New York waste at it's best

[Culvercreek hunt club]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/ny_an_hour_summer_job_KfABSbSrzXUuqFVqhqHXpJ#.T-OAcgarD8k.facebook

I would have loved a summer job like this. Wanna bet how many "favors" were paid off giving certain kids the jobs.

[First-light]

a little harder please.........

[Grouse]

Let's hear from all of you guys who support unions. This is why the public doesn't support them.

[nyantler]

This will start a whole new wage rate when the other unions get a hold of it.. is it any wonder why businesses are moving overseas... they simply can afford to do business here... the government public sector wage rates will drive up the private sector union job wages making it impossible to attract business in this country... ask the folks that worked at Carrier and Chrysler in CNY how their union jobs are now... the jobs they no longer have... yet the union leaders go onward making boat loads of money elsewhere until they drive those businesses out as well.

[adirondackbushwhack]

Let's hear from all of you guys who support unions. This is why the public doesn't support them.

Really? Thats what you get from this propaghanda piece? Political patronage jobs supplied by poiticians is the unions fault? That's not what I get from it at all; I get from it that the politicians wanted to share your wealth and so decided to pay outrageous hourly rates to NON-UNION kids.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

the rate was prevailing which means union rate but the labor was non-union. It should have not been tagged as prevailing rate. If it was the work should have been competatively bid.

[landtracdeerhunter]

Please pass the pork.

[ELMER J. FUDD]

This is more like Fed waste in NY.

Here is an example of more NY waste. I like this guy Kieran Michael Lalor. He came to my house and chatted for a while. He's one of the good guys for sure. A Marine vet, was a teacher, now a lawyer, and a conservative. I'f you live in our district vote for him.

For Immediate Release

June 21, 2012

Contact

Mary Covucci

845.616.3509

[email protected]

Albany Pay Hike Scheme Presents a Golden Opportunity for Bold New Reforms

"The cynicism of New York lawmakers and their contempt for voters and taxpayers knows no bounds."

Fishkill, New York: Today New York State Assembly candidate Kieran Michael Lalor denounced a plan by state lawmakers to give themselves an outrageous twenty-five percent salary increase from $79,500 to $100,000. Lalor also reaffirmed his commitment to support specific reforms to end Albany’s culture of corruption.

According to a report by New York Post state editor Fred Dicker, the legislature will wait until after the November election to vote on the hefty pay hike, which would take effect immediately in January when the new legislature is sworn in. The additional $20,500 in salary for each of the 212 legislators will cost taxpayers more than $4.3 million each year on top of the more than $20 million dollars we already pay members of the Assembly and State Senate.

Said Lalor, who has been the state’s most outspoken reformer on legislator compensation issues, “The cynicism of New York lawmakers and their contempt for voters and taxpayers knows no bounds. This scheme allows the legislature to avoid facing the electorate for a full two years after the pay raise in hopes that we will forget.”

Lalor noted that due to the 27th Amendment to the US Constitution, federal lawmakers are now barred from getting a pay raise without first having to face the electorate. The Amendment was ratified in 1992 after Congress gave itself what reformers denounced as the “midnight pay raise” of 1991.

James Madison, the Father of the US Constitution, initially proposed this check on Congress and said, "There is a seeming impropriety in leaving any set of men without control to put their hand into the public coffers, to take out money to put in their pockets."

“This money grab by Albany can be a catalyst for meaningful reforms that will end institutional corruption like this pay raise scam and other transfers of wealth from taxpayers to lawmakers,” continued Lalor.

Lalor has pledged to self-impose a ten percent pay cut and will also forego other wasteful and expensive perks lawmakers have voted themselves. Additionally, Lalor will encourage other lawmakers to self-impose these reforms and champion the reforms until they become law. Lalor’s intrepid reform agenda helped him earn the

endorsement of the Dutchess County Independence Party last month.

As justification for a raise, lawmakers have long complained about not having a pay increase since 1999. Of this complaint Lalor said. “New York lawmakers were never underpaid. New York is dead last in business climate but we are number three in legislator salary and number one in total legislator compensation thanks to the big salary and other perks lawmakers have voted themselves.”

“New York lawmakers are in session less than 70 days per year but make a base salary of $79,500. The median income in the state is $55,600 and the state unemployment rate is 8.6%. Can anyone say with a straight face that Albany lawmakers deserve a salary nearly double what the average New Yorker makes for one third of the work?” asked Lalor.

