Free Republic

One of the main sources of increasing tension between private-sector and public-sector workers in this country are the fat, guaranteed pensions that many public-sector workers get. The frustration only increases when public-sector workers "game the system" to further pad their pensions, in some cases allowing them to make more in retirement than even well-paid private-sector workers will ever earn in their lives. There are few worse examples of public pensions run amok than in Yonkers, New York. Yonkers Police and Fire personnel enjoy a peculiar pension system that is based on the total income received during the last year on...

The Wall Street Journal CEO Compensation Study was conducted by Hay Group, a management-consulting firm. The study analyzes CEO pay from the biggest 350 U.S. public companies by revenue that filed their definitive proxy statements between May 1, 2010, and April 30, 2011. Survey Methodology & Terms Definitions Footnotes How to Use This Chart: Click on a column heading to sort by that category. For an individual executive's full compensation details, as well as a link to the proxy statement, click the relevant row. All figures in thousands

“I mean that there is no way to disarm any man,” said Dr. Ferris, “except through guilt. Through that which he himself has accepted as guilt…If there’s not enough guilt in the world, we must create it. If we teach a man that it’s evil to look at spring flowers and he believes us and then does it—we’ll be able to do whatever we please with him. He won’t defend himself.” –Atlas Shrugged, pg. 548What would a group of students attending a pricey private college in Florida do about the deficit? For one thing the editor said they would not...

An Oak Park couple is suing the Applebee’s restaurant chain after their toddler was inadvertently served a margarita instead of apple juice. Taylor Dill-Reese and Dominic Wilson filed a lawsuit in Oakland County Circuit Court seeking in excess of $25,000 in damages after their 15-month-old son, Dominic Wilson Jr., consumed alcohol on Friday at the Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar on 14 Mile in Madison Heights. “We’re asking for some accountability,” said Southfield attorney William Stern, representing the parents and the boy. “This could have turned out very badly.” The boy’s parents had ordered him a kid’s meal – a...

three Cornell researchers [looked at] whether we can determine who is a criminal by looking at his face. Their finding: We can. The researchers gathered head shots of Caucasian males, ages 20 to 29, put them all against a white background and controlled for attractiveness and display of facial emotion. Half were photos of convicts. The criminals were on their first conviction, had short hair and little to no facial hair. About half the criminals had been convicted of violent crimes (forcible rapes, murder, assault) and half for nonviolent crimes (forgery, theft, arson and drug dealing). On a scale of...

National City, Calif.—A San Diego-area boxing gym that serves at-risk kids is showing what it takes to fight for what is right and to win.  A trial is scheduled to begin on Monday, March 14, 2011, to decide whether National City, Calif., may declare nearly 700 properties—including the gym—“blighted,” thus freeing the city to bulldoze these properties and make way for luxury condos among other private developments.  The trial will be held before the Honorable Steven R. Denton, Superior Court of California, Hall of Justice, 330 W. Broadway in San Diego, Calif. The Community Youth Athletic Center (CYAC) has had...

Iowa’s capitol likely will be jammed with people later today as both sides interested in the debate over Iowa’s labor laws gather for a public hearing. Capitol police have been making plans and sound systems are being set up in other parts of the building so those who can’t cram into the House chamber can listen to tonight’s testimony. House Democratic Leader Kevin McCarthy of Des Moines has a prediction. ”Iowa will experience a little bit of Wisconsin,” McCarthy says. For the past two weeks there have been massive protests in Wisconsin after that state’s governor proposed major changes in...

--- snip About 1,300 HECO workers who are members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1260 went on strike at 3:30 p.m. yesterday and began walking picket lines on Oahu, the Big Island and in Maui County. --- snip HECO workers said the two sides disagreed on a management proposal to raise the age of retirement with full benefits to 62 from 60; a proposed reduction in sick leave benefits; and a plan to create a two-tier contract with new hires receiving lower wages and benefits.

If public-school teachers spent more time teaching in classrooms and less time community-organizing in political war rooms, maybe taxpayers wouldn't feel as ripped off as they do. Before the Big Labor bosses start complaining about "teacher-bashing," let's be clear: An increasing number of rank-and-file teachers feel exactly the same way. Retired New York teacher Vinne Cusimano, who was required to pay forced union dues in order to work, wrote me this week after receiving the March 2011 edition of his union's monthly publication. The cover of the New York State United Teachers magazine reads: "Defend What Matters! Educate. Collaborate. AGITATE."...

A controversial billboard in SoHo equating abortion among black women with genocide was yanked Thursday night. Bowing to heavy pressure, Lamar Advertising Co. agreed to pull the ad above Sixth Ave. and Watts St., which featured a picture of a young black girl below the message, "The most dangerous place for African Americans is in the womb." The shocking billboard blind-sided New Jersey mom Tricia Fraser, who was furious that her 6-year-old daughter, Anissa, was featured in the anti-abortion group Life Always's ad. "I want an apology," Fraser, 36, told the Daily News. "I'm happy that it's [being taken down],...

