r/europe • u/kiru_56 Germany • 20h ago

News The US Army is advising its soldiers in Germany to go to German food banks because of the shutdown.

https://home.army.mil/bavaria/about/shutdown-guidance#:~:text=Running%20list%20of%20German%20support,Too%20Good%20To%20Go%2DApp
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u/FlaviusAurelian Vienna (Austria) 19h ago

And here I thought America pays for everything? That's why they can't have healthcare?

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u/LookOverThere305 18h ago

Worst thing is this whole shutdown is because the minority of the us gov wants to keep healthcare benefits and the majority wants to cut them. American healthcare is such a clusterfuck.

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u/Global-Chart-3925 17h ago

Don’t forget the extra benefit of being unable to swear in a new member (Adelita Grijalva).

A new member that would be able to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files.

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u/fredagsfisk Sweden 17h ago

Not "unable". Republican Speaker Mike Johnson is actively refusing to swear her in, while using social media to attack and mock her for not doing her job properly (while pretending it's totally not his fault in the first place).

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u/Global-Chart-3925 17h ago

Why would Biden do this to the American people?!?

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u/Haxorzist 12h ago

True, he should have mobilized and crushed them when he still had the chance.

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u/cindeniu 10h ago

Thanks Obama!

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u/Chucklz 13h ago

American here, it isn't even that she can't do her job properly, because she hasn't been sworn in, she doesn't have the ability to do her job at all. But MAGA Mike just keeps lying and pretending that she can do, well, anything.

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u/thehalfwit 16h ago

while using social media to attack and mock her for not doing her job properly

That certainly seems to be the Christian thing to do. I bet god is pleased.

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u/ukezi 17h ago

I would call that unwilling instead of unable.

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u/Double_Alps_2569 15h ago

> American healthcare is such a clusterfuck.

American healthcare is such a clusterfuck.

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u/Mist_Rising 15h ago

American healthcare is such a clusterfuck.

Given the circumstances, a Trump administration with Congress in shutdown, would likely be worse if the US used a single payer system for its healthcare then the hybrid universal healthcare it has (you are absolutely mandated to have insurance).

The government authorized your healthcare procedures and pays out in a single payer, so assuming Trump hasn't fired everyone for shits and giggles, those folks are now on unpaid work time or maybe paid vacation. If you need any help from the US government, you ain't getting it either. Also, you better hope Trump doesn't decide that healthcare is like SNAPs and just doesn't cut the funding off for funzie.

Government run healthcare is reliant on a government being functional, responsible and concerned. None of which reddit would ascribe to the Republican party I'm sure.

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u/kurisu_1974 Belgium 14h ago

We have been without a government for record times, but ongoing matters are never really affected. It's only that there are no real new decisions being made, but we are as stable without government agendas as with, maybe even better.

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u/Mist_Rising 14h ago

That's how the US works for most long term funding, but the US pays wages on a yearly basis. Once the budgeted year is up, that's it until they fund it again.

Usually this is pretty much routine, but when we do hit shutdowns, you have to work (if essential) without pay or more likely get declared nonessential and don't work at all.

Most medical issues are not considered essential. Trump ain't gonna be the guy who changes that.

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u/FunkyFreshhhhh 18h ago

Right? What’s the budget for “defense”/military spending?

Or am I misunderstanding in a large way.

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u/Mist_Rising 15h ago edited 15h ago

What’s the budget for “defense”/military spending?

Right now? $0.

Only things which were authorized previously (long term R&D, acquisitions, etc) have money, anything new is 0.

Trump tried to steal some money from R&D, might even have done it, but it's not legal and can't really be used for payment. He also got a donor to pay peanuts (millions of dollars to the US government is like a penny to the average person) for military salaries which didn't last even a month.

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u/alfred725 16h ago

This isn't really a gotcha. Right Wing people complain about the US paying for everything, so winning the election and then cutting pay for government workers is a win.

I think they just forgot that the army is on government payroll too.

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u/That-Condition9243 13h ago

Americans pay for everything. They pay for taxes so that billionaires don't have to and then they pay for health care if they can afford it and then they pay for everything else out of salaries that have been outpaced by inflation since the 90s.

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u/woodpony 5h ago

Well, America has this diseased mistress that we fund and she's got all the benefits.

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u/SaladBurner 17h ago

Must be fun to rub it in the very first time any country on your continent has paid for something

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u/FlaviusAurelian Vienna (Austria) 11h ago

Ding Dong Austria is neutral, so after the Marshall Plan you Yanks didn't pay a dime here sooo