In February Lalor launched the

Empire State Compact, a bipartisan pledge to end institutionalized corruption in Albany and reverse New York’s decline. Lalor also discussed the topic on Fred Dicker’s radio show in February and in a YNN interview from the State Capitol Building in early May.

The Empire State Compact, which calls for five key reforms including reducing legislator compensation, term limits and continuing the ban on so called "pork" spending, is detailed here at Lalor’s campaign website.

###

Town of Wappinger native Kieran Michael Lalor, a former teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes in Poughkeepsie, is a Marine Corps veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and founder of the Dutchess County based consulting firm KML Strategies, LLC. Lalor is the founder of Afghanistan & Iraq Veterans for Congress and a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel. He is a graduate of John Jay High School, Providence College and Pace Law School and lives in Fishkill with his wife Mary Jo and their four young children Katie, Riley, Mikey and Kieran. Lalor is running for the new 105th Assembly District which is an open seat.

www.KML2012.com

“Like” Lalor For Assembly On Facebook

Donate To Our Campaign To Create Jobs, Reduce Taxes and Reform Albany

Lalor For Assembly

105 Stony Brook Rd

Fishkill, NY 12524

845.616.3509

www.KML2012.com

[Grouse]

Forcing prevailing wage is a Union demand. That's the way the public will look at this issue. This wouldn't have happened if these kids could have been paid minimum wage.

Edited June 22, 2012 by Grouse

[Dom]

They should have givin this job to the one's that have allready been paid by wellfare.All this is going to do is give these kid's the idea that this is what they are going to make in the real world,they wont go work for less wont be good enough.Sad most parent's dont make this.

[adirondackbushwhack]

Forcing prevailing wage is a Union demand. That's the way the public will look at this issue. This wouldn't have happened if these kids could have been paid minimum wage.

The unions do not force prevailing wage on non-union workers however it does make a handy way for the politicians to deflect blame for their waste elsewhere. Apparently their propaghanda works too as you are correct in that there are people that will blame the unions who have absolutely no role other than scapegoats in it. Another example of how the government/media complex is controlling the populaton. Incidentally those kids could have been paid minimum wage but the politicians fixed it so they couldn't. They make the laws.

[Grouse]

I quote the article here....

The ultimate source of funding for the Fallkill cleanup is a federal National Emergency Grant, whose terms require paying wages at the highest of the federal, state or local minimum wage or at the comparable rates of pay for individuals employed in similar occupations by the same employer.

The state Labor Department decided that this meant the prevailing wage for public-works projects. But “prevailing wage” is a term of art that actually means a pay rate based on collective-bargaining agreements between labor unions and private employers.

It gets worse. This situation is extreme, but hardly unique: The prevailing wage has been an increasingly costly headache all over New York. But the unions push for it, and the pols are only too happy to oblige.

Well, on top of restoring the Fallkill, the project illustrates how government all too often works — that is, as wastefully as possible. It also stands as a testament to the power of unions in dictating government wage rates.

I think it's incorrect to say that unions have no part in this issue.

[adirondackbushwhack]

I quote the article here....

The ultimate source of funding for the Fallkill cleanup is a federal National Emergency Grant, whose terms require paying wages at the highest of the federal, state or local minimum wage or at the comparable rates of pay for individuals employed in similar occupations by the same employer.

The state Labor Department decided that this meant the prevailing wage for public-works projects. But “prevailing wage” is a term of art that actually means a pay rate based on collective-bargaining agreements between labor unions and private employers.

It gets worse. This situation is extreme, but hardly unique: The prevailing wage has been an increasingly costly headache all over New York. But the unions push for it, and the pols are only too happy to oblige.

Well, on top of restoring the Fallkill, the project illustrates how government all too often works — that is, as wastefully as possible. It also stands as a testament to the power of unions in dictating government wage rates.

I think it's incorrect to say that unions have no part in this issue.

How so? Do the Unions make the laws requireing what is paid or are the laws made by politicians?

[Grouse]

The politicians are bribed by unions with kick backs from the ill gotted money they are allowed to make. Then the elected ones pass the laws the unions want passed, to the detriment of the taxpaying public. Both bribery and accepting bribes are illegal, so both are guilty.

But if you are a union man, you already know this. If you don't know it, you should. Try checking out the facts rather than believing what the union hall tells you.

