In yet another demonstration of administrative empathy, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said today that "he does not understand why federal workers are visiting food banks during the partial government shutdown." He urged them to seek loans from banks and credit unions to supplement their lost wages.
“I know they are, and I don’t really quite understand why,” Ross said when asked about federal workers going to food banks. Ross is a billionaire and a longtime friend of President Trump’s. “Perhaps he should have said it differently,” Trump said when asked about Ross’s comments. “He’s done a great job.”
The Commerce Department’s federal credit union is charging furloughed employees almost 9 percent interest on emergency loans to cover their missing paychecks.
Here's a link to the Washington Post reporting on this.
Comments
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2018/08/06/new-details-about-wilbur-rosss-businesses-point-to-pattern-of-grifting/#242224341c33
Just clueless.
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
Suspect there’s more than a grain of truth to Fitzgerald’s observation. Have linked the Wikipedia article on Ross for any who would like to know more about him. It references some “questionable” business dealings in his past, but it does not appear he was born into great wealth.
Fitzgerald: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10367-let-me-tell-you-about-the-very-rich-they-are
Wikipedia on Wilbur Ross: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbur_Ross
My uncle works social security and tell me all about it... Retired at 56 yo from back issues and obesity... Has 5 bed room house in sandiego and gets pension 3.4k per month from retirements and ssi... Has been Retired 5 yrs now
Think many others suffer laid offs extensively for 6 or more months long term but many not complaints much
Care to provide specifics and references for these "studies" John? Or is this just more of your usual line of unsupported and unsupportable crap?
https://www.fedsmith.com/2016/09/21/average-total-federal-employee-compensation-123160/
Don't get me started on 'empathy' with this regime's so-called 'leadership' comprised of "the best people, believe me." ..... Wilbur is long past his prime. He comes across on TV as a doddering senile old fool.
Kickballdiown road for 3 more wks
big paychecks coming
@johnN: Really impressive source, John. The Cato Institute is certainly well-known for it's balanced "research". Your confidence that the author of "Downsizingovernment.org" is going to be fair and balanced is really touching.
Well, at least you're not alone, John. Trump, Ross and JoJo26 are all in your corner.
Regards,
Ted
I don’t believe that the TSA employee poking through return travelers’ smelly socks and underwear is earning anything near 100K. But if he / she is, good for them. Actually, what a lot of workers don’t think of is that if the guy down the street is getting paid well, it will help lift wages for all workers. Employers have to compete for labor. So, maybe John didn’t qualify for the 100K job. But chances are he’s making a higher salery than he might otherwise because his employer has to compete in the marketplace for workers. Instead of being envious or jealous, be happy someone else is making a living wage, What goes round comes round.
While the government workers will get their missed pay, a lot of contractors will not - but also the ripple effect of this shutdown has been huge for the types that depend on the government and g-men to buy their services - From restaurants and bars up to dentists and the like.