On the eve of the federal government shutdown, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., took the opportunity to do a little social media fundraising.
But judging by the Twitter responses, the Central Florida congressman could have picked a better time to solicit political donations than the hours before an impending furlough of hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
Here was Grayson's pitch:
The federal government shut down at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday as a result of Congress and President Obamas failure to come to terms on a broad spending measure.
Republicans want an appropriations bill that would delay the Obamacare individual mandate for one year and end the so-called health care exemption for Congress. But Democrats and Obama say thats off the table.
In the crosshairs are an estimated 800,000 to 1 million federal workers, thousands of whom live in Florida.
Food stamps, unemployment benefits, Social Security and Medicare payments will remain fully funded, as will the Internal Revenue Service and the National Security Agency, among others.
Compensation and pension benefits to 3 million to 6 million veterans, however, will be in jeopardy the longer the impasse continues.
Here are several other responses to Graysons Twitter appeal -- all 15 replies expressed disapproval of his fundraising timing.
Contact William Patrick at wpatrick@watchdog.org or follow Florida Watchdog on Twitter at @watchdogfla.