[adirondackbushwhack]

The politicians are bribed by unions with kick backs from the ill gotted money they are allowed to make. Then the elected ones pass the laws the unions want passed, to the detriment of the taxpaying public. Both bribery and accepting bribes are illegal, so both are guilty.

But if you are a union man, you already know this. If you don't know it, you should. Try checking out the facts rather than believing what the union hall tells you.

Do you really believe that the unions use their money to bribe the politicians to pay high wages to NON UNION workers? Does that really make sense to you?

[Grouse]

Absolutely!

[Doc]

I know we all like to bad-mouth unions, especially those of us who are not members. I've certainly had my say about them over the years, and there certainly are adequate examples of ridiculous things happening as a result of union greed and abuse.

However, there are some other things that I have noticed happening in corporate America that has softened my view just a bit. For example, when overtime rules at work changed that made a bunch of us ineligible for overtime pay, which came coincidentally at a time when mandatory overtime became quite oppressive. Always the threat of "you don't like it, there's the door". And then there was the time when I was asked to wear a pager while at home. No, I wasn't being compensated for the "on-call" arrangement. It was just some more "something for nothing" that the corporations were demanding. And then there was the continuing wage freezes and all the bogus language that they used to justify that. And now I see people running around in stores with that ridiculous gadget hanging off their ear talking obvious work related crap. And of course there are shrinking health benefits, and shrinking vacation benefits for new hires, and the constant threat to job security (there is no such thing anymore). Over-all, there is the expectation that employees begin to give back the labor gains that were acheived over many decades. The requirement is that employees are to move more toward a 24/7 commitment to the corporation with wages that are moving more toward those of over-seas employees.

Yes there are still labor union excesses, and plenty of them. But while we are busy beating up on unions, the corporate world is taking advantage of this diversion to grab back a lot of the employee benefits that we have taken for granted over the years. You don't have to look very far or very hard to find some very glaring examples of that. I've heard people say (and I've said it myself) that unions have outlived their need. Well, maybe that is a bit of a hasty conclusion. Time will tell. But of course by the time we realize what is going on, unions will become completely impotent.

[Grouse]

I agree Doc. But I also see your examples may be a result of unions getting too greedy and corrupt and killing their own work force perception as a good thing for both labor and corporations. Once their reputation as a powerful, ethical, fair and helpful organizational choice has been compromised, their membership dwindles and their impact in the private sector becomes impotent.

The last thing an employee can afford to do is give part of their meager wages in dues to a union that doesn't do what it promises to do. Siding with a union, in this bad economy, may also find you out of a job, as the company can easily find non-union replacements lining up at the front door.

I think the tipping point came when Air Traffic controllers went head to head with Ronald Reagan and lost their jobs. The public was not supporting them because they were demanding a lot more than the average taxpayer was getting. They were also willing to put Americans at risk to strengthen their position. The public saw that as taking hostages.

If unions would learn to think their positions through like an economist, rather than think like a mugger, they might find they could gain a more powerful position in the world as a good thing for employees. Right now, you will find very few workers, outside of the skilled trades that make up many unions now, who see an advantage to joining one. And even in the skilled trade area, there are many skilled laborers who are increasingly shunning unions in order to find work, because the work is there if you price the labor competitively.

[adirondackbushwhack]

Absolutely!

There is nothing to say to that.

[adirondackbushwhack]

I know we all like to bad-mouth unions, especially those of us who are not members. I've certainly had my say about them over the years, and there certainly are adequate examples of ridiculous things happening as a result of union greed and abuse.

However, there are some other things that I have noticed happening in corporate America that has softened my view just a bit. For example, when overtime rules at work changed that made a bunch of us ineligible for overtime pay, which came coincidentally at a time when mandatory overtime became quite oppressive. Always the threat of "you don't like it, there's the door". And then there was the time when I was asked to wear a pager while at home. No, I wasn't being compensated for the "on-call" arrangement. It was just some more "something for nothing" that the corporations were demanding. And then there was the continuing wage freezes and all the bogus language that they used to justify that. And now I see people running around in stores with that ridiculous gadget hanging off their ear talking obvious work related crap. And of course there are shrinking health benefits, and shrinking vacation benefits for new hires, and the constant threat to job security (there is no such thing anymore). Over-all, there is the expectation that employees begin to give back the labor gains that were acheived over many decades. The requirement is that employees are to move more toward a 24/7 commitment to the corporation with wages that are moving more toward those of over-seas employees.

