Rich just reminded me today of these forums, and my 2 cents is Right to Work laws are FTW.
Rich just reminded me today of these forums, and my 2 cents is Right to Work laws are FTW.
4 THE MARE!
Good read
UFT spends millions on dinners, parties, parking, coffee as thousands of teachers face layoffs
Scott, get your ass back in the bathroom!
I saw this story today and think it's a little slanted. They kind of glaze over the fact that the union has $126 million in member dues annually and the overall spending they outline is still only a small fraction of that.Originally Posted by Klaus
I realize also that these expenditures may look ridiculous to people outside of NY, for example the "rent" for 25 parking spaces. That is at a Brooklyn office and anywhere in the city parking is near impossible to find, so you're either stuck paying for parking which can be $300-$1,000 a month depending on the location, or taking the train in. The only way to get to Brooklyn is via subway and most trains get routed through midtown, so that is a long ass commute and the subway to Brooklyn isn't exactly filled with the highest quality of individual.
A lot of the expenditures don't cover how many people some of these events were for. One they do outline is a welcome dinner to the new director that cost roughly $50 a head for 130 people. That is a ridiculous bargain per person for a steakhouse in NY.
Overall, it's not like this guy was spending money going on golfing trips while his members were starving. Most of these events in some way benefited the members. Part of any organization is PR and for a union that sometimes means building unity and camaraderie from within.
I bet if teachers contributed more to their pension and healthcare benefits the state wouldn't have to ax 5,000 of them to meet their budget. This is the easier way out than battling the union for more concessions.
Wisconsin you just got pwned!link
A federal investigation into how they proceeded with these meetings in order to ensure that they were in accordance with state and federal laws is probably warranted... I wouldn't just take some clerk's word for it who could have easily been paid off. It smells almost criminal to me.
That is not to say I am terribly against the legislation, but the basis of our government is on checks and balances, and if they illegally bypassed any of those, or did not pass the legislation in accordance with legal proceedings, they should be thrown in jail... every single one of the 19 that were involved.
Last edited by Ender; 03-10-2011 at 08:54 AM.
But it's ok to just flee the state because you don't want to vote on a bill? Seriously, what would have happened if the Republicans just refused to vote on the Health Care bill last year. It sucks when you are in the minority but you still need to show up for work instead of using some legislative loophole to avoid voting.
True, criminal on both sides... so throw the whole Senate in jail along with this bill and start over IMO. And when they do that, while they are at it, a law should be passed by legal authorities to disallow party financing of the candidates and political party identification on ballots, marketing, or in public appearances.
Time to dissolve the party system and make some real governmental changes. People need to wake the fuck up and realize that it doesn't work, and that deciding which of two parties is the lesser of two evils and voting for their candidates across the board with no knowledge of the actual candidate does not mean you are voting for the best candidate or participating in any kind of working democracy. It's just a bunch of bullshit about money and has nothing to do with promoting meaningful government discussion or operation.
Not to mention that it produces members of government that for the most part simply do what they are told based on their party affiliation due to financial incentives.
Last edited by Ender; 03-10-2011 at 10:05 AM.
This looks like a "peaceful" protest...... lol
Last edited by Klaus; 03-10-2011 at 12:53 PM.
This article kinda clears up the whole pension issue. It is actually cheaper for the state to handle state worker retirement through deferred compensation than for the state worker to not have a plan and have to handle their own IRA. Costs less money in fees to private brokers.
http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/20...omment-page-5/
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