Renee Ellmers NC-02 plays doctor, commits malpractice

Seven thousand non-essential federal workers were laid off at Fort Bragg, North Carolina because Rep. Renee Ellmers and House Republicans voted to shut down the Federal government. Now she is demanding to know why they were laid off.

Laid off workers in her district are livid that they are out of work while she continues to collect a paycheck.



I'm a Federal Employee. I don't make $175K a year. And I need my check just to feed my family. Since this idiot will continue to get her check, I wonder if she will float me a loan since i won't get my check while she screws around with my job.

Ellmers wants to know why 400,000 Defense Department employees, including at least 7,000 at Fort Bragg, were laid off Tuesday despite the law. "This was signed into law by President Obama and has been in effect since Monday, yet the president is refusing to enforce it. Therefore, these Fort Bragg furloughs should not be occurring," Ellmers, a Republican in the 2nd Congressional District, said in written statement. "Here we have a situation where I have needless, needless suffering happening in my district," Ellmers said on the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday. The law says that during the shutdown period, the government shall appropriate "such sums as are necessary to provide pay and allowances to the civilian personnel of the Department of Defense" whom Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel "determines are providing support to members of the Armed Forces."

Rep. Ellmers is blaming President Obama and the military for not instantly changing the military's layoff rules in response to a new law passed by Congress late Monday night. The military followed the long-established rule that only essential civilian employees would continue to work in a government shut-down, but they would not get paid for doing so. Monday evening President Obama signed a law to ensure that the troops continued to get paid. It included a provision about continuing to pay civilian support personnel but did not set any guidelines for determining which civilian employees and government contractors fit that definition. Ellmers represents Fort Bragg but doesn't appear to know that the military and the federal government take more than 2 days to implement new rules in response to new legislation.Perhaps, before she voted to shut down the government Representative Ellmers might have considered that the government and the military must follow rules and procedures. Federal rules that are developed in response to new laws take years to write, get approved and implement. The military might be faster than a civilian agency in implementing new rules, but even Chuck Hegel can't get new rules in place in under a week.

I have tried to write this in a light, snarky way but it's just impossible to keep it up. Renee Ellmers represents my district, NC-02. Her husband is a surgeon. My wife is an Ob/Gyn. I managed my wife's business in the past. I know how much patients struggle. She should, too. And she should know how hard it is for parents of children diagnosed with cancer.

I just don't know how anyone with an ounce of empathy could hold a press conference in front of NIH posing in white coats using childhood cancer patients as political props. The cravenness of this nauseating Tea Party Republican skit she acted in is beyond my comprehension. Have they no decency? None at all? This may be the most disgusting political theater I have ever seen in America.



"If you’ve ever seen the look on a parents face when they’re told that their child has cancer and then you take their hope away, the moment that they know they can fight for it they will. Senator Reid - give hope back to these families. I tell you Senator Reid, you will not sleep until that happens." Renee Ellmers

Ms. Elmers, You shut down the government. You used children with cancer as props for your political theater. Shame on you. Shame on me. And shame on all of us in NC-02.