It sucks for the federal employees that have been furloughed. However, I want to bring a reminder to these conversations that this is the life of employees in the private sector and always has been. Because of employment at will laws our jobs, paychecks, and benefits can disappear at any point in time.
And… we do not have the ability to get paid for furlough time when the government gets funded again.
This is not that I do not care, but I honestly believe that we would solve this problem through the democratic process very fast if we did not make sure that back pay was granted. 800,000 votes would sure make a difference in forcing change at the next election.