Just about every time I decide to waste my valuable time on this earth discussing anything with a Progressivevik fingersniffer, one word invariably comes up: "greedy". "CEOs are greedy. The rich are greedy. People who oppose Obamacareless are greedy. The United States is greedy...." Blah, blah, blah, 2+2=5, yadda, yadda, yadda. It's as if their little minds can't come up with another concept. It's fairly apparent that when God was passing out brains, the libs were too busy taking bong hits to care. Critical thinking is certainly not a liberal concept to say the least, since it is the libs,...

It’s a taboo subject to discuss in public, but corporate executives would prefer to buy back their own stock than hire more people this year. Meanwhile, investors want unemployment to stay at elevated levels so that the Federal Reserve stays accommodative. “While unemployment is a terrible circumstance for individuals and families, I am sure some companies believe they are better off with fewer people and are hiding behind a supposedly weak economy to keep their ranks thin, focusing instead on greater productivity from their current employees and ensuing higher margins,” said Stephen Weiss of Short Hills Capital. Goldman Sachs estimates...

Filmmaker Michael Moore has sued Harvey and Bob Weinstein, accusing the brothers of “Hollywood accounting tricks” and “financial deception” that cheated him out of at least $2.7 million in profits from the hit documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. In a lawsuit filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court, Moore says the Weinsteins and an affiliated entity called the Fellowship Adventure Group agreed to split profits from the film 50-50 but then diverted monies to hide them from Moore. The suit for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and constructive fraud claims that in 2008 Moore conducted an audit of the 2004...

Fannie Mae: Housing starts to triple by 2013 to nearly 1.5 millionby CHRISTINE RICCIARDI Wednesday, January 19th, 2011, 11:44 am Despite the still fragile housing market, Fannie Mae expects housing starts to triple by 2013. According to the agency's economic outlook, housing starts are predicted to increase 17.3% and hit 710,000 this year, with another 47% increase to 1.1 million in 2012 and another gain of 42% in 2013 to nearly 1.5 million. In 2010, there were about 510,000 housing starts. "We expect a small rise in home sales this year, but significant amounts of supply and shadow inventory of...

"You Have to Obey Court Orders" The first case Judge Schack tossed was Citibank, N.A. v. Murillo, which he dismissed with prejudice on Jan. 7, as the blog StopForeclosureFraud reported. The attorneys for Citibank (C) in that case were from the Steven Baum law firm, a foreclosure mill that has been sanctioned for its involvement in frivolous cases. If the Baum firm couldn't file a timely affirmation in the Murillo case, how many of its other cases will it be able to file affirmations in? Schack tells me he's thrown out a dozen or so more since Murillo, and he...

Sacramento — Lawmakers have spent at least $259,000 in taxpayer funds on new SUVs and other vehicles for themselves in the last year despite a push by the new governor and the last one to cut California's fleet amid the state's financial crisis. Newly elected Assemblyman Luis Alejo (D- Salinas) is taking delivery of a 2011 Ford Escape Hybrid, worth $37,269. More than $32,000 went to buy a 2011 Ford Edge for freshman Tim Donnelly (R-Twin Peaks), a "tea party" activist and the Legislature's most strident conservative. And Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton), who was reelected, is now behind the wheel...

Tunisia's angry protestors are shedding no tears for the downfall of ousted President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali's greedy wife Leila. The former hairdresser was likened to the Philippines' Imelda Marcos of the Arab world because of her love of wealth and its trappings. While Ben Ali, 74, was granted refuge in Saudi Arabia, his wife, more than 20 years her husband's junior, was at first thought to be holed up in Dubai - a destination she is said to know well through shopping trips. The woman who came from a humble background, was branded 'The Regent of Carthage' for her...

Those in the fortunate group at the very top take in at least $8,000 a month—$96,000 a year. If any exclusive club has reason to celebrate the huge income-tax hike, this is it. Five years ago, 860 retired educators collected that much from their state pensions. As of fiscal 2010, the number had more than tripled to nearly 3,000 retirees. Those ranks will grow in the years ahead as rising salaries translate into more lavish pension payouts. We're just talking about educators here. There are many more retired public workers collecting from Illinois. The state, by the way, doesn't tax...

Magliocchetti sentenced for illegal campaign contributionsBy Chuck Neubauer The Washington Times 5:34 p.m., Friday, January 7, 2011 Former superlobbyist Paul Magliocchetti, once the master of getting defense earmarks for his clients from members of Congress, was sentenced Friday to 27 months in prison for making hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions. U.S. District Court Judge T. S. Ellis III sentenced the 64-year-old Magliocchetti in federal court in Alexandria for devising what prosecutors called "one of the most extensive and long-running campaign finance schemes ever." "You made this choice for one reason: greed," said Judge Ellis, who also...

The Republicans are back in charge in the House of Representatives this week, and not a moment too soon! Forget "stimulus" bills and "shovel-ready" bailouts (for public school teachers, who need shovels for what they're teaching), the current financial crisis, which is the second Great Depression, was created slowly and methodically by Democrat hacks running Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the past 18 years. As even Obama's treasury secretary admitted in congressional hearings, "Fannie and Freddie were a core part of what went wrong in our system." And if it's something Tim Geithner noticed, it's probably something that's fairly...