FCC Shuttered, Ajit Pai Forced To Cancel CES Trip Because The US Government Is a Hot Mess
from the dumpster-fire dept
As you've probably noticed, the bickering over a dumb fence most attentive folks realize will never be fully funded or built has resulted in the government partially shutting down, leaving roughly 800,000 government employees furloughed without pay. As garbage and human waste begin to pile up at our under-staffed park system, the FCC this week also announced it would be suspending all but the most essential operations as of last Thursday, with 1,197 of the FCC’s 1,442 employees now left unpaid.
According to the FCC, all investigations into fraud (admittedly few and far between with this FCC), merger review, management of spectrum, and approval and testing of new electronics will grind to a halt. And while the agency's 911 and network outage complaint systems will remain operational, there will be nobody staffing the agency to respond to consumer or company complaints. The agency did note that things like its ongoing spectrum auction would continue, since the auction is funded by spectrum sale proceeds:
"However, work required for the protection of life and property will continue, as will any work related to spectrum auctions, which is funded by auction proceeds. In addition, the Office of the Inspector General will continue operations until further notice."
While he'll obviously be hamstrung by a lack of resources, Ajit Pai will continue to work, though the shutdown forced him to cancel a scheduled appearance at CES in Las Vegas. It's technically the second year in a row the FCC boss has had to cancel his planned CES appearance, since last year's visit was also scuttled after Pai began receiving death threats due to his historically-unpopular attacks on consumer protections like net neutrality.
Worry not though! Pai took to Twitter to joke that he'll still be around to thwart the use of naughty words on television:
I'll be on the job for the duration and there's also a sufficiently long statute of limitations, @NotThatRKelly, so I'd advise against trying any &$^#*%! https://t.co/DKEvr4k9or
— Ajit Pai (@AjitPaiFCC) January 3, 2019
While many will likely (and quite correctly) joke that a shuttered Pai FCC isn't likely to be much different from an operational Pai FCC given his apathy toward actually doing anything to help consumers or small businesses, the 1,197 FCC employees currently not getting paid over an idiotic fight over metal slats likely aren't finding this all that funny. And while a shutdown of a few days probably won't be all that big of a deal, a longer shutdown is going to spell trouble not just for Pai's unpopular agenda, but also for the oodles of notably less controversial, frequently mundane but essential tasks the FCC engage in on a daily basis.
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Filed Under: ajit pai, ces, fcc, government shutdown, indecency
Reader Comments
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Look on the bright side: With the FCC down, Eminem can finally be himself on MTV!
…is that too dated a reference?
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So, Pai canceled an unnecessary trip and you still complain?
This is just rambling ad hominem to your usual netwit standard, "grrr and stuff".
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Nice to see you finally labelling your comments correctly.
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Re: So, Pai canceled an unnecessary trip and you still complain?
I'll save you the trouble: you don't know what ad hominem is (add to the pile).
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Re:
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"Senior political appointees chosen by the president including Cabinet officials, top administrators and the vice president will reportedly see their pay raise by around $10,000 per year on Saturday."
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/423899-senior-trump-officials-to-get-10k-raise -amid-shutdown-report
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work?
What do they normally do all day ??
Outrageous -- seriously, how could there be productive work for that many people all year?
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Re: work?
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Re: work?
Seems a bit small to me.
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Re: Re: work?
Why does every US department and commission want to become part of the security services?
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Re: Re: Re: work?
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Re: Re: Re: Re: work?
It takes 1600 people to do that every day, decade after decade? Nonsense
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: work?
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: work?
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Re: Re: Re: work?
I have no idea.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: work?
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: work?
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Re: Re: Re: work?
Why does every US department and commission want to become part of the security services?
They don't have to tell us, as it's a matter of national security.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: work?
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Re: Re: work?
What do those 1600+ FCC people do each day when they go to their government job location.
How did you surmise that the FCC is likely understaffed ?
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Re: Re: Re: work?
Because it would take at least 1,600 employees just to handle the complaints about Comcast
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Re: Re: Re: Re: work?
Wrong word. Let me fix that for you:
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Re: Re: Re: work?
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Re: Re: Re: work?
What the fuck do you do every day?
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Re: Re: work?
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Re: work?
https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/fccorg-12102018.pdf
They do more than you ever imagined.
Just testing all new electronic devices to ensure they meet FCC regulations and don't disrupt radio communications sounds like enough to employ 1,000 people.
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Excuses
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Border Security - Stop The Invasion
Israel-Egypt, Israeli West Bank, Hungarian Border, Pakistani-Afghan border, Uzbek fence at the Afghan border, barrier between Turkey and Iran, Macedonian fence along the Greek border, Bangladesh border, Kenya’s fence at the Somalian border, Berlin, China, etc., etc., etc...
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Re: Border Security - Stop The Invasion
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Re: Self Identified Shitheel
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Re: Re: Self Identified Shitheel
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Re: Re: Re: Self Identified Shitheel
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Red flag ahoy
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Re: Border Security - Stop The Invasion
Why did they tear it down and why was it put in place to begin with? Why should we waste money, time, hot air on something that will just be torn down?
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Re: Re: Border Security - Stop The Invasion
Wasting money on a stupid game that will have fuckall effect on illegal immigration, smuggled contraband, or national security.
(but sticks it to those filthy brown people, which is the true purpose behind the wall and this administration's related policies)
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Re: Re: Re: Border Security - Stop The Invasion
.. and all those who do not worship Donald.
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Re: Re: Border Security - Stop The Invasion
Looks at who contractors and suppliers who will make billions on this project support, and where they will send their 'lobbying'... Looks like the cheeto in charge.
When looking for the reason to spend huge amounts of money on stupid projects, look at who will get richer from the project itself (regardless of if it works or not)...
That 'billion' dollar computer system that the government threw out after it was delivered 3 years late may have had ZERO success as a project, but it made several millionaire consulting companies.
So is the wall really a wall, or just a way to funnel millions from the government to the cronies who supported the current regime? The project could just as easily be a 50 story tall TRUMP bobble-head standing at the southern border, but it's a lot harder to explain that to the citizens...
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Re:
They did, it's called Texas.
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What we're all hoping for...
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Re: What we're all hoping for...
At this point I strongly suspect that it's psychologically impossible for him to be humble.
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I understand that it’s illegal for federal employees to work during sequestration/furlough. Did Pai just admit to breaking federal statutes?
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Re:
Essential services are still required to operate (and furloughed workers will receive back pay once the shutdown is over). As the article notes, the FCC is mostly shut down but its essential services are still running.
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Re: Re:
If this continues it will not be long till the unpaid seek income elsewhere. I guess that might cause problems for the TSA and therefore anyone attempting to travel but I'm sure the mental midgets in DC have this possibility well under control - LOL, not.
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I thought Mexico was paying for the wall
And, yes, I know this issue all about political grand-standing and how Trump can't go back on his work(um, Mexico pays, remember) and how he has to keep fighting those evil Democrats ("better to be a Communist than a Democrat t-shirts, remember).
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Re: I thought Mexico was paying for the wall
Quite right, and you'd think more politicians would use that tactic, for easy political points if nothing else.
'Why Mister President, you said, on multiple occasions, that mexico, not the US, would be paying for the wall. As such we see no reason to include so much as a single cent for it from the US budget, since by your own words mexico will be footing the bill, and if they haven't yet done so it would seem it's up to you to go talk to them about it, not us.'
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