Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

It looks like winning debates is a black job!

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. Do not congratulate. This is not business as usual.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / It looks like I’ll have a not-shitty Christmas after all

It looks like I’ll have a not-shitty Christmas after all

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So after President-Elect Musk blew up the Continuing Resolution deal, and the Placeholder-Elect Trump jumped in a couple hours later, it looked like I was going to be furloughed over Christmas again.
The last time around, 35 days in 2018/19, I took a big chunk out of my savings to make two mortgage payments, 2 gas payments, 2 electricity payments, four car payments, groceries and so on, so that the auto-debits didn’t blow us up. It took almost a year to replace all that in the savings account–which, admittedly, was made easier to an extent by not being able to travel anywhere or really do anything because Trump fucked up the COVID response.
I want the Dems to make things as hard for the GOP as possible, and I think one way to do that is let them keep ratfucking each other. But of course, I and a lot of other people would have gotten hurt.
As it is, they partially appeased Musk and Trump by taking away money for pediatric cancer research. Because of course they did.
I seem to recall something about Trump and pediatric cancer hospitals in the past.
It seems that letting sick kids die is his thing.
We spent this week in contract negotiations cleaning up areas where we had not settled articles earlier, so we didn’t break new ground, but we did fix some holes so we’ll be in good shape to startup again after the holidays. 
I just cut out a whole paragraph here because while I think you guys are interested, and there’s nothing illegal about telling you what’s happening, I think it’s probably prudent to not get into details.
President Biden gave everybody in Federal service Christmas eve as a paid day off. Our current secretary, Tom Vilsack, likes to give out 2 hours here, 4 hours there, and occasionally a full day.  He did that when he was Obama’s SecAg, too. His successor/predecessor, Sonny Perdue never did that stuff and neither did Trump. I’m going to miss it.
What does everybody have on tap for the week?
Oh, and Freddie wants to show off his new flannel sweater.

It looks like I'll have a not-shitty Christmas after all 5 It looks like I'll have a not-shitty Christmas after all 6

Reader Interactions

84Comments

  2. 2.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    One thing Biden did was give us days/time off before holidays.  Massive morale booster across the board.

    Just one of a gazillion good things he did.

  3. 3.

    Steve LaBonne

    We have a Federal employee in our family (married to my wife’s younger son), and we are very happy for her and her family. We were preparing to dig into our limited means to help if needed.

  10. 10.

    knittingbull

    I work for Secretary McDonough but I’m on leave until the 30th. My boss did tell me I was “ exempt” from furlough (I was caught in the 2013 one while working at the TSA). I told my boss my cats could fill in for me. He just laughed.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: I pulled it because I wanted Ozark to have more than 10 minutes in the sun.  I’ll put it up tomorrow after the Garden Post, it probably fits better there anyway.

  15. 15.

    Nukular Biskits

    A “gov’t shutdown” doesn’t automatically mean everything shuts down.

    A lot of defense contractors, for example (including my employer) have already been issued funds for the current part of their contracts through whatever period (for example, through 31MAR2025).  So, even if the gov’t contract officers are furloughed due to lack of pay, contractors can still continue business, although some things may not can be done.

    Anyway, this is why idiot conservatives will claim that a gov’t shutdown is much ado about nothing; i.e., because ALL federal operations don’t come to a screeching halt, there’s no real impact.

    ETA:  Minor edits.

  16. 16.

    pat

    @WaterGirl:

    I read the whole thing, and the comments before it became a 401.

    Yes, put it up again where everyone has the chance to read it!

    The Woofmeister running out of his cage to pee and poop after he had been holding it for hours, maybe days, because it seems he didn’t want to contaminate the cage……  Great story.

  19. 19.

    Suzanne

    Very glad you’re gonna have a good outcome!

    Today is Spawn the Younger’s birthday. The plan was to take her and three friends to the amusement park for their holiday event and then have a sleepover. But we were surprised by quite a bit of unexpected snow. Like, we just saw three drivers slide down the hill we live on, and our neighborhood Facebook page is full of pictures of cars wrapped around telephone poles. So! Only the sleepover is happening.

