U.S. Government: Feds Go Unpaid While Billions Fly Overseas
MSNBC highlights Federal employees being 'obscure' and making sacrifices during government shutdowns. A poignant narrative, until one considers the broader budgetary picture. While these federal workers are left unpaid, the U.S. continues to funnel billions in military aid abroad—a sum that often dwarfs the costs of these very shutdowns. For instance, the recent $14 billion military aid package to
Israel, on top of the annual $3.8 billion, makes the '$1.2 billion per week' cost of a shutdown (Congressional Budget Office, 2019 data) appear like loose change. It raises questions about fiscal priorities, especially when politicians like Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-CA) received $17,000 from AIPAC in 2022, only to vote for these packages (OpenSecrets.org). We fund wars, but can't manage basic
government operations. The 'obscure' federal workers footing the shutdown bill are simply the most visible casualties of a system that treats military-industrial complex profits as essential, and its own citizens as dispensable. The media's focus on individual hardship, while valid, often artfully dodges the systemic choices that create it.