Yes there are still labor union excesses, and plenty of them. But while we are busy beating up on unions, the corporate world is taking advantage of this diversion to grab back a lot of the employee benefits that we have taken for granted over the years. You don't have to look very far or very hard to find some very glaring examples of that. I've heard people say (and I've said it myself) that unions have outlived their need. Well, maybe that is a bit of a hasty conclusion. Time will tell. But of course by the time we realize what is going on, unions will become completely impotent.

Doc I am afraid that you may have put your finger on the reason for the assault by the governement/media complex on the Unions. As the Unions loose pay and benefits so to will follow the private sector. Divide and concour has always been their method and they are at it again and will not stop until wages are exactly where they want them.

[Grouse]

BushWhack, The answer to your original question is complicated and lenghty in explanation. I decided not to go into details to explain all of it because I felt the effort would be unappreciated. There appears to be no chance of swaying your opinion with facts anyway.

One of the reasons pro union people avoid talk with non union folks is, they hold very strong opinions about unions that stem from self preservation. Non union folks are more objective about the realities of the issue because they have nothing to lose by pointing out the truth. In a lot of cases, like the one in this thread, they have actually got the public's best interest in mind.

Edited June 24, 2012 by Grouse

[adirondackbushwhack]

BushWhack, The answer to your original question is complicated and lenghty in explanation. I decided not to go into details to explain all of it because I felt the effort would be unappreciated. There appears to be no chance of swaying your opinion with facts anyway.

One of the reasons pro union people avoid talk with non union folks is, they hold very strong opinions about unions that stem from self preservation. Non union folks are more objective about the realities of the issue because they have nothing to lose by pointing out the truth. In a lot of cases, like the one in this thread, they have actually got the public's best interest in mind.

Ah but you don't know what my oppinion is you only assume that I wish to promote unions at all costs. So much for non union objectiveness. You never know you may be able to sway my oppinion with facts you haven't tried it yet.

[Grouse]

Based on your posts in this thread, I think you have stated your opinion quite clearly. I have never met a man who defended unions as much as you have in your posts on this thread, who wasn't a union member. I'b be very suprised if you weren't a member, or part of a union member family, by your vigorous defense of them. My reference to objectiveness was with respect to labor and prevailing wage, not about you personally.

If you would care to give details of your opinion on the issue, I will try to sway your opinion as best I can. But without specifc points to debate, there is an awful lot of information open to discussion.

[Nomad]

I'm a union member and to make matters worse a gov. worker...I belong to the international Assc. of Fire Fighters , like the majority of my union i'm a conservative . I know thats not what Rush says..... I vote conservative oh and get this my dues money can not be used for politcal purposes, I know not what rush says again. Just like the NRA can't use dues money so they have the ILA, PVF, to raise money, unions have to do the same. I never have given and know one I know has.

In the 23 years as a FF my raises have been a one time high of 4% ( in the '90's when the market was doing great) to some zeros like this year. the ave. have been 2 to 2 1/2 % . My wife's in the private sector have been much better .

We have cut jobs, demoted people, taken zero raises, the starting pay is not much higher then mine 23 years ago .We get it,times are hard and we have responded .

Oh and in this liberal Dem city the cops and FF went 3 years with out a contract, they fought us on everything . i guess they never got the memo that we put them in office and now they owe us like Rush says its how it works. july 1st i get my raise of 0 % . Its ok my wife got 4 % and a nice profit sharing check this year.

I'm NOT complaining I love my job and do well, but the view from here is often differant then the one painted elsewhere.

And yes i think the story of that started this is a wrong and things are in need of changing .

[Grouse]

Larry, I understand your position, but public sector unions are a whole different kettle of fish from private sector unions.

In your case one needs to know all the details about your compensation package to understand your position. What is the starting salary for new FF's? What benefits do you guys get? How many years till a FF can retire? What % of salary and benefits do you get for the rest of your life? Do you get Life Insurance and Death benefits? Etc., etc. These other areas can often times be increased annually in lieu of a raise. Has that been the case for you?

All of these things, which are part of your compensation package, have a cost to the taxpayers. Most of those things are not part of private sector compensation and they never get a pension. Just not getting an annual raise doesn't mean public sector employees are not well compensated.