Esme's Blog: Government Shutdown Pain

Today I got an email from a furloughed federal employee from Lakeville, Minn., who, along with her co-workers, has not been able to collect unemployment because the state of Minnesota is demanding information from her employer, which she obviously can't get because the government is shut down. (Memo to the state of Minnesota unemployment offices, there is a little thing happening called the federal government shutdown.)

"We have applied online and received responses by email and mail that they need to have employment verification from our employer, the Federal Government. Due to the shutdown this is probably not going to happen. We have sent them copies of our earnings & leave statements (check stubs) but these don't seem to be proof enough. I just received another letter from them telling me they still need employment verification and it also listed a couple of other forms they want. We are furloughed and are not allowed to access any of the systems we would normally have access to in order to obtain this information."

Other federal workers are actually continuing to work without a paycheck. Yet members of Congress are continuing to get paid. As the pain of this shutdown mounts there is no sign of compromise.

The real question is will the public remember when they go to the polls in November of 2014, not only the pain, but the arrogance of those responsible? Let's hope so.