No Back Pay for Fed Workers, More Money for War Contractors
President Donald Trump's administration, according to AP, is reversing decades of policy by threatening to deny back pay to federal workers facing a government shutdown. This would leave potentially 750,000 furloughed employees in financial limbo. Trump's quote, "There are some people that don’t deserve to be taken care of," perfectly encapsulates the prevailing ethos: sacrifice for the working
class, not the ruling class. While federal workers face financial uncertainty, Congress consistently finds billions for defense spending. For example, during his term, Trump signed the FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act, approving $738 billion in military spending. One might wonder where the 'urgency and necessity' for funding stops when it comes to supporting the American workforce, and
suddenly appears in abundance when it comes to war machines and corporations that profit from perpetual conflict.