By Eric W. Schoen -This too is Yonkers
Let’s start off by wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year. A lot has happened over the last two weeks since we last chatted. They closed the National Christmas Tree (fortunately private donations allowed them to open it.). January 2 the Smithsonian Museums and exhibits nationwide are scheduled to be closed as the institution runs out of money. Add to the closing list the National Zoo in the Washington, D.C.. Area.
All of this because of a bunch of turkeys running our government. Actually they are not running our government. The President is fighting with Congressional leadership over a border wall. Yes it or something similar is needed. It’s Needed, but without closing down the government.
More than 420,000 employees will have to work without pay for the duration of the shutdown. This includes 88% of the Department of Homeland Security and more than 41,000 federal law enforcement and correctional officers. Retroactive pay for essential federal workers is only likely to come with Congressional approval after the shutdown ends.
If you are a contracted worker there is no guarantee that when the turkeys who run Washington finally settle this mess that they are going to getting paid. So what have these people been doing? Returning Christmas gifts, watching what they spend in the grocery store, borrowing money from friends and relatives. So much for Merry Christmas.
And what are the turkeys who are causing this mess telling unpaid workers with no money to do:
-Speak with their landlord, mortgage company, or creditor first before you write a letter. Just sending a letter may not be very effective as it will take a fair amount of time to get to the individual who needs to see it, if at all. Speaking with creditors they claim will enable you to work out the details of any payment plan that you can later confirm with your letter.
– Be sure to send the letter directly to the person to whom you have spoken to confirm your request for a reduced payment plan.
– Make sure that you have all the necessary information in your letter including account number, address of the property, and a telephone number where you can be reached.
- Be sure to keep a copy of the letter. In some situations, you may want to send the letter by certified mail. You may also want to fax the letter to the company.
People can’t feed their families, and the turkeys think they have $5 to send out certified mail. We’re talking about $10 an hour TSA agents who check to make sure you are bringing nothing illegal on the plane. Or $12 an hour workers at the National Zoo charged with cleaning the crap out or animal cages.
And Turkey Number 1, our President thinks that all of these low paid workers want the government closed and the wall built. What is he smoking? Or did he eat too much meatloaf on Christmas Day.
The biggest joke is that unpaid government employees are told by their government that if all fails they should contact their attorneys for assistance. Do you really think the $10 an hour TSA agent has an attorney? Or the $12 an hour man or woman cleaning the animal waste out of a cage at the National Zoo has an attorney? Or can actually afford one?
The turkeys that run our government are so out of touch with the American People who elect them to office and pay their salaries. By the way, with close to 400,000 government employees on unpaid leave do you think the Washington turkeys, your President and Congressional Leadership are not getting paid. Think again my friends. They are receiving every dollar due them on time. How pathetic is that?
The blame in this game doesn’t just belong to the Democrats, Republicans or President Trump. It belongs to all of them collectively. Pathetic that people can’t just sit like grownups in a room and resolve the issues our country faces. And with Republicans in the White House and Senate and Democrats in the House of Representatives in the New Year, do you think things will get better. I doubt it very seriously.
Speaking of our President, did he really have to get on the phone with a 7 or 8 year old child and tell the kid that their age is when kids start to realize that Santa Clause may not really exist? How dum was that? Why not let our young friend enjoy the beauty of Christmas including that a man with a big tummy, great big beard wearing a red suit came down the chimney and brought nice things for the child and family to enjoy?
I met a friend and her daughter over the weekend. I asked the daughter if Santa was good to her on Christmas. She looked sad and told me that she forgot to leave cookies out for Santa on Christmas Eve. Her mom told me that despite no cookies Santa was very good to her daughter this Christmas. The little girl agreed.
Too bad the Commander in Chief doesn’t belief in Santa Clause. Coal in his stocking next year!
Briefs: Did our State Legislators think they would receive large raises without giving something back. How many of them have gone to jail due to the conflicts with secondary sources of income they received? Hopefully Democrat control of the Governorship, Senate and Assembly will bring new ethics reforms and that our new Attorney General will weed out any bad apples that still exist in Albany.
There is this mantra in government that if one level of government is doing something it is ok for other similar levels of government to do it. Example: it’s ok for the President of a downstate School Board to receive compensation if the President of an upstate school board receives it. Flimsy justification. Can we stop these foolish comparisons in 2019!
In 2018 we lost musical great Aretha Franklin; political giants John McCain and George H.W. Bush; people in prayer at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh; television greats like Anthony Bourdaine and The Facts of Life’s Charlotte Rae; Marvel Comics guru Stan Lee; Evangelist Billy graham; Playwright Neil Simon and Actress and Director Penny Marshall.
Locally we lost Yonkers Mayor Angelo Martinelli and Judge Joe Nocca, a man who despite having a sight handicap served proudly on the Yonkers City Court. His obituary said he went to the ‘old Yonkers High School.’ Did you know that the ‘old Yonkers High School’
existed at the corner of South Broadway on the site of the parking lot for the Cacace Justice Center? You learn something new everyday. Again, Happy New Year!
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen and Dan Murphy on the Westchester Rising Radio Show Thursday’s from 10-11 a.m. On WVOX 1460 AM or download the SIMPLE RADIO app for free from the APP STORE.
