Coast Guard families told they can have garage sales to cope with government shutdown

g0nbad real bad

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Coast Guard families told they can have garage sales to cope with government shutdown

Employees of the U.S. Coast Guard who are facing a long U.S. government shutdown just received a suggestion: To get by without pay, consider holding a garage sale, babysitting, dog-walking or serving as a “mystery shopper.”


The suggestions were part of a five-page tip sheetpublished by the Coast Guard Support Program, an employee-assistance arm of the service often known as CG SUPRT. It is designated to offer Coast Guard members help with mental-health issues or other concerns about their lives, including financial wellness.

“Bankruptcy is a last option,” the document said.

The Coast Guard receives funding from the Department of Homeland Security and is subjected to the shuttering of parts of the government along with DHS’s other agencies. That stands in contrast to other military services, which are part of the Defense Department and have funding.

The tip sheet, titled “Managing your finances during a furlough,” applies to the Coast Guard’s 8,500-person civilian workforce. About 6,400 of them are on indefinite furlough, while 2,100 are working without pay after being identified as essential workers, said Lt. Cmdr. Scott McBride, a service spokesman. They were last paid for the two-week period ended Dec. 22.

“While it may be uncomfortable to deal with the hard facts, it’s best to avoid the 'hide your head in the sand’ reaction,” the tip sheet said. “Stay in charge of the situation by getting a clear understanding of what’s happening.”

The Coast Guard removed the tip sheet from the support program’s website late Wednesday morning after The Washington Post inquired about it.

The suggestions do not “reflect the Coast Guard’s current efforts to support our workforce during this lapse in appropriations,” McBride said. “As such, this guidance has been removed.”

The situation shows the increasing strain that the service is under as the partial government shutdown continues. About 41,000 active-duty Coast Guardsmen are working without pay. Their next check is due Jan. 15.

Overall, about 420,000 government employees are working under the promise they will be paid retroactively, with nearly another 350,000 on furlough at home.

The Coast Guard’s status as an unfunded military service increasingly has become a political issue, as family members share their worries about a shutdown with no end in sight amid a political dispute about President Trump’s proposed border wall. Coast Guardsmen rely not only on paychecks, but also now-frozen government allowances for housing in expensive coastal cities where many are assigned.

Late last month, the Coast Guard announced it had found enough money to pay its service members one last time through the end of the year. The Trump administration took credit afterward, releasing a statement that said the president and some of his staff members had worked “round the clock” to address the issue.

The Coast Guard’s situation has stirred up old frustrations that the sea service’s contributions are not as appreciated in Washington as those of the rest of the military.

Among some military families, it also has undermined some good will that Trump established with the Coast Guard by praising their “brand,” spotlighting their efforts in hurricanes and promising funding for icebreaker ships to boost polar security. Funding for those ships is no longer a certainty this year, with the Senate version of an appropriations bill including $750 million to begin construction of a new ships and the House version including no money.

Coast Guard leaders have sought to provide as much information as possible to its people about the shutdown, and offer suggestions for where financial assistance might be possible. It also released a letter for families to provide to creditors while seeking temporary financial relief.

“This lapse in beyond in appropriations is beyond our members' control and is expected to be a temporary situation,” said the Dec. 27 letter, signed by Rear Adm. Matthew W. Shibley. “We appreciate your organization’s understanding and flexibility in working with Coast Guard members who request forbearance on their obligations until this situation is resolved.”

A bipartisan effort to get the Coast Guard paid through the shutdown was launched in Congress last week, but it isn’t clear if or how quickly lawmakers might vote on the proposed “Pay Our Coast Guard Act."

Coast Guard family members said Wednesday that there are no easy solutions as the political standoff continues, but that they are getting by.

Jacqueline Esparza, whose husband is in the Coast Guard and stationed in Seattle, said not all families affiliated with the service live in houses where having a garage sale is possible. Service members, who are still required to work, also are not easily able to find supplemental income, she said.

“Doing odd jobs and selling items we don’t need anymore is a temporary fix,” she said. “It’s not going to help us pay the rent.”