    Today was supposed to be my last long run in my training program. But I actually did it two weeks ago. So I decided today, because I heard that one mile of running is like three miles of cycling, to do 60 miles on my indoor bike (because, as noted above, snow everywhere). I feel like I earned a piece of birthday cake.

  20. 20.

    CaseyL

    Freddie looks like he knows how grand he is in his sweater.

    While I was in two minds about a shut-down (because I figured it was high time the GOP’s anti-government rhetoric had consequences that hit them and their voters good and hard) I am very glad federal employees aren’t going to pay the price for GOP political nihilism.

    I have not stopped wanting GOP voters to pay that price, though, and that it comes pretty damn steep.

  21. 21.

    Kristine

    Glad for you and your family, Soonergrunt. I’m all for kneecapping the GOP as much as possible, but you know, they’re always going to have an edge because we care and they don’t.

    But they’re already turning the knives on one another. Rooting for injuries. So. Many. Injuries.

    And Freddie is freakin’ adorable.

    Idk if anyone has already linked, but the trailer to the upcoming Superman movie is breaking viewing records in part because of a presence I think folks here will appreciate.

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    As someone who worked at the university for 20+ years, I am wondering if I will be one of the people who will be able to get the full social security amount instead of the 20% or so education people have always gotten because of the stupid law that I call “no double dipping” because  never remember the actual name.

  25. 25.

    Nukular Biskits

    @WaterGirl:

    We have PERS here in MS, although I don’t think I know anyone personally on it/in it.  Covers pretty much all public servants, from county/city employees to state legislators.

    In any case, by drawing on that when you retire, your SS would have been reduced?

    If that’s too personal a question, just tell me “Nunya”.

  26. 26.

    WaterGirl

    @Nukular Biskits: Oh, it has absolutely been reduced for everyone who worked at the university.  You get something like only 20 or 25% of what SS would have been had we not also had the state university retirement plan.

  28. 28.

    Nukular Biskits

    @WaterGirl:

    I don’t know all the particulars around that and related issues, but it seems to me that if you’re paying into Social Security at a rate the rest of us are paying, then you should have been entitled to the full amount, regardless of whatever SURS would have provided.

  29. 29.

    Jackie

    I seem to recall something about Trump and pediatric cancer hospitals in the past.
    It seems that letting sick kids die is his thing.

    TCFG’s nephew Fred has related his son is severely disabled and had asked his millionaire uncle if he could help with medical expenses, and TCFG said to just let him die.

    Childhood cancer research is definitely not a priority for the Puppet-elect.

  32. 32.

    Steve LaBonne

    @Nukular Biskits: My wife and I are in this boat and that’s sure as hell how we feel. There is no good reason why we shouldn’t get the same benefits as anyone else with the same number of SS credits. And now we will!

  34. 34.

    H.E.Wolf

    @schrodingers_cat: ​here is what I am working on right now, from Maria Trolle’s Botanicum

     That is gorgeous.

    Every year I wait for the first really good winter storm, and then make our holiday wreath from whatever our fir tree sheds onto the ground. (Neighbors’ trees shedding onto the sidewalk are also fair game).

    Plus a branch of berries from the otherwise boring shrub in the back yard, and something festive out of the ribbon box. Plus 2 paperclips to hang it on the speakeasy grill in the front door.

    Your wreath looks like what I aspire to! :)

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    @Nukular Biskits: What’s even more maddening is that having hung out my own shingle with clients after I left the University, I have to pay in the employee and the employer portion, even though I will never see more than the 20% or so.

    Really crossing my fingers that the new law will apply.

  37. 37.

    Nukular Biskits

    @WaterGirl @Steve LaBonne

    I’m not a public servant but one of my previous employers provided a pension (almost unheard of these days) in which I was 100% vested prior to a spinoff/acquisition/merger.

    In evaluating my finances in preparation for a “life-changing event” and my hopefully-soon retirement, I came across some language that seemed to indicate my SS could be reduced by some amount due to my pension.

