Even the rag NY Times gets it finally (New York, Albany: public school, salaries)

[sterpetron]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/op...06sun1.html?hp

State Workers and N.Y.’s Fiscal Crisis

"At a time when public school students are being forced into ever more crowded classrooms, and poor families will lose state medical benefits, New York State is paying 10 times more for state employees’ pensions than it did just a decade ago.

That huge increase is largely because of Albany’s outsized generosity to the state’s powerful employees’ unions in the early years of the last decade, made worse when the recession pushed down pension fund earnings, forcing the state to make up the difference."

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Funny how just 3 days after perpetuating their fraudulent poll that hilariously claims that public union employees enjoy broad taxpayer support, they admit that the salaries, benefits and pensions for public workers are totally unsustainable.

So those horrid, awful Tea Partiers with their terrible goal of balancing state and federal budgets wasn't such a dreadful idea, eh?

I believe that a few wonderful things will one day happen in NY; sheldon silver will be removed from office, public employee unions will be eliminated, and a real newspaper will come to exist in NY...

[jcoltrane]

Break the Unions!

Throw out the Bums in Albany! Including Cuomo, who is significantly responsible for the nation's financial crisis.

Take back NY politics!

Either that or move to NJ, where they have a real kickass govenor.

[SobroGuy]

I think that was pretty reasonable article discussing the fundamental problems and why we are in this position. Personally I believe unions should not be in the public domain, but can be all over the private sector. Why?

1. You can only get city services from the city..what happens when they decide not to do it? That is not the case in the private sector as there is competition.

2. Public unions endorse candidates that will yield to their demands, and extort politicians for pay/benefits/etc, which corrupts our political system and weakens our society, not strengthens it.