If the swamp doesn’t get on the ball, the federal government is going to shut down.

As per usual, Democrats are digging their feet into the ground over an issue that affects a few while giving nary a thought to the actual consequences a shutdown would have on the country as a whole.

From a bottom line perspective, delaying a deal will ultimately cost taxpayers even more money in the long run.

The Washington Examiner shares another example of that.  

A partial government shutdown could result in double pay for hundreds of thousands of federal workers if Congress and President Trump don’t quickly agree to a spending package.

Federal funding runs out midnight Friday and a General Services Administration pay period ends the next day, meaning a shutdown lasting even one day — through Saturday — could trigger penalties under a Great Depression-era law.

If employees aren’t paid on time, the Fair Labor Standards Act allows “liquidated damages” that could double a worker’s pay.

Government employees are mere pawns as Democrats and Republicans play a high-stakes game of chicken.

An actual shutdown would directly impact thousands of folks that are relying on their paychecks.

To state the obvious, that’s simply not right. While the employees will eventually get their money, some may receive even more than they are normally entitled to.

If you’re taking that as the latest sign that things are horribly broken in the nation’s capital, you’re not alone.  

Attorney Heidi Burakiewicz, who sued on behalf of about 25,000 people paid late because of the last shutdown in 2013, said employees deemed “essential” who work Saturday would be entitled to damages, even for a one-day spending lapse, if they work overtime or if non-payment drops their overall pay below minimum wage.

“The people who are ‘essential’ are often the people working weekends,” she told the Washington Examiner.

“I’m concerned that the powers that be that are contemplating whether another shutdown should happen are not thinking about the consequences that hardworking federal employees are going to have to deal with.”

Democrats are demanding that any budget deal include a resolution on the issue of the so-called dreamers, young immigrants that came to the country illegally with their parents.

To make sure that happens, they are obstructing any and all efforts to reach a deal on the budget.

Besides being absurd and childish, it’s downright irresponsible behavior by elected officials.

Taxpayers have a very long memory when their hard-earned dollars are wasted unnecessarily. We’ll hold out hope that leads to record turnout for the upcoming midterm elections, and that the swamp is further drained soon thereafter.

Source: Washington Examiner