Natalie Daniels, whose husband is stationed in San Diego, said her family’s situation isn’t “dire just yet,” but missing the coming paycheck would definitely “start the clock” on that. Their family includes four children.

“I am not afraid of this shutdown,” she said. “I am afraid of the current political discourse that may discourage future generations from wanting to serve their country on the basis of being used as political pawns."

Daniels said both political parties are “playing a game of political chicken with Americans,” and it needs to stop.

"Frankly, I am exhausted, stressed, and emotionally drained by our current political climate, but if you were to ask my husband what I’ve said to him when he’s called every night, he would tell you I’ve said, ‘We are fine,’” she said. “That’s how a military spouse supports her husband, and that is how a military spouse supports their country.”

 

hocjo2626

Horace C. Jones II
Registered
If only.................

v-for-vendetta-v-for-vendetta-34020687-1024-768.jpg
 

roots69

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
One day the citizens will march on the power structure and tear it to pieces. I guess enough people still have not reached their breaking point with these bought and paid for politricktians.

Your right about that.. They have increased the fluoride in the water system and the majority of the population is in a docile trance!! Plus the distraction level at a all time high.. I wonder whats on the plate tomorrow as far as distractions go?? R kelly, the wall, news anchors saying racist words, middle east, russia, yall see where Im going.. Anyway, brothas and sistas keep your eyes open.. Yall know the saying, Aint no need in getting READY, when your READY!!
 

roots69

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
They say in France the politicians fear the people while in America the people fear the politicians.

Bruh, you seem like a level headed kat.. Let me ask you this.. What has happened to this country?? It seems as if, the people are in a fear state of mind!!
 

roots69

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
I can't pinpoint it but I will just say that ancient Rome and Babylon wish they could have gotten down on the level of present day America.

Your right about that!!

I cant seem to figure it out either.. I thought I would never see the day when a large percentage of the people bow down to the celebrities, giving up their rights to the politicians and kiss the asses of the money class.. I live about 2 miles from warren buffet place and you should see how these people kiss his ass.. Its unbelievable..
 

Ceenote

Thinkn with My 3rd Eye!
Platinum Member
Yeap,, I dont know whats worse these days, all the bullshit distraction crap or how their using these sellouts to keep the people divided!! As far as us copper color people, they work double-time and spend billions to keep us distracted, misinformed and divided!!


I was just telling wifey bout r kelly shit is such a distraction..to keep us n all other people from talkn bout really problem
 

COINTELPRO

Transnational Member
Registered


They did nothing to investigate these attacks, just sitting their lazy asses collecting paychecks. We know their shootings were linked

Meanwhile people like me are getting terrorized or there is corruption. Congressman are getting shot in the head.

They need to shut the government down for a year.
 
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roots69

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
I was just telling wifey bout r kelly shit is such a distraction..to keep us n all other people from talkn bout really problem

No doubt its a big ole distraction.. Were kept distracted so we dont start blowing holes in this illusion.. The dream as they like to call it, is held together with deception and distraction. You remove one of them and use basic common sense, a person can see whats being hidden from them..
 

blackbull1970

The Black Bastard
Platinum Member
I’m starting to think this Govt shutdown is being staged to force mofos to quit their jobs and have younger mofos think twice about signing up for jobs in the US Govt.

The GOP plan is to privatize the US Govt, this is a good motivator for them to do it.
 

Flawless

Flawless One
BGOL Investor
Some of those workers say they cant make their car payment because they missed one pay check :hmm: , maybe its time to be an adult or get a new job.
 

COINTELPRO

Transnational Member
Registered


This just proves my point watching the video, we have white supremacist elements sympathetic to their cause in the FBI. Letting Supreme Court Justices, people in Congress get shot in the head or body than covering up. These cries for help are falling on deaf ears. No wonder these fools are acting without fear.

I am not the issue, these fundamentalistb are trying to create a democratic authoritarian government through fear. Homeland Security and the FBI could have issued an alert to increase their security.
 
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