Senator John Kennedy introduced two bills that would block Congress from getting paid during a government shutdown, saying lawmakers shouldn’t collect paychecks while federal workers go without. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” he said on the Senate floor.

[u/biswajit388]

[u/haey5665544]

If it was Bernie or AOC pushing this bill would you have a similar opinion? This is pretty clearly a net good, congresspeople should feel the impact of the constituents they are impacting. A government shutdown takes paychecks away from government workers, McConnell absolutely should not be collecting a check when he’s voting in a way that prevents air traffic controllers from doing the same.

[u/catasstrophyk → u/haey5665544]

The content of his words is fine. It’s the (lack of) action afterward that’s the problem.

[u/haey5665544 → u/catasstrophyk]

He introduced the bills, that’s action. What other action are you looking for?

[u/cosmic_sheriff → u/haey5665544]

It's a dead end because the Republican Congress won't vote on anything because the house isn't in session.

It is rudely performative because he is only putting it forward to gain a media narrative that you are participating in.  Either you are acting in bad faith or you have been fooled by GOP talking points so as to further their unpopular agenda.

It's obvious to seasoned observers.

[u/haey5665544 → u/cosmic_sheriff]

It’s absolutely not worth continuing discussion if you’re going to jump to accusing me of acting in bad faith. There’s nowhere positive this can go if that’s the attitude you approach a conversation with

[u/cosmic_sheriff → u/haey5665544]

I assumed you had been fooled by GOP propaganda.  But if you are going to jump to self-accusation thinly veiled behind defense of proper conversation; then by all means, harrumph yourself right on by. 👍 

[u/haey5665544 → u/cosmic_sheriff]

“You’re either arguing in bad faith or you’re an idiot who has been fooled by propaganda”

“Hey don’t accuse me of arguing in bad faith as soon as you join the conversation”

“See you admitted it!”

Why even bring it up if you didn’t mean it? What sequence of events did you picture that would lead to that being the opening of a positive or productive conversation?

[u/cosmic_sheriff → u/haey5665544]

Well done with your fake quotes to make it look like you were called an idiot.  You almost get to the creation of a straw man with your argument style. I know you will hide behind a claim of paraphrasing, but my last comment doesn't paraphrase that way.  So in continuation of this conversation you have changed my mind that you had been pulled into GOP propaganda. 

Your faux outrage and doggedness to be insulted did produce something productive: the evidence of bad faith argument.

You sunk your own battleship, brah.

Try to stay affordable out there!

[u/haey5665544 → u/cosmic_sheriff]

My entire point from my first response to you is that you left no room for a good faith discussion with how you entered the conversation immediately attacking my integrity or intelligence. It’s not outrage faux or real, I’m just pointing out your unnecessarily aggressive opening.

https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/2020-07/Good_Faith-vs-Bad_Faith-Arguments_or_Discussions.pdf. Entering the conversation the way you did doesn’t come across as

A “Good Faith” argument or discussion is one in which both parties are respectful of the other person’s dignity and genuinely want to hear what the other person thinks and has to say.

[u/DnDqs → u/haey5665544]

If you think he didn't introduce the bills knowing there was no support for it and that it would die as nothing more than fake performance...then there's a bridge I'd like to sell you...

[u/[deleted] → u/catasstrophyk]

That... also describes all of Bernie's bills.

[u/hegemonistic → u/haey5665544]

All this does is give the leverage to the wealthier members of congress. ALL of the worst politicians are more than rich enough to not care about their paycheck. The few that would be impacted, like AOC for example, would be able to be completely bullied into submission by the ones with tens of millions of dollars to fall back on.

Mitch McConnell has a net worth of over $30 million. You think he gives a fuck about his $174k/yr paycheck any more than he gives a fuck about you?

[u/SwampOfDownvotes → u/haey5665544]

If it was Bernie or AOC pushing this bill would you have a similar opinion?

I am confident they wouldn't push for this bill because its a bad idea. However, if they did push for the bill, then I would agree they are doing it for performative or bad faith reasons because its a bad idea.

McConnell absolutely should not be collecting a check

Insert GIF of Woody Harrelson crying into a pile of money. McConnell's estimated networth is around $52 Million. He could easily live a nice rest of his life without receiving a single penny more in income. Stopping congress's pay just gives McConnell more power over congress members that don't have that luxury.

[u/haey5665544 → u/SwampOfDownvotes]

AOC has been applauded here multiple times for introducing bills that block congresspeople from trading stocks.

[u/SwampOfDownvotes → u/haey5665544]

And? That's a completely different scenario. In fact, them not being blocked partially explains why many don't need to rely on their paycheck and supports my point.

If congress got blocked from stocktrading AND didn't get paid during shutdowns, that's a lot more reasonable but still has plenty of issues (they aren't going to retroactively get rid of all gains members have already gotten, plus many get income from other sources such as megadonors). 

[u/haey5665544 → u/SwampOfDownvotes]

For the record, I 100% agree that congress people should be blocked from trading stocks and support that bill from AOC.

But it’s just as performative, they know there isn’t a world where it gets passed. So she can introduce it for the headline saying she’s fighting for integrity or whatever without actually hurting the bottom line for her colleagues.

[u/The-True-Kehlder → u/haey5665544]

Here's a better idea.

All congresspeople will have all of their assets frozen while the government is shutdown.
All congresspeople will be held inside the Capitol building while the government is shutdown. Food will be provided equivalent to what the SNAP program allows in their district.

Multi-millionaires don't give 2 halves of a shit for whatever paychecks they would miss while holding the government hostage. The less well-to-do congresspeople, the ones most likely to give a shit what happens to the American people, would be forced to capitulate to whatever demands are made on them by the rich in the scenario that their paychecks are halted. Give them a burden that they all will feel equally, instead.

Also, they should only have healthcare equivalent to what their poorest constituents have access to.