Posted on 08/27/2007 11:39:29 AM PDT by SmithL
That is why I want the pensions and benefits also shown.
Regular non government employee voters need to realize they are paying good money to overpay government employees.
Sorry, I disagree.
That interpretation is one that has been foisted on us by the ACLU and its ilk, to the detriment of our Republic. "Free Speech" is for political expression, not semi-public listings such as property lists, concealed-carry gun permits, or personal personnel details, etc. Were they to show the range of pertinent salaries, I have no problem with that.
Now try to get your politicians to divulge to the dollar their contributors gifts.
Exactly 0 (zero) And why is government in the education business?
Do you receive the child care credit provided via my tax dollars?
Zero. Nada. And why is government in the child care business?
What mass transit system do you utilize that the ride is subsidized with my tax dollars?
I don't use mass transit. And why is the government in the transportation business? lol
The answer to all the questions is we all voted for it—or if we didn’t vote—we voted for it. What is your solution? Publically posting names and wages and ostrizing your neighbor because they are working at a job for the government? Yep, that will change things for the better. Government employees are taxpayers too and government is gonna get the taxes and if you cut their wages they will get more from you—never fear. LMAO
I have something of a problem with it and here's why: With the salary issue it's the employer's watching the employees. With cameras, it's the government keeping tabs on the employees. Uh uh, that's not how it works. The taxpayers get to make those decisions, not the government.
It also comes down to need. We absolutely need to know where our money is being spent. The government doesn't need to know what's going on at this-or-that street corner. It does need to monitor shipping terminals, airports, etc... because we have directed it to provide security in those circumstances.
In any case, the camera argument makes for interesting discussion but really isn't on-topic.
I see no such limitation in the Constitution. Reading that into the amendment is worse than reading "national guard" into the second amendment.
The government must disclose what is paid to private contractors. The contractors' employees aren't government employees so the visibility stops there.
If the employee is paid by government dollars they are government employees. I presume the contract is what determines the employee and equipment needs. However, the other side of that coin is private employees with private equipment with access to your tax records, your health records, your personal information and only the contractor is accountable. Big deal--so he doesn't get another contract--your personal information is where???
I can’t speek for the other 19,999,999 but I am a Bridge Engineer with the State of California DOT (called Caltrans) working on the new San Francisco-Oakland bay bridge.
Hard to say if my job could or could not be done better by private engineers from private Consulting engineering firms doing the same work.
My job is to insure that any Contractor who builds, repairs or maintains bridges on my projects act safely, follow the laws, and produce good quality materials and workmanship. The Contractor has little natural incentive to do a high quality job. He has an incentive to go as fast as possible, collect the amount bid and move on to the next project.
Without government engineers to monitor that work, who is to say the correct size, number and placement of rebar in that concrete bridge is placed as it was meant to be placed. Suffice it to say, I don’t work half as hard as the men who are out their humping heavy rebar and placing caustic concrete in the heat and the cold.
I chose to work for the government due to job security and great benefits. The trade-off is that I am severely underpaid for an engineer in the cities of San Francisco and Oakland, California. Severely underpaid. I am OK with that, because I knew the pay was low and I knew the job security and great benefits were worth it.
On the one hand, I would be OK if they got rid of all of us government engineers, as we would end up with Consultants making a much better base salary than I currently earn, and a nice Christmas bonus as well. There are no Christmas bonuses for government employees and no 401(k) matching funds. Engineers may not be in demand as nurses are, but schools are graduating far less than needed, which is why half of my colleagues in San Francisco are immigrants from Asia and from the Middle East. Eliminate government engineers, make private consultants fill the same duties, and we would mostly just move to private firms with much better pay and with lower benefits, but the much better pay would let me put away more in a 401(k) with some mathing funds from my employer. That would somewhat offset my government-guaranteed employee retirement pension.
On the other hand, when I hired with California 25 years ago, I was promised by California that in exchange for a lifetime of lower pay, I would get an excellent pension and great medical benefits. For California to now renig on that promise would not be very fair.
A coworker’s wife recently lost her job. He quit the State of California and hired with a private engineering firm, doing essentially the same duties he was doing before as a Bridge Engineer in construction. According to him, he worked less hours for much, much more pay with the private consultant, but somewhat inferior benefits.
Because he is an exceptional worker — he is a big black man who is one of the smartest, most effective and efficient engineers I’ve had the pleasure to work with — when we needed additional help, we hired him back as a consultant. Now he is doing the exact same things he previously did when he was a government engiener, but we pay his consulting firm about double what he used to work for.
I’m not a libertarian. I don’t think government has no role. I am a Republican. I think government is way too bureaucratic and inefficient. The power of Unions needs to be reduced to improve overall job peformance of public employees, who can be untouchable once they get off probation. But it is not like you are not getting anything for your money. My boss is straight salary w/ no overtime and has been working 50-60 hour work weeks for longer than I can remember.
However, it seems that folks want to come up with two different arguments.
BTW, your answer is clever ~ now, 'splain to us how a "port facility" is different from a "public road".
Not a solution, but something that needs to be done. It's my money, I want to know.
Lets lay it out, and see what these millions of government employees are costing us. What are they/you afraid of?
Still blaming the American middle class for this monster government huh?
I didn't vote for any tax, fee increase or more laws etc. You might have, I didn't. I didn't vote to increase this gargantuan government, nor did I vote to increase government spending. You might have, I did not.
I've had a belly full of big government and their millions of government employees that are all making generous incomes and those high end benefits off MY sweat and salary.
Enough!!!
Tell you what I did vote for, was CA Prop 187. It would have put a stop to tax paid supported benefits for illegal aliens in Ca. You brothers in the government burned our ballots and declared our free election illegal after we won big. As a result of this this big government intrusion, the tax payers are being brutally beaten to death with more taxes, while this government sponsored violent invasion continues.
Most law-abiding people have no objection to security cameras on public streets. The benefits against terrorism and safety to the people are of utmost importance.
Not so. The word 'employee' has a definition.
The contractor is paid by the government. The contractor pays its employees. Its employees are not government employees. They do not answer to government bosses, do not get government benefits, etc...
Um, a public road is a public road. A port facility processes incoming ships that may or may not contain contraband and try to sneak past security. Is the difference not clear to you?
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