Jan 27, 2019 3 min read

During the senseless 35-day government shutdown, finally temporarily halted by a truce, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asserted that the wall demanded by the president is “an immorality.” Like most Americans, I do not support the building of the “beautiful wall” that Mexico was to pay for, but recognize that the speaker’s point is debatable.

What should not be debatable is that a government shutdown, which cuts 800,000 federal workers off from being paid for their services and endangers national security, is an immorality and an abomination.

Civil servants deserve to be paid for their work on payday. That is something that our billionaire president and billionaire commerce secretary obviously do not understand. The president stated that unpaid workers were “making adjustments.” When he proposed a settlement to the stalemate from the White House on a Saturday afternoon, he said not a word about the workers or their challenges. He lied to us when he said that the unpaid workers supported enduring the pain of being unable to meet their obligations, being held hostage so that the Trump wall would be built. Secretary Wilbur Ross stated with a straight face that he does not understand why federal workers would be availing themselves of food banks because they will be paid eventually, the concept of “living from paycheck to paycheck” not resonating in someone who has never had to endure it.

The president told us of his certainty that grocery stores unpaid federal workers have dealt with for years would extend credit to them. I wonder what the Trump network of hotels, with a location in Washington, D.C., did to ease the civil servants’ pain. I am betting that a president who is known for stiffing the little guy did not join generous restaurants and other entities which provided goods and services to the embattled workers.

Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer voiced the hope that no federal worker will ever again be forced to endure a shutdown and lack of payment for services. That overlooks the fact that a president who is devoid of compassion is at the helm.

The message has gone out loud and clear to current and potential federal civil servants: You have no right to expect to be paid timely for your services. You may be pawns in a political chess game in which everyone loses. This is not my United States of America.

Oren Spiegler

South Strabane Township