    I hope I’m wrong about that because I’ve been paying into SS since I was 16 years old … and I just turned 60 a little over a month ago.

    I don’t know what the original stated reason for preventing “double-dipping” was but the cynic in me says this was a crass means of shoring up SS, like raising the retirement age, instead of eliminating the (used to be) FICA cap.

  40. 40.

    Steve LaBonne

    @Nukular Biskits: I am fairly but not completely sure that the WEP applied to private pensions, so I believe you will benefit from its abolition. And by the way fuck the people, some of whom should know better, who are whining that this will drain the fictional “trust fund” faster. A six month difference in a projection with a lot of uncertainty extending a decade out is a rounding error.

  43. 43.

    beckya57

    @WaterGirl: hope that works out for you, and say hi to the U of I for me.  Too late for my parents, both gone (dad was a prof at UI for his whole career, aside from a stint at Annapolis during WWII, and mom held several different administrative positions at different universities).  I’m mildly curious as to whether I’ll be affected, as I worked for WA for 4 years.  No biggie either way.

  44. 44.

    raven

    @Steve LaBonne: My wife is in the Georgia State Employees retirement and I’m in the Teachers Retirement and we both get full SS and we don’t have to pay state income tax on our retirement.

     

    eta

    and I’m an Illini!

  45. 45.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Steve LaBonne:

    I thought the WEP legislation mostly impacted public servants, but I could be wrong on that.

    The legalese and the various contingencies regarding SS, pensions, etc, is extremely difficult for me to wrap my head around.  I’m a f’ing engineer and I’m having trouble figuring out exactly what to expect at, say, 62 1/2 should I retire.

    Again, call me a conspiracy theorist but I think this was a feature, not a bug, for those pushing anti-double-dipping laws.

  46. 46.

    Steve LaBonne

    @raven: The WEP applied to states (like Ohio) in which public employees are not covered by SS. It applied to benefits earned in other, covered employment over our working lives.

  49. 49.

    Another Scott

    @bcwbcw: I’m probably one of the few people in the DC area that doesn’t care at all about the football team.

    But this RFK Stadium thing is important to the city.  The land and facility has been underused for decades and DC needs to be able to figure out what to do with it.  Rand Paul and a few other busybodies in Congress love nothing better than telling the good people of DC that they’re doing everything rong and it needs to stop.

    The city recently played hardball with the owner of the Wizards and Capitals about a new facility pushed by Gov Fuzzy Vest in NoVA and won.  They know how to deal with these bazillionaires who want the locality to pay for everything while they take home all the profits and none of the risks.

    It’s a good thing.

    My $0.02.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  51. 51.

    West of the Rockies

    Ricky Henderson has passed on.  He is being described as humble.  I don’t know, anyone who consistently refers to themselves in the third person doesn’t strike me as especially modest.  Hell of a ball player though!

  52. 52.

    Steve LaBonne

    @WaterGirl: Yup. Like all of us who worked both covered jobs and public jobs in non-covered states. I can hardly believe we finally got rid of this bullshit after 2 decades. Yay! My wife and I get by but are hardly affluent, and a little extra income will come in very handy.

  53. 53.

    Ohio Mom

    Not quite on topic, except that it has to do with government benefits:

    Every December Ohio Family meets with Ohio Son’s caseworker from the county Disabilty Services board and maps out what services at what amounts Ohio Son will use in the following year.

    We anticipated that he would continue to use the County-supplied Uber account to get to his job and volunteer gigs, and to continue to work with his Homemaker/Personal Care aide on various living skills (such as cooking, house-cleaning, social skills, being safe in the community).

    We came up with amounts to cover these expenses (very similar to 2024’s numbers) and I thought we were set.

    Then yesterday, our case worker sent us revised numbers, our budget had been cut by a third. Only explanation was gobble-hook that translated as, “Higher-ups made me do this.”

    I am assuming the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities is bracing for cuts to their budget, which is through Medicaid.

    Fuck every single Republican, voter and elected official.

  57. 57.

