Colo. federal workers on shutdown: "We've been abandoned"
(CBS News) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Colorado's 5th congressional district has one of the highest concentrations of federal workers in America. We talked to people there about the ongoing government shutdown and their congressman.
Furloughed workers protested outside Fort Carson Thursday. One of them was Chris Graham, who works for the military police. He voted for Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn, who advocated a government shutdown to stop Obamacare.
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"Yeah, I totally support him," he said. "I want him to get into negotiations is what I want him to do. I want him to go and work out things on Obamacare. I want to get him to work out things on the budget, They need to get together and work things out.
Graham doesn't like this stalemate. "It doesn't do anybody any good."
Colorado Springs is home to three military bases and the Air Force Academy. Nearly one in five of those employed here work for the federal government. Their congressman is a fierce opponent of Obamacare but wants a bill passed to get military employees back to work.
We found some furloughed employees taking advantage of an offer by Poor Richard's Restaurant for a free meal.
Carol Tipton and her husband are both temporarily laid off from Peterson Air Force Base.
"I feel like we've been abandoned," said Tipton. "I feel like they're so far removed from reality and from what their constituents expect out of them -- that they just abandoned us."
Tipton acknowledged she didn't ever expect herself saying this. "I've always been such a staunch Republican," she says, "and always believed in what the party believed and have stood behind it, even helped out in campaigns. And now it's like I don't even know who they are. That's how I feel."
Congressman Lamborn won re-election with 65 percent of the vote. But Carol Tipton said he may have one less vote next time.
