Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
People always talk about public employees as if they pay no taxes. If the jobs are so great in the public sector, just go get one or at least stop complaining about your own.
When the economy is good and booming, NO ONE wants a public sector job. It has low pay and is not for the "movers and shakers" of the world. No one gave a crap about public sector "bennies" for 30-40 years because the pay is so abysmal.
Now, with the tanked economy and the private sector imploding due to greed and mismanagement, the public sector doesn't look so bad. Rather than get a job there, let's just gut it.
I suggest all you private sector employees get together and form a UNION to demand decent pay, pension and working conditions out of the private sector. That worked last century and will work now.
You guys had it good a decade ago and considered public employees failures because they took lower pay for long term benefits. Well the long term is here so make good on your deals. Start with taxing the rich "winners" that ripped all of you off.
I don't want to disagree with you Rick but during my public school teaching days I found the state requiring that we take a certain number of hours of school every 5 years to renew our certificates. That meant that if I had to teach every month of the year I had to have about 2 months each 5th year off.
Also, all that 9 or 10 month school thing started in the early days when most kids were parts of farm families and needed to work during the summer. It got to be habit in time.
Are banks part of the private sector? If so maybe you need to check out how many of those holidays they take off because the hated Federal Reserve System takes them off.
Those days of going back to school don't seem like a lot of fun to me when you get to be in the 50s. My last time of that summer school was when I was 53 and I had to work hard just to keep up.
Many professions require a number of hours to renew certification. They manage to do it ON THEIR OWN TIME.
Many professions require a number of hours to renew certification. They manage to do it ON THEIR OWN TIME.
I spent many an evening, weekend and summer taking classes to renew my certificate. Not only was it ON MY OWN TIME, it was almost always ON MY OWN DIME. Teachers can't afford the cushy vacation retreats - um, conferences - that other, more male dominated professions use to earn points towards re-certification - all of which are also tax write-offs, BTW.
Many professions require a number of hours to renew certification. They manage to do it ON THEIR OWN TIME.
I don't think you understood me. Back in those days I was talking about I arrived at the school about 8:00 am and usually got home by 8:00 pm. I was an athletic coach and we had to practice after school but it was my choice. However, since the nearest college where I could get those needed hours was 105 miles away I think that doing it on my own time would have been tough. 2 hours up there and 2 back would have left little time for classes and any sleeping at all.
You are talking about city people who live where there is a school they can get those courses at and I am a stick buddy.
The last summer session I was at we read a whole book four days a week and I don't think that teaching would have allowed time for that at the same time. We all have different problems and you missed mine.
I spent many an evening, weekend and summer taking classes to renew my certificate. Not only was it ON MY OWN TIME, it was almost always ON MY OWN DIME. Teachers can't afford the cushy vacation retreats - um, conferences - that other, more male dominated professions use to earn points towards re-certification - all of which are also tax write-offs, BTW.
Of course, either of us could have gone to those strong union states and been paid more than we ever got. Again, it was our choice to "exist" with the kind of wages we got working with kids and not for money. Did you get that, kids not money? I don't know a strong union state that has teachers who do it that way.
I don't want to be taken wrong here. I am not against firefighters, cops or teachers. But the voters have made it very clear this week that the lavish benefits that public sector workers get are now going to start getting put in line with the taxpayers that have to toil in the real world. The taxpayers are tapped out and cannot afford anymore of it. This is not only evident in the Wisconsin results but in the less covered referendums in San Jose and San Diego that slashed pension benefits for public employees big time. I think the politics of resentment and envy have finally caught up with public employees. The taxpayers that have to work in the real world are tired of things like pensions that pay 90% after 25 years. Not when private sector workers do not even have pensions. They have 401K plans that the employer MAY contribute to or may not. Oh, and then the private sector employees MIGHT get New Years Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas off IF they are lucky. Many people get only the 2 major USA holidays off (Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day). NOBODY in the private sector gets MLK day, Good Friday, Veterans Day, Pulaski Day, Presidents Day and Columbus Day off. It is time to end these days off for public employees or mandate private employees get them too. Not only do private sector employees not get these days off, they often are forced to find care for young kids while school teachers are out having fun on those days. And speaking of school teachers, why do they think they should work only 8 months a year and get paid for 12 plus 100% health care and a lavish pension?? It time for public employees to start living in the real world where the people that pay their salaries and benefits live.
I assume you are talking about Wisc. Perhaps more significant lesson is the fact that about 70% of the voters did not think Walker overstepping, was deserving of a recall. Pretty clear they kind of reserve that for illegal activities, not policy actions.
I am a federal employee, and have been for over 28 years. I joined when it was public service and the private sector. Have no clue what you are talking about...we don't have a Union, and as far as I know I have never been in one. I also don't know where you get 90% pension...I get 1% for each year I worked and an extra .01% if I can make it for 40 years...that will give me 44%, less than half what you are spewing. Yes I get veterans day and columbus day and MLK off but not some of the others you mentioned. And I have paid into social security all my life and I paid in to my thrift savings plan, which is partially matched. I have also been saving money in an account because I don't think I can live on what I am going to get out of retirement and my ex-husband is going to take part of that. I live in a mobile home and drive a 1997 Saturn. I am a computer tech. I started as a secretary and I read books to train myself, took certifications at my own $$ and got a better job. By far not as good as I could have been paid in the private sector, but I thought public SERVICE meant something. It makes me sad that people want to pick and choose which public service jobs they think are important based only on what affects them. "I don't have kids...why pay for teachers?" "I don't drive...why pay for road maintenance?" "Do we really need park rangers?" "Do we really need people to give us permits?"
I think sometimes people forget there is a difference between public SERVICE and politicians.
Oh, and here's one for you. If you pay into social security and your spouse has like a 401k and doesn't, when you retire, or they turn 62, they can collect spousal social security...even though they never paid a dime....and even if he committed adultry, divorced you, and married someone else, and then divorces them. Talk about messed up.
Quote:
If your divorced spouse remarries, he or she generally cannot collect benefits on your record unless their later marriage ends (whether by death, divorce or annulment).
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,330 posts, read 54,400,252 times
Reputation: 40736
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank DeForrest
When someone is getting paid with my confiscated tax dollars, I'd like to have a say in what their benefits/pay are and rest assured I won't want them to be better than mine.
When's the last time you had a say in what defense contractors were being paid with your "confiscated tax dollars"?
And if you try the easy cop-out of saying when you voted for those who approve the defense budget, you also voted on those who approved the pay of those public employees.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
oh wait.
