The real reason behind the Government Shutdown?
- Thread starter Pokeabear
- Start date
Just agree to the 5B (heck that's pennies in D.C. parlance) and viola, the Feds can investigate to their heart's content.
I hope the shutdown is actually to shutdown and not actually for the wall. It’s time the government just remains shut. At least these agencies.
It's weird how there are two sides to the shutdown. Obama had shutdowns under his watch too. (((Cold shivers)))
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/22/gov...eopardy-fbi-agents.html?__source=twitter|main
FBI agents say investigations into sex crimes against minors are being stalled because of the shutdown, putting children in jeopardy
Hyoung Chang | The Denver Post | Getty Images
A file photo of FBI agents
The partial government shutdown, which entered its 32nd day on Tuesday, is hampering investigations into sex crimes against children and presenting other threats to national security, according to FBI agents.
The lapse in funding for the Federal Bureau of Investigation has delayed interviews of child victims and stalled grand jury indictments for child sexual assault prosecutions, according to a 72-page report published on Tuesday by an association representing thousands of current and former FBI agents.
The report includes dozens of accounts provided by agents around the country to the FBI Agents Association.The report also details harm to operations involving drug and gang crime, counter-terrorism work and other matters of national security.
The agents are quoted in the report but are not named. The accounts detail weakening morale as paychecks have failed to arrive and investigations have been put on hold. The association said that while agents remain at work despite not being paid, the "situation is not sustainable."
The new report follows a Jan. 10 petition from the association which said that pay uncertainty threatened agents' ability to secure or renew security clearances, and undermined the agency's ability to recruit new employees. In the document released Tuesday, the association paints a more dire picture of the shutdown's effects.
"FBI offices … are having investigations stalled, to include delayed forensic interviews of child victims and delaying grand jury indictments on homicides and child sexual assault prosecutions," one agent said, according to the report. "Our child victims deserve timely interviews to increase successful preservation of their testimony."
"I have had to put pervs on standby."-FBI agent
"I have had to put pervs on standby," another agent, who works undercover on cases involving child exploitation, said. "This just puts children in jeopardy."
One agent said that "we were told we had to cancel" a training involving child abductions that was scheduled to follow two recent abductions.
"Victims from domestic minor sex trafficking cases are not receiving the attention they need and/or visits and counseling services," the agent said.
The report is illustrated with drawings apparently done by children thanking the FBI for keeping them safe. One drawing includes a caption thanking the FBI and saying, "I am so glad that you did not shutdown like the government did."
A quarter of the government has remained without funding since Dec. 22. Trump has pledged to veto any bill to re-open the government that does not include funding for his proposed border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a demand that congressional Democrats have called a nonstarter. Trump had pledged repeatedly that Mexico would pay for the wall.
The White House and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Other effects of the shutdown
Agents said that the shutdown has prevented the fulfillment of payments to confidential sources who provide information that is used by senior policy makers. The agents warned that the sources and the information they provide could be lost permanently.
One agent, identified as a Joint Terrorism Task Force Coordinator, said that law enforcement had lost several sources who had been working for "months, and years, to penetrate groups and target subjects."
"Not being able to pay Confidential Human Sources risks losing them and the information they provide FOREVER," another agent said. "It is not a switch that we can turn on and off."
The report also describes the human cost of the shutdown on individual agents and their families.
"The question that is first and foremost on my mind, will I be able to financially out last this shutdown?" one agent said. "I am also very angry at the unnecessary stress this shutdown is putting on my wife who just survived cancer and my 9 year-old son."
On Saturday, CNN reported that FBI field offices around the country had begun to set up food banks to assist employees facing financial stress as a result of the shutdown.
FBI agents say investigations into sex crimes against minors are being stalled because of the shutdown, putting children in jeopardy
Hyoung Chang | The Denver Post | Getty Images
A file photo of FBI agents
The partial government shutdown, which entered its 32nd day on Tuesday, is hampering investigations into sex crimes against children and presenting other threats to national security, according to FBI agents.
The lapse in funding for the Federal Bureau of Investigation has delayed interviews of child victims and stalled grand jury indictments for child sexual assault prosecutions, according to a 72-page report published on Tuesday by an association representing thousands of current and former FBI agents.
The report includes dozens of accounts provided by agents around the country to the FBI Agents Association.The report also details harm to operations involving drug and gang crime, counter-terrorism work and other matters of national security.
The agents are quoted in the report but are not named. The accounts detail weakening morale as paychecks have failed to arrive and investigations have been put on hold. The association said that while agents remain at work despite not being paid, the "situation is not sustainable."
The new report follows a Jan. 10 petition from the association which said that pay uncertainty threatened agents' ability to secure or renew security clearances, and undermined the agency's ability to recruit new employees. In the document released Tuesday, the association paints a more dire picture of the shutdown's effects.
