Dear Stuart Varney: You are an idiot and that’s probably why you’re a star at the Fox Business channel (the one no one watches). Asked if Federal workers are deserving of back pay when this is over, Varney said:
That is a loaded question isn’t it? You want my opinion? . . . No, I don’t think they should get their back pay, frankly, I really don’t. I’m sick and tired of a massive, bloated federal bureaucracy living on our backs, and taking money out of us, a lot more money than most of us earn in the private sector, then getting a furlough, and then getting their money back at the end of it. Sorry, I’m not for that. I want to punish these people. Sorry to say that, but that’s what I want to do.
(Why is he sorry to say that?) Stuart, the people you want to punish aren’t the ones who created the agencies, funded them, or made the rules. They are people, plain people who work in payroll or data processing. Maybe they’re engineers or safety inspectors or mathematicians or nurses. Perhaps they clean the offices. How about the folks who answer phones at IRS, CDC, Defense . . . they don’t carry weapons so they’re probably non-essential. I’m guessing that most departments have IT people – let’s hope nobody needs critical help on their computers or – Elvis forbid – servers.
As for those who are essential … they’re required to stay on the job (see Washington DC, Thursday, Capitol Police) but won’t see paychecks for the duration. And today is Friday – for most people, that’s payday.
And you want to punish them. Delightful.
You can have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, or democracy. But you cannot have both.
Whatever Works 
If Fox laid off this asshole, he would probably get a severance pay, and whatever else owed him, then get to collect unemployment. Again, he’s an asshole…
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Severance Don? Oh I’ll guess a full Golden Parachute per the terms of his contract. THe contract of course that his employer will honor, unlike union workers whose contracts are routinely breached . . .
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What a PUTZ. I saw this a while ago and I am still fuming. He is worth over $10 MILLION which he got when he emmigrated from the UK to the US so that we could listen to him badmouthing our federal employees.
I really am in favor of free speech. But sometimes I would really love to shove a sock down the throats of these over-privileged assholes. Often, in fact. Well, perhaps daily.
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Sock down the throat – that, Elyse, is a most appealing image. We are talking a dirty sock, yes? A post-morning run sock?
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Perhaps one used to mop up when a toilet overflowed.
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I’m sure he misspoke and meant that those in Congress shouldn’t get paid but then again, they’re the ones doing all the work during this difficult time.
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Of course he did Ed. Of course.
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Another Rich Talking head that forgot what it was like to worry about paying his bills?
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Just like our Congress – chock-full of multimillionaires james.
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Why should the government workers be granted special privileges above and beyond those of the private sector? If normal workers got laid-off / furloughed they wouldn’t get back pay so why should the fed ones?
Of course the above only applies to the furloughed workers. Those who were told to work w/o pay should – and will – get their back pay. But then, that’s a different matter from what Mr. Varney was talking about.
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So if the widget manufacturer I work for lays off a bunch of people cuz he’s been a bad financial manager, it’s okay that he didn’t issue paychecks yesterday to the ones STILL ON THE JOB? Okay.
I do think that’s different. And as for it being what Varney said? Nope, he wants to BLAME the workers for BEING hte workers hired under Congress autorization and funding.
Right.
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What I would like to say to Varney and others is that his bile is misplaced. It is Congress who should be deemed nonessential and ineligible for back pay. If that were the case I predict things would quickly get more civil around the capitol.
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Of course they’re the ones who’d have to make that decision . . . none of us has enough years left to wait for that to happen Jim 😆
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I know workers who work for companies that subcontract out to the federal government. They are out of work because of the shutdown. They have kids, mortgages, and they will not get back pay when the shutdown ends.
And nobody here gives a damn about them.
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And it shouldn’t happen to them either but you’re right, no one is talking about them, and these days, many of the normal jobs are handled by contractors.
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Ms. Holland,
Thank you for agreeing with my words. The areas around D.C.in Virginia and Maryland are heavily dependent on companies that service the Federal government. That part of the country has been largely recession proof . That is until now.
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The sad part is that it is the power part of both parties that got you in the mess in the first place. Sadly, were not too far behind you with the same kind of people in our different parties. I think they were all buddies in highschool. 😦
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Our ‘permanent campaign’ and absurd election processes – primaries, gerrymandering etc, campaign finance – are indeed spreading. At least hte ‘permanent’ and ‘finance’ part. You see US campaign managers (they’re actually companies now) heading right overseas as soon as US elections are over. And they’re in the individual States as well, which unitl a decade or so ago had more sensible ways of electing their officials.
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Maybe they’re engineers or safety inspectors or mathematicians or nurses. Perhaps they clean the offices. How about the folks who answer phones at IRS, CDC, Defense . . . they don’t carry weapons so they’re probably non-essential. I’m guessing that most departments have IT people – let’s hope nobody needs critical help on their computers or – Elvis forbid – servers.
I don’t suppose I want to punish the workers, but I certainly wanna punish the bureaucrats that have create massively bloated departments full of workers, who – on the balance, don’t seem to be providing all that much value.
While I would certainly sympathize with the folks for losing their jobs, that does not justify keeping them on the pay role.
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pino – even I, pinko that I am, think the bureaucracy is bloated. But it’s Congress, not the bureaucrats, who are determining the size and scope of these agencies by funding them. The workers absolutely are the only ones who are blameless in this.
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