How is it a furlough if they're getting paid?

When my son is furloughed from his newspaper job, as he is for about four weeks a year, he doesn't get paid for that time off. When auto workers are furloughed in order to reduce expenses and improve the bottom line for their companies, they use their personal savings to pay their bills. Or they make arrangements with creditors to pay later, when they go back to their jobs.

If 800,000 federal employees are going to, eventually, get their back pay – a recent unanimous House vote guarantees it – well, then, are they furloughed? Or are they taking an unscheduled vacation?

And if you were on an unscheduled vacation in which you knew you'd get your paycheck, would you be worried or outraged? Would you be protesting or calling your Congressman, urging them to settle this dispute sooner rather than later? Maybe. But probably not.

There's WAY more to this issue than 800,000 furloughed workers getting paid for not working. Things like constitutional amendments and debt ceilings and Supreme Court decisions and health insurance for 17 times more people than those who have been off the clock since October 1.

I'm informed, but I'm certainly no expert about any of this. (She is, though.) I feel helpless and frustrated. I feel like all I can do is rant.

But you know what? That's not all I can do. I can vote. And you bet your ass I WILL vote. I can urge you to vote. I can give you a ride to the polls. I can point out the craziness and insensitivity and selfishness of the Tea Party Caucus, which is mostly responsible for this debacle.

I can look back to 2010, when Democrats stayed home, and I can take a little bit of responsibility for today's budget crisis. We lost the House, and in losing we had no idea what kind of madness would ensue.

And make no mistake: It is madness for 49 members of Congress to hold the United States of America hostage. (Is your Congressman one of them?)

To prevent this from getting worse, Democrats MUST MUST MUST vote for Democrats. I've been holding my nose and doing just that for a couple of offices in a couple of election cycles now. My candidates may not perfectly represent me, but their job is to work for the greater good. I'm a little left of the salad fork – not exactly your typical Dem – and would be known as one of those bleeding-heart liberals in another universe.

I hope and pray that those who vote third-party – and oh, how I've been tempted to do just that – will remember October 1, 2013, when they and all the rest of us began to reap what they sowed when they voted Green or Mountain or Whatever in 2010 and 2012. We can't take back the House by voting third party.

We. Just. Can't.

It sucks to be a grown-up on this issue. I'd love to support the high-minded little guy. But what I want more is to get this country back to taking care of her citizens. The Koch-funded Tea Party crazies aren't interested in doing that at all.

And that's all I need to know to vote a straight ticket on November 4, 2014.