>The reality is, it's the Democrats who are voting no to reopening the government as they try to reverse cuts to health care made by Republicans.
1) Republicans control both house and Senate, so why is this an issue with Democrats voting with their views?
2) Healthcare funding is the least controversial thing to shut down the government for. This very article cites sick call-outs as a large contributing factor for the lack of tower personnel to begin with.
This article seems off to me.
This isn't really the argument you think it is. The sick call-outs are not because they're actually sick (mostly, some may be). The sick call-outs are because:
1. Their annual leave requests are going to get denied.
2. Sick leave can't be denied for the first 3 days. In practice, self-certified "cough, cough, I'm sick" is accepted for the first few days. Past that, they could be required to produce medical forms certifying that they are, in fact, sick or injured.
3. Sick call-outs are a kind of strike, because federal employees will be fired if they go on an actual strike. So this is the only way they have to strike that doesn't guarantee they will be fired.
That said, I agree. Healthcare funding should be one of the least controversial things to shutdown a government over. But on your (1), the Republicans absolutely can open the government today. They can vote (so-called nuclear option) to change the rules and pass the bill with a simple majority instead of needing 60 votes.
2) Healthcare has been incredibly controversial in America for the last 15 years or so. Current Republicans are not a fan of Obamacare (honestly I'd suspect the name is at least half the reason) and want to shut down or expire as much of it as possible.
Republicans only have themselves to blame for the name, they started calling it that, and then the Democrats and Obama embraced it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affordable_Care_Act#%22Obamaca... (follow the references for more about how the name came to be)
ATCs are responsible for the lives of many in the air and a mistake could result in a disaster and possibly criminal charges.
The States is currently running sans logic and mostly on anger and emotion. So, no. ATCs are simply being lazy, or gaming the system, or are all secretly Democrats probably. /s
Regardless, it's too late now, you just can't deny that the threat of permanent discharge is now so moronic that nothing has come close in the entire history of aviation. I would imagine that many of those worried about their career have to put income above fealty to a ship being scuttled.
It was a very sound ship a year ago, completely solid for decades by comparison, now it's more full of holes than anybody could have imagined.
That was quick.
The smart move might just be to start delivering packages for Amazon on the first sick day, so you can get a head start without all the competition if everybody gets kicked out at once.
But my point was about GP's comment, they were relating the sick call-outs to healthcare in the US. These folks are not sick in a way that any of the current healthcare debate (what's involved in this shutdown at least) would help them with at all.
What has them sick is a president who insults them, and a legislative branch that can't do its job.