    Ohio Mom

    @Nukular Biskits: All of Social Security’s rules are complex.

    Once when discussing Ohio Son’s SSI with someone from Social Security, I asked about something, explaining that I was just trying to get an understanding of SSI and what we had to do to stay within the rules. The very nice worker chuckled and told me not to bother, it wouldn’t make any sense.

    Another worker told me it takes a year of training to be able to do their jobs.

    Your best bet is to consult with an Elder Care attorney, they are the ones who know Social security, Medicare and Medicaid rules and requirements.

  59. 59.

    prostratedragon

    @West of the Rockies:

    Maybe because of something he said:

    “My favorite hero was Muhammad Ali,” Henderson said during his induction speech in Cooperstown, New York. “He said one time, quote, I am the greatest, end of quote. That was something I always wanted to be, and now that the [Baseball Writers’ Association of America] has voted me into the Baseball Hall of Fame, my journey as a player is complete. I am now in the class of the greatest players of all time, and at this moment, I am very, very humbled.”

    He was a lot of fun to watch.

  63. 63.

    barbequebob

    @Nukular Biskits:

    From my understanding of thisfrom friends who worked as teachers in MA, they were not paying into Social Security, so for all those years they did not have “Social Security Income”.

  64. 64.

    TONYG

    @Steve LaBonne: That’s good!  But President Elon won’t like that.  It’s “pork” spending, you see.  Maybe Elon will physically throw the sick children out of their hospital beds.

  65. 65.

    Kathleen

    Always nice to see your name and read what you have to say (I follow you on Xeet and I think you’re on Bluesky and I’m following you there. If you’re not I’m blaming RFK Jr’s brain worm for my mis remembering. And Freddie is just precious!

  67. 67.

    kalakal

    @barbequebob:

    That sounds similar to me. I pay into the City’s Pension Scheme and Medicare but not SS. However before that I did pay into SS but for less than 40 quarters. I wonder of I’ll get anything for that.

    Mrs kalakal had paid in for more than 40 quarters before going to a similar scheme. She’s been recieving very reduced SS, that hopefully should increase

  70. 70.

    Jackie

    @West of the Rockies: When Ricky Henderson was with the Mariners, he had a short stent in Triple A and for reasons I don’t recall, they played a series in the TriCities, WA while he was in Triple A. My daughter often sang the NA for our minor league team, and she sang the NA one of the evenings Henderson was playing.

    After the game, he hunted my daughter down, told her how beautifully she sang, and planted a big kiss on her cheek. My star-struck baseball loving son said to her: “DO YOU KNOW WHO JUST KISSED YOU?!” DON’T EVER WASH THAT CHEEK!!!” LOL

    I asked her tonight if she remembered that, and, yes she did, and was sad he’d passed, as she touched her cheek in remembrance.

  71. 71.

    karen marie

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:   They’re trying to find someplace to stick her.  Maybe she’s not making the announcement now because she’s waiting till RFKJr.’s nom gets yanked.  Now that she has all that RNC experience, she can slide right in as HHS secretary.

  72. 72.

    Kristine

    @Nukular Biskits: FWIW, my previous (private industry) employer pays me a pension, and I saw nothing in all my paperwork so far to indicate my SS will be reduced.

    Assuming your employer was also private industry. If not, never mind,

  75. 75.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Barbara: Yes. The coloring page only had the wreath, I added the background, a door made from a light colored wood. Since the illustrator is Swedish

    *The background had an underlayer of gel crayons which are actually meant for kids under age 5.

  76. 76.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Kathleen: I used two sets of pencils. Design Journey 72 pencil set by Staedtler and 132 pencil set of Prismacolor premier pencils.

    Prismacolor pencils are soft and pigmented while the Staedtler hold a sharp point long.

    Its still a WIP I have to add shadows and highlights and some details.

  80. 80.

    Ohio Mom

    @kalakal: I am pretty sure you can’t collect SS if you don’t have 40 quarters. If you are close to forty quarters, I guess you could get a part-time job for the needed quarters to fill the gap?

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