Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Patti Walz on March 1, 2011 at 9:17am

I am a volunteer. I work hard for my living and for my benefits which as each year goes buy gets less and less. I do not belong to a union, I do not have an organization fighting for my benefits, and I do not get paid from tax dollars. I have no problems with people who work for the public, I have issues with the institutions who squander my tax dollars on crap because they have the mentality of "if you got it spend it" and they spend it on high end stuff when you can get the same quality with a lower cost item. I get tired of children failing in schools because the teachers are afraid to teach kids. If you don't like the opinion of the average american, then do something to change it.

Permalink Reply by Patti Walz on March 1, 2011 at 9:31am

I should not have said anything here. I am not happy with the public institutions in my state.

Permalink Reply by George A. Laiacona III on March 1, 2011 at 9:42am

Wall Street may have had a hand crashing the economy, but the Clinton Administration's Fair Credit Act didn't help (forcing lenders to give money to people they didn't want to), nor did average Americans buying more home than they could afford.
Collective Bargaining is only a smoke screen - Gov Walker is asking public employees to pay a portion of their retirement and healthcare costs, where taxpayers footed the entire bill before. That's not to say that Gov Walker's hands are not dirty, though. Plenty of stuff in the budget he proposes that should be looked at.

I will note, however, that public employees across the country are being furloughed and asked to do without a paycheck or two, but not one penny of welfare is being withheld to pay for budget shortfalls. On a national level, government redistribution accounts for more than 40% of the budget. There are also hundreds of billions wasted in duplicate programs.

It's about time we wake up. The Tea Party movement is just a beginning. More people should be more involved in what their elected representatives are doing. But, shamefully, more people care about what happened on American Idol last night than where their tax money is being spent.

Permalink Reply by Nancy Lankford McCain on March 1, 2011 at 10:02am

Let me add, I have no union bargaining for me. I have never been a union member. Elected officials control how my retirement contributions are being invested.

I am on the side of those of us who give back in excess of our salary. As an example, from 2009 I have over 600 unpaid hours that I will never see. Another 400 from 2010 I will never see. I have a boss who supports me and helps me "flex" off if needed. At the same time, they say I am not taking enough of my vacation time. When? They don't want me on vacation during hurricane season and in the off season is when I am teaching a succession of 8 week classes. Go figure.

This year, I am brining home less than last year and everything costs more.

Permalink Reply by Firewriter on March 1, 2011 at 10:36am

I am a public servant simply so that I can serve my community, state, and country; not for the great pay and perks (LOL!!).

I am vilified for being too expensive and not necessary. Yet, if I am needed by the public for any reason, and I don't respond due to budgetary constraints?! It is a no-win situation for so many of us; yet, we continue to do what we do because we demand it of ourselves - We Serve. While others get richer at our expense; I take comfort from the fact that I can live with myself for committing my life to the service of others.

Permalink Reply by Patti Walz on March 1, 2011 at 10:42am

I think I will refrain from saying anything more, cause this topic just sets me off like a red hot poker.

Permalink Reply by Bob Allard on March 1, 2011 at 10:51am

I agree with you 100%, yea what do we get, most of us more taxes to pay to help those who created the problem, what a bunch of Bull.

Permalink Reply by FETC on March 1, 2011 at 12:23pm

When times are good the "public employee" is looked upon as lower class, but when the corporate economic crash happened, and people formerly making good money had to line up at the unemployment line, then those lower class jobs that had security, decent wages and good benefits look way too expensive.

When times are good nobody cares about the school budget, police or fire contracts...

But let's not forget that the public employee deposited 10% a week from their personal paycheck into the retirement system, in return for shorter maturity dates... which make those benefits so great. Compare that to what the public deposits into the social security system.

Mayors, Elected Officials, Lawyers and City Managers all approved those contracts. Nobody held a gun to their heads. Just look what they did in NJ and many other states. http://www.firefighternation.com/video/nj-retirement-the-truth

Permalink Reply by Tyler Lyons on March 1, 2011 at 2:31pm

Good point George.... but what happened on American Idol?....

Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on March 1, 2011 at 8:16pm

Collective Bargaining is only a smoke screen - Gov Walker is asking public employees to pay a portion of their retirement and healthcare costs, where taxpayers footed the entire bill before. That's not to say that Gov Walker's hands are not dirty, though. Plenty of stuff in the budget he proposes that should be looked at.

Allow me to clear some things up here George, considering I am living in the midst of the issue here. First and foremost, collective bargaining is NOT a smoke screen by any means, in that this is the crux of the issue. Yeah, you can listen to the rhetoric of public workers paying less % in healthcare and also pension, but this point is moot. In fact the union leaders have said they would agree to such demands the governor is making as long as they can keep their bargaining. The Gov said no.

Collective Bargaining is not a fiscal issue and has no financial impact on the budget. It is a means in which contracts can be negotiated. In fact there have been numerous concessions public workers have given up to help with budget matters, yet ironically you don't hear about that do you? Now we are being asked to shoulder more burden, the workers said "fine, let us keep or bargaining rights", the gov does not want to talk, does not want to negotiate, and does not want to seek compromises. Well these are not the values this country was founded on and it is the ultimatums and tyranical mindset which people are angry about.

Collective bargaining has also enabled solutions between workers and managers and also covers things like seniority, promotions, vacation how and when it is used, OT call ins, family leave, classroom sizes, and much more. There is nothing fiscal about collective bargaining and many non-fiscal items can be negotiated on even in such fiscal times as this.

Make no mistake, this is about much more than employees paying more in health insurance and pension, the workers are willing to give concessions, why can't there be a peaceful agreement and compromise?

Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on March 1, 2011 at 8:24pm

Seems the message here has been lost on several people here. The issue is that public workers are wrongfully and shamelessly being blamed for economic woes. Meanwhile the actual culprets that did get us in this mess are also big time political contributors to many republicans. Yet, instead of looking at themselves in the mirror as the reason for the recession, there was a shift to place focus on the public workers. Why? it comes down to money, Wall St wants the pension money of many public workers, they also don't want regulations and oversights which will limit them getting more money and even perhaps spiralling this country into another recession.

That is it folks. The blame is being placed on workers and the rhetoric is working because so many in the general public rather see other people suffer rather than looking at those who are to blame. You are also seeing it here in WI folks, workers know they are not the blame, but are willing to shoulder more burden so they are more in line. Yet, look at the real cause.

Oh and when the economy does turn around, I hope not to hear anyone getting bonuses and stock options and pay raises telling the public worker "you chose your job". We will not get bonuses, nor stock options, our raises will be limited to a couple %'s and not double digit in some cases. Just remember.

Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on March 1, 2011 at 9:21pm

A friend of mine who just loves politics shared a New Yorker article that explained the Koch brothers involvement with politics, the unions and their agendas. Having spent most of my life studying fire science related things, politics was the last thing on my mind. Now that we are being vilified because of bad investment by folks who took chances with our money and investments, and at everyone's expense, I find myself retired now for less than a year and already have noted that I am taking less home because both health care and taxes have risen. I used to ask why. After reading the New Yorker article about a month ago, the change in events and attacks on the unions and public workers were all too clear. God help us all.

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