Unpaid workers told to walk dogs for cash or just declare bankruptcy
The Coast Guard offered some very desperate suggestions to workers dealing with the Trump shutdown.
To cope with the fallout from Trump’s shutdown of the federal government, the Coast Guard told suffering families they could try to supplement their lost income by holding garage sales, babysitting, or filing for bankruptcy.
The “ideas” were posted in a tip sheet posted by CG SUPRT, the employee assistance arm of the service that operates a program called Coast Guard Support.
After the Washington Post reported on the existence of the document, the Coast Guard memo was removed.
Predictably, Trump praised his own administration just a few days ago for “great work” to “save Coast Guard pay” and falsely attacked Democrats for not helping those in the service. He also retweeted praise from GOP chair Ronna McDaniel that said Trump “made sure the men and women of the Coast Guard continue to get paid.”
The document headlined “Managing your finances during a furlough” was aimed at the 8,500 workers who are in the Coast Guard’s civilian workforce. A spokesman told the Post that 6,400 of those workers have been on furlough because of Trump’s shutdown, while 2,100 are working without pay because they have been identified as essential workers.
The Coast Guard memo suggested that government workers find “supplemental income” during the shutdown by “having a garage sale,” selling unwanted items “through the newspaper or online,” babysitting children, walking pets, house-sitting, “[turning] your hobby into income,” tutoring students, or becoming a “mystery shopper.”
As a last option, the document suggested employees could “file bankruptcy.”
The suggestions reflect a desperate response to Trump’s unnecessary shuttering of the federal government. Trump has created the crisis because he refuses to fund the government without wasting billions on an unnecessary border wall.
Democrats have been working to reopen the government and stop hurting the thousands of federal workers under stress from Trump’s actions. Businesses relying on spending by those employees are also suffering, while trash and human excrement builds up at national parks from coast to coast.
The fact the federal workers are forced to consider these “options” is beyond the pale. Trump is making life worse for thousands of Americans who work for their government, including those who support the armed services like the Coast Guard.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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