taking the guns before any due process.  I'm not sure how the police would sort out the genuine threats from the mere disputes.  Since Trump was talking about curtailing the rights of gun owners, most people don't really have any opinion on the matter.

I did find out that calling Trump a gun grabber has shown me who my true "friends" are on facebook though.  :)

Offline Echnaton

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #546 on: February 10, 2019, 02:13:23 PM »
Good thing our air traffic control is privitised.

It seems painfully apparent to me that ATC should not be a government function.  But there is a large contingent in the USA which holds that things run better under government ownership. When it is transparency and accountability that typically make services run smoother.
The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. —Samuel Beckett

Offline gillianren

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #547 on: February 10, 2019, 03:46:19 PM »
Funnily enough, transparency and accountability are higher under government control than corporate control.
"This sounds like a job for Bipolar Bear . . . but I just can't seem to get out of bed!"

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Offline raven

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #548 on: February 10, 2019, 10:37:26 PM »
Funnily enough, transparency and accountability are higher under government control than corporate control.
There is certainly situation where a profit motive creates better results, but a matter of public safety like that? I don't see it. 

Offline gillianren

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #549 on: February 11, 2019, 12:30:29 PM »
I mean, we just found out that Johnson & Johnson had been lying for years about the presence of asbestos in baby powder!
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Offline Echnaton

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #550 on: February 11, 2019, 01:02:29 PM »
Funnily enough, transparency and accountability are higher under government control than corporate control.

Not necessarily so.

Quote
I mean, we just found out that Johnson & Johnson had been lying for years about the presence of asbestos in baby powder!

How much impropriety in government atomic energy research has been hidden?  Medical experiments? Drone wars?  Etc. Neither form of ownership by itself provides of a guarantee of transparency.  Private ownership has the advantage of having the regulated and the regulator not being controlled by the same entity. 
The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. —Samuel Beckett

Offline Glom

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #551 on: February 12, 2019, 05:37:43 AM »
Funnily enough, transparency and accountability are higher under government control than corporate control.

Not necessarily so.

Quote
I mean, we just found out that Johnson & Johnson had been lying for years about the presence of asbestos in baby powder!

How much impropriety in government atomic energy research has been hidden?  Medical experiments? Drone wars?  Etc. Neither form of ownership by itself provides of a guarantee of transparency.  Private ownership has the advantage of having the regulated and the regulator not being controlled by the same entity.
That's an important and often overlooked point.

One point from the Cullen Report into the Piper Alpha disaster was that the Department of Energy was responsible for both encouraging exploitation of the North Sea as well as regulation of safety of the industry. Clearly this was a conflict of interest that led to a lax attitude to safety.

An outcome was that these functions were split up with the HSE taking responsibility for regulating safety and a separate ministerial department, which changes its identity once a fortnight, responsible for exploitation.

The thing is that the main drivers that cause the private sector to he reckless with safety also applies to the public sector. The public sector may not have profits to worry about, but it does have budgets.

What's more the complacency of believing you'll be able to get away with it anyway can be even stronger in the public sector where there are no consequences to getting it wrong. I'm always befuddled when I hear NHS trusts have been fined for failures. What good is that going to do? Shareholders at least notice fines if they're strong enough.

But my original point was that NATS don't operate at Her Majesty's Pleasure so an impasse on supply won't affect them (well not as fundamentally anyway).

Offline gillianren

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #552 on: February 12, 2019, 10:52:08 AM »
Do you know how many US companies have been hit with fines for improper behaviour that are so small they shrug them off and keep doing the wrong thing?  Because it's a lot.
"This sounds like a job for Bipolar Bear . . . but I just can't seem to get out of bed!"

"Conspiracy theories are an irresistible labour-saving device in the face of complexity."  --Henry Louis Gates

Offline Echnaton

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #553 on: February 12, 2019, 09:24:58 PM »

But my original point was that NATS don't operate at Her Majesty's Pleasure so an impasse on supply won't affect them (well not as fundamentally anyway).

ATC in the US should really be moved to a non-profit with directors appointed by industry and government with funding coming from user fees. It would make capital budgeting much easier. The financial reporting could then be published according to the same GAAP used for other businesses. And it wouldn't be subject to His Orange's pleasure.
The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. —Samuel Beckett

Offline smartcooky

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #554 on: February 13, 2019, 05:11:20 AM »
Good thing our air traffic control is privitised.

Ever listened to David Gunson's hilarious after dinner speech?

"Air Traffic Controllers work for the government, therefore we are Civil Servants. The government leases the controllers to the airfield and the oddity is that I work at West Midlands airport, which is owned by the taxpayers. I pay my rates to the West Midlands Authorities, and therefore I own the airfield... And therefore I am a self-employed Civil Servant. There aren't many of us around, but those who are have got their pensions stitched up a treat, I can assure you."
« Last Edit: February 13, 2019, 05:53:09 AM by smartcooky »
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