"FBI offices … are having investigations stalled, to include delayed forensic interviews of child victims and delaying grand jury indictments on homicides and child sexual assault prosecutions," one agent said, according to the report. "Our child victims deserve timely interviews to increase successful preservation of their testimony."
"I have had to put pervs on standby."-FBI agent
"I have had to put pervs on standby," another agent, who works undercover on cases involving child exploitation, said. "This just puts children in jeopardy."
One agent said that "we were told we had to cancel" a training involving child abductions that was scheduled to follow two recent abductions.
"Victims from domestic minor sex trafficking cases are not receiving the attention they need and/or visits and counseling services," the agent said.
The report is illustrated with drawings apparently done by children thanking the FBI for keeping them safe. One drawing includes a caption thanking the FBI and saying, "I am so glad that you did not shutdown like the government did."
A quarter of the government has remained without funding since Dec. 22. Trump has pledged to veto any bill to re-open the government that does not include funding for his proposed border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a demand that congressional Democrats have called a nonstarter. Trump had pledged repeatedly that Mexico would pay for the wall.
The White House and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Other effects of the shutdown
Agents said that the shutdown has prevented the fulfillment of payments to confidential sources who provide information that is used by senior policy makers. The agents warned that the sources and the information they provide could be lost permanently.
One agent, identified as a Joint Terrorism Task Force Coordinator, said that law enforcement had lost several sources who had been working for "months, and years, to penetrate groups and target subjects."
"Not being able to pay Confidential Human Sources risks losing them and the information they provide FOREVER," another agent said. "It is not a switch that we can turn on and off."
The report also describes the human cost of the shutdown on individual agents and their families.
"The question that is first and foremost on my mind, will I be able to financially out last this shutdown?" one agent said. "I am also very angry at the unnecessary stress this shutdown is putting on my wife who just survived cancer and my 9 year-old son."
On Saturday, CNN reported that FBI field offices around the country had begun to set up food banks to assist employees facing financial stress as a result of the shutdown.
Dems are more than welcome to prove they are the 'better' person and acquiesce and re-open the government. You can tell me that Trump doesn't care about who is impacted by the shutdown, and its probably true. But its clear that the Dems in charge don't care either, as either side could give in and do the right thing, but neither cares to.
Yes all the democrats have to do is show that if really want something all you have to do is hold the government hostage to get it.
Eh. I say he still gets nothing. He just needs to get Mexico to pay for the wall. Right? That's what he said he'd do?
When the ransom is cheap, you pay it. But I don't get this really. This is an easy win for the Dems. Give in because the president is holding 800,000 workers and the entire economy hostage. Run on that in 2020. Message it so his approval hits 12%. You'd actually have something besides TDS to hold up against Trump and get the presidency back in 2020. But you can't say "we won't negotiate" in one sentence then say you are caring and compassionate for those impacted. That's every bit the same as the 'thoughts and prayers" following a shooting that Dems are found of hating against.
It may be a foreign concept, but some people have principles that they don't violate no matter what the political cost/benefit is.
Open the government, and then we can decide what to trade in exchange for 5 billion.
Then he'd never get anything for a southern barrier. No thanks.
So the only possible way to for a southern barrier to make it through our democratic processes is to hold the federal government hostage? Sounds like a winner.
Really both sides are holding the government hostage to get a wall? They should be able to come to a quick resolution then. What a relief.
Do any of you really think a wall will stop illegal immigration? It seems pure folly and a waste of money! Forget the whole United States of America as that shining example of freedom and possibilities example a lot of people still respect and thus reject what a wall symbolizes. He may need to morph the message from a wall to border security to see reality and better chances at success campaign pledge or not! Do so without spending money on a meaningless ineffective symbol of hubris and campaign rhetoric.
Better to reword the whole request to “Border Security” and add manpower over the entire length of the border using the money for an ineffective wall they will simply go over, around, and under like they already have to date where they exist.
Hell, deploy more national guard troops on 24 hour shifts all along the border as a more effective deterrent. At least some soldiers will pull duty at home and divide the funding between Homeland Security and military budgets.
Nobody is suggesting that a wall by itself is the lone solution. It's part of a system that includes technology and human resources as well. A well built barrier in places makes illegal crossing more difficult and more time consuming which enhances the possibility of detection. It's no different than having fences around military installations and other locations that benefit from the placement of an entry deterrent.
As for barriers not being effective, the data from sectors like San Diego and El Paso disagrees. But that's just actual data and not political rhetoric, so take it with a grain of salt.
I agree that his presentation has been absolutely idiotic.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/22/government-shutdown-puts-children-in-jeopardy-fbi-agents.html?__source=twitter|main
FBI agents say investigations into sex crimes against minors are being stalled because of the shutdown, putting children in jeopardy
Hyoung Chang | The Denver Post | Getty Images
A file photo of FBI agents
The partial government shutdown, which entered its 32nd day on Tuesday, is hampering investigations into sex crimes against children and presenting other threats to national security, according to FBI agents.
