Well you are right. I see no need to pay if people are sent home. They have the option to continue working. But if they don’t work I don’t want to pay them. It is not a paid vacation.The Dems are shutting the government down over Amnesty. I would urge them to let us know when they change their mind or its going to be a very long shut down. we don’t care.
As I understand it, those sent home during a shutdown are paid anyway, though not until the funds are approved in the new budget. The essential employees staying on the job will not be paid either until the new budget. The vast majority of people have little contact with the Feds. Entitlement checks still go out to the entitled, so citizens will see little effect in a shutdown.
The bigger gamble of the Left is that a protracted shutdown would encourage Trump to point out how well the government runs without the 90%+ of employees deemed non-essential & therefore accelerate the draining of the swamp with the hearty approval of the voters.