Guy, I think you missed the result of the last election.
Working people won. Plutocrats lost.
Now, yeah, we are going to see some rough times ahead when people have realized how badly the Plutocrats have screwed them in the last 30 years...
But Unions will be stronger at the end of it, not weaker.
Not in the states, both legislative and governors.
Meeeh, not really... The Teabaggers forgot to mention that all those "Government workers" are in fact people's neighbors who work in teh schools, the police stations and the firehouses.
There will be some changes in how things are done and their should be, but the smack talking is going to come to an end real soon.
What the **** does that have to do with the post to which you are responding?
Yours is the all or nothing straw man argument.
No one is even considering what you suggest.
The issue here is wages and benefits of unionized public employees have gotten out of control. So much so that cities are declaring bankruptcy, taxpayers are moving out of high tax states and now even a DEMOCRAT governor has shut down a large public employee union contract.
The goal here is balance. That is to balance the compensation to the costs to the very people that fund that compensation.
Please tell me you do not think a 15 year police officer in quiet Upper Montclair NJ should be paid over $120,000 per year..BEFORE overtime benefits and pension contribution?
That is an absurd amount of money..
In my home town of 4,700 people where a police officer has not fired a gun in over 50 years, the STARTING salary for a police officer with a 4 year degree is almost $70k per year. I have two former school mate who make in excess of $100,000 per year. Now really, is that realistic? Here is an example of these wages.
The town in question is a small borough in Northern NJ.
Note the first column...You'll the numeral "3"..this represents the pension system under which these employees are paid. These are all police officers. Look to the right...You will see their salary. Again, this does not include their medical and pension benefits to which government employees contribute very little of their wages. The taxpayers fund 95% of these benefits.
Again, this is absurd. Is it any wonder the typical home owner in this region is paying over $1,000 per month or more in property taxes....
Fund Name Year Of Birth
Group Code
Employer Salary Tot. Salary* Years veteran code enrollment date
3 lookup SHINE, THOMAS, M 1957 1 lookup OLD TAPPAN BOROUGH $168,328 $168,328 32 11011979
3 lookup BUTLER, JAMES, S 1959 1 lookup OLD TAPPAN BOROUGH $143,124 $143,124 24 9011987
3 lookup DORNEY, KEVIN, S 1963 1 lookup OLD TAPPAN BOROUGH $143,124 $143,124 29 4011982
3 lookup TRACY, JOSEPH, J 1966 1 lookup OLD TAPPAN BOROUGH $129,892 $129,892 26 10011985
3 lookup TERJANIAN, BRETT, S 1973 1 lookup OLD TAPPAN BOROUGH $129,340 $129,340 16 8011995
3 lookup WACHT, ROBERT, 1967 1 lookup OLD TAPPAN BOROUGH $127,140 $127,140 16 12011995
3 lookup JEFFAS, TIMOTHY, C 1957 1 lookup OLD TAPPAN BOROUGH $126,588 $126,588 24 9011987
3 lookup ROTHENBURGER, JASON, 1975 1 lookup OLD TAPPAN BOROUGH $125,488 $125,488 14 2011997
3 lookup MIELE, PETER, J 1968 1 lookup OLD TAPPAN BOROUGH $121,084 $121,084 15 1041997
3 lookup WEAVER, KATHRYN, J 1981 1 lookup OLD TAPPAN BOROUGH $119,984 $119,984 9 6012002