The lapse in funding for the Federal Bureau of Investigation has delayed interviews of child victims and stalled grand jury indictments for child sexual assault prosecutions, according to a 72-page report published on Tuesday by an association representing thousands of current and former FBI agents.
The report includes dozens of accounts provided by agents around the country to the FBI Agents Association.The report also details harm to operations involving drug and gang crime, counter-terrorism work and other matters of national security.
The agents are quoted in the report but are not named. The accounts detail weakening morale as paychecks have failed to arrive and investigations have been put on hold. The association said that while agents remain at work despite not being paid, the "situation is not sustainable."
The new report follows a Jan. 10 petition from the association which said that pay uncertainty threatened agents' ability to secure or renew security clearances, and undermined the agency's ability to recruit new employees. In the document released Tuesday, the association paints a more dire picture of the shutdown's effects.
"FBI offices … are having investigations stalled, to include delayed forensic interviews of child victims and delaying grand jury indictments on homicides and child sexual assault prosecutions," one agent said, according to the report. "Our child victims deserve timely interviews to increase successful preservation of their testimony."
"I have had to put pervs on standby."-FBI agent
"I have had to put pervs on standby," another agent, who works undercover on cases involving child exploitation, said. "This just puts children in jeopardy."
One agent said that "we were told we had to cancel" a training involving child abductions that was scheduled to follow two recent abductions.
"Victims from domestic minor sex trafficking cases are not receiving the attention they need and/or visits and counseling services," the agent said.
The report is illustrated with drawings apparently done by children thanking the FBI for keeping them safe. One drawing includes a caption thanking the FBI and saying, "I am so glad that you did not shutdown like the government did."
A quarter of the government has remained without funding since Dec. 22. Trump has pledged to veto any bill to re-open the government that does not include funding for his proposed border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a demand that congressional Democrats have called a nonstarter. Trump had pledged repeatedly that Mexico would pay for the wall.
The White House and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Other effects of the shutdown
Agents said that the shutdown has prevented the fulfillment of payments to confidential sources who provide information that is used by senior policy makers. The agents warned that the sources and the information they provide could be lost permanently.
One agent, identified as a Joint Terrorism Task Force Coordinator, said that law enforcement had lost several sources who had been working for "months, and years, to penetrate groups and target subjects."
"Not being able to pay Confidential Human Sources risks losing them and the information they provide FOREVER," another agent said. "It is not a switch that we can turn on and off."
The report also describes the human cost of the shutdown on individual agents and their families.
"The question that is first and foremost on my mind, will I be able to financially out last this shutdown?" one agent said. "I am also very angry at the unnecessary stress this shutdown is putting on my wife who just survived cancer and my 9 year-old son."
On Saturday, CNN reported that FBI field offices around the country had begun to set up food banks to assist employees facing financial stress as a result of the shutdown.
Such BS, why does everything always come down to the children? And if that is the over ridding factor than why do all the libs bitch and moan when they take children away from adults, at the border, until they can prove that the adult is actually a parent and not a sexual predator? Better yet what about all the children that are murdered in the womb?
I heard the same thing today from reporters purportedly talking to federal employees that are having a hard time feeding their children now that they aren't getting paid.
Of course when an illegal kills a family in a car crash while driving fdrunk, never makes the headlines. Or how about the girl in Iowa last summer who was murdered by the illegal, or the 4 elderly people in NV that were murdered by an illegal.
I say keep the whole show shut down until they can come to an amiable agreement that makes everyone give up something significant to accomplish something relevant. Until then, let them keep whining. Its stories like this that try to make Trump/supporters look like they are heartless reprobates to further drive the liberal notation he is an illegitimate president.
To the vast majority of those who can't feed their kids because of the shutdown....save some freakin money for emergencies like this.
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Those are teens, not children. We really barely can stand our teens.
Hospitals are famous for getting the distinction between children and teens wrong
But we hold teens to a higher level of responsibility and awareness than we do, say.....10 year olds.
Actually they aren't. They view teenagers as pediatric patients. They have no problems getting it right.
And we hold adults to a higher level of responsibility and awareness than we do, say.....15 year olds.
15 year olds, yes....that starts becoming less clear from a legal perspective when we start talking about 16-Up to 18 years old.
You mean blah adults? I'm always worried about adults that act like 15 year olds. But they do keep me in business.
Sure. But who has more life experience? A 64 year old veteran or a 16-17 year old high schooler?
that thing about pediatrics wasn't a good riff in my opinion. Our chemistry is off.
Yeah, probably too technical for riffing on reflection.
Let's replace that with teenagers sang the refrain "we are the world, we are the children."
