Coast Guard Retirees Among Those Struggling To Make Ends Meet Amid Shutdown

[littlemissmartypants]

Retired members of the United States Coast Guard may not receive their monthly retirement checks if the government shutdown drags on, the Department of Homeland Security tells On Point.

The veterans are the latest group of people suffering the impact as the shutdown drags on. From roughly 800,000 federal workers facing pay freezes, to millions of Americans anticipating food stamp interruptions, the effects are piling up. National parks in disarray, more TSA workers calling out sick and a potential delay in tax refunds are also on the horizon.

On Monday's On Point hour about how the government shutdown is affecting day-to-day life for Americans, we shared a story from Coast Guard retiree Anthony Sederstrom, of Goose Creek, South Carolina, who brought this issue to our attention via email.

"The stress, worry, and utter nonsense of this shutdown is beginning to affect citizens of this country in many unseen ways," he wrote. "I am a 26-year veteran of the Coast Guard and although I received my retirement pay on the first of the year, February's pay is in question."

More at the link.

http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/01/07/coast-guard-retirement-payments-government-shutdown

[RHMerriman]

1. Semper paratus, sir...

Semper paratus, sir...

The fact the Trump Administration has chosen to play the slots with the budgets of the USCG, FAA, etc tells anyone with eyes how little the GOP actually values the national security of the United States.

Treasonous dereliction of duty to benefit a foreign power.

[littlemissmartypants]

2. And dump says he cares about veterans. Just another lie. nt

[RHMerriman]

3. True that...

The best thing that could have EVER happened to Trump would have been the draft and service in the infantry in combat. It might have actually made him a human being, as opposed to a delusional shitbird.

[littlemissmartypants]

4. He wouldn't have survived a week. Or he'd be foaming at the mouth

To kill people. I don't think regimentation is in the sociopath's repertoire either way.

[RHMerriman]

5. Possibly ...

But sometimes discipline and an absolute inability to bullshit can do wonders.

I've known a few young men who went in feckless fools and came out responsible adults, with both perspective and empathy.

[littlemissmartypants]

6. I don't doubt that. We all bring experience to the table that can give us hope.

But this man is damaged goods. Military school didn't have any effect. I think he's too brain damaged, hence the psychopathology, to change. If anything, at this point in his chronological age, he's going to get worse. I trust my experience as a cognitive therapist with a strong background in neurological assessment. He's beyond repair.

[RHMerriman]

7. Today? Undoubtedly...

Today? Undoubtedly...

But if he was a 19-year-old, subject to real discipline? Perhaps.

His "military school" experience was just a private high school, no different than any other.