Dear Congress...

[Stubborn Hope]

To the indecisive members of Congress:

Hello. My name is Emily. I would like to inform you that my long distance relationshp is hard enough without you refusing to pay my boyfriend. He happens to be a soldier.

My plans to see him this summer, and our plans to see his sister's wedding, will be ruined if he does not receive his paycheck or some sort of backpay.

Additionally, it is complete and utter horse malarkey that the men and women who are following our government's orders, and therefore, your orders, will not be getting paid for doing their selfless duty. Not only will they suffer, but they have spouses and children that depend on that pay as well. I'm not sure when the last time you actually checked was, but these folks do not make much money as is.

All the while you, Congress, will be paid your six-figure salaries the entire time.

Please stop this ridiculousness.

Pay. The. Freaking. Soldiers.

Hugs and kisses,
Emily

[Rach321]

I don't understand how Congress can with any conscious, take pay when so many federal employees paychecks will be delayed or taken away completely. I'm hoping for a very quick resolve...

[rivi87]

I agree with this most definitely and as a soldier myself I cannot believe the immaturity of the men and woman we have elected to represent us. the idea of not getting paid for the work we do (which is not near enough) is not appealing and I dont think congress can fathom the chaos that will ensue within the ranks. My boyfriend is also a soldier. A soon to be deploying soldier and I do not understand how the government expect to send these men in war zones and NOT PAY THEM. Here's hoping they will figure things out and come to an agreement...and SOON!!

[nic&matt]

A-Men. Thats all I've got to say. Amen.

[Silencedsongs]

I'm... utterly shocked and dismayed.

I hope things get resolved quickly, because that is absolutely unfathomable. Unacceptable. Atrocious.

What a great way to show respect for our troops.

[Semperfikindoflove]

My boyfriend is a Marine and I have 100+ friends in the Marines and many friends in the Army. I'm absolutely shocked by this and I think that those elected officials should give up their pay and live off a military personnel pay for a while. Maybe they'd like to pay themselves less and our men a little bit more. It's horrible and I know a lot of my friends are deployed and won't be receiving their pay until the government is back up and running smoothly. On the positive side, their pay would only be delayed and they will still get the money they are owed...when the government decides to reopen. Good luck to you and your soldier!

[Rugger]

These men are putting their lives on the line and Those assholes, whose butt are safe over here, aren't paying them!? What the FUCK kind of country to we live in.

[Miramaid]

Ok i think I am out of the loop. What happened?

[Stubborn Hope]

I am glad I am not the only one who finds this beyond absurd! Thank you all for supporting my rant.

@ Miramaid: Congress cannot agree on the government's budget for this upcoming financial year. If they cannot decide by today, the government will get shut down. This means government employees, including military personnel but excluding Congress members, will not be getting paid until this mess is figured out. Here is a link to a basic story: https://www.wagerrun.com/4079/government-shutdown-2011/
I highly encourage you to research this on your own... I know people have different perferences in news stations.

[Tara_Lynn]

Like someone said earlier, soldiers will be paid even if it is delayed. However, many other employees could go without pay at all.

"Men and women in uniform would be expected to serve as usual, but their paychecks would be delayed until the shutdown is over. However, unlike civilian workers, troops are guaranteed of receiving back pay when the shutdown ends."

Read this article if you would like to know how it might affect you.

https://www.npr.org/2011/04/08/13523...wn?sc=fb&cc=fp

[loveknowsnodistance27]

This is absolutely ridiculous! Our troops don't get the respect they deserve! You have every right to be angry about this.

[Prince_of_Light]

Republicans tried to pass a bill that allowed the soldiers to be paid for the rest of this year. The Democrats didn't pass it because it included cuts to Planned Parenthood. Contrary to popular belief, this isn't a political ploy by the Republicans, rather it is by the Democrats. This is because it was the Republicans' intentions from the beginning to make more cuts to extra-constitutional, non-essential services. If government funding for offshore abortions is considered an essential, non-negotiable service to Democrats during a fiscal crisis--something they'd be willing to shut the government down over--then they're clearly living on a different planet than the rest of us.

That said, I don't want to see the government shut down for any reason. Good luck to OP.

[vintagevinyl]

I know how you felt about this whole situation. Although it seems as if the shut down has been avoided, the whole stress and "what ifs" about the military pay situation already ruined plans for us . My SO is a Marine and he would be here with me right now if this thing didn't happen. He couldn't buy his plane ticket in case they didn't get paid, because if they didn't, he wouldn't be able to afford his other bills for the month. So thanks Congress, for ruining those plans for us. Oh, and did I mention that we should have been celebrating our anniversary together? Yeah, sucks.

[Stubborn Hope]

@ vintagevinyl: I am so sorry to hear this! My SO and I might not be able to afford plane tickets now anyway, because prices go up as the travel date gets closer... But I hope you can reschedule sometime soon!

And again, thanks everyone for the support. I'm glad this nonesense is mostly over.

[hillke]

Soldiers are guaranteed backpay, in all branches of the military. it's in their contract.