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Is there any kind of interest on this delay? Otherwise it's an involuntary zero-percent loan to the government, so, given inflation and fees for borrowing money, it's a net loss either way.

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Absolutely negligible. Please stop with the propaganda. Everyone is fine with a 2-week delay for payroll, but wait a couple more weeks and it's suddenly you "stop being paid" and give a "loan to the government". There are plenty of downsides to being ATC but this one is not a genuine framing.

Many people are living paycheck to paycheck. A month or two of missed payments can have a ton of downstream consequences.

Air traffic controllers making $155,000 are not the same people going homeless from a month or two of missed payments.

a) it’s possible to live at the edge your means regardless of where you are relatively to the poverty line.

b) It’s not a bad salary for an individual, but supporting a family of 3-5 on $155k does not leave a lot of room for error

> Everyone is fine with a 2-week delay for payroll

I don't know where this assumption comes from. I'm not. With the increasing number of people living paycheck to paycheck, your "couple more weeks" means a growing risk of homelessness among other things.

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