So how come Congress gets paid?

"How come Congress gets paid during the shutdown?  They're the ones that caused it in the first place, so they shouldn't get paid!"

I feel your pain.  And I agree with you. 

However, this article in the Washington Post explains why Congress still gets paid during a shutdown, while other federal workers don't.

According to the Post article, "the government shutdown only affects agencies and employees that are funded through annual appropriations. But that doesn't apply to members of Congress. Salaries for members of the House and Senate are written into permanent law. (Members in both chambers currently make $174,000 a year.) That's why politicians get paid even in the event that Congress can't agree on a bill to fund the government."

So one of the reasons Congress still gets paid is due to permanent law.
Another reason is the 27th Amendment to the Constitution.  That amendment, part of the Constitution since 1992, "specifically says that the salaries of the House and Senate can't be altered until the start of a new term. The idea was to prevent members of Congress from handing themselves a raise before an election took place."

At least one member of Congress, Rep. Gary Peters of Michigan, is donating his salary to charity during the shutdown.  Two Senators, Barbara Boxer and Bob Casey, have a bill that would prevent Congress from getting paid during a shutdown.

I agree with a Facebook friend who says it's shameful that Congress can still draw a paycheck while other federal employees can't.  But it's in the law and in the Constitution.  So until both of those change, Congress still gets paid.

Unfortunately.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Manic Monday: A plague on both your parties!

Once again, Armageddon is looming.

I suspect that will be the spin on the coverage of yet another threatened government shutdown. 

I'm not going to sit here and list the reasons why the government may or may not shut down, the threats of the leaders of either party, etc. etc. etc.

What I feel like is best expressed in the words of William Shakespeare in Act Three, Scene One of Romeo and Juliet, right after Mercutio is stabbed by Tybalt:  "A plague on both your houses!"

I hold both parties responsible for this mess that has become a ritual every September.  There are the threats to shut the government down, the back-and-forth dance between the parties and houses of Congress, the suspense that lasts up until just a few hours before the deadline, when party leaders walk out victoriously, arm-in-arm, to face the TV news cameras and announce the "bipartisan" deal that they have reached.

Then they go back to work for another year, only to repeat the same charade again next September.

My husband is a federal employee.  In 2013, the government did shut down for 16 days in October.  We were lucky.  We had savings to tide us over, and when the government reopened, government employees that were furloughed did receive back pay. 

We're tired of the games that Congress plays.  It's games like this that make it possible for "non-politicians" to grab and hold the spotlight in this election cycle.  People are angry, and they feel powerless.

As I feel right now.

A plague on both your parties!

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.