Posted on 01/01/2011 8:29:26 PM PST by Immerito
FLEMINGTON, N.J. — Ever since Marie Corfield’s confrontation with Gov. Chris Christie this fall over the state’s education cuts became a YouTube classic, she has received a stream of vituperative e-mails and Facebook postings.
“People I don’t even know are calling me horrible names,” said Ms. Corfield, an art teacher who had pleaded the case of struggling teachers. “The mantra is that the problem is the unions, the unions, the unions.”
Across the nation, a rising irritation with public employee unions is palpable, as a wounded economy has blown gaping holes in state, city and town budgets, and revealed that some public pension funds dangle perilously close to bankruptcy. In California, New York, Michigan and New Jersey, states where public unions wield much power and the culture historically tends to be pro-labor, even longtime liberal political leaders have demanded concessions — wage freezes, benefit cuts and tougher work rules.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
the mantra is correct
I noticed the compared full benefits private to salary only public. Bias...
I noticed the compared full benefits private to salary only public. Bias...
As I stated; "I would be the first to say some of it is justified, but much of it is not." One thing that bothers me about that incident. City/county employees are public employees and their wages/salaries are a matter of public record. Why didn't anyone (public/newspapers/etc) notice this long time ago? Just curious about it, that's all.
Look, it’s HARD to make ends meet when you’re 50 and have to squeek by on 90K per year for the rest of your life. Have the evil conservatives made these poor people feel bad? I mean, when you make 33,000 per year and have to work ONLY 20 more years so you can get social security and support these waifs.
Low, way low. Those asses were crooks and upper level city managers. Non union public works employees, the ones that are maintaining infrastructure, are taking the fiscal beating the bureaucrats should be taking. I know exactly what Traveler69 is talking about.
Without these dedicated hard working people, you would be in a world of filth and squalor. A city's most valuable asset is it's infrastructure, based on replacement costs. Traveler69 has my thanks.
“They should have never been allowed to unionize in the first place.”
They were given the right via a JFK Easter Recess executive order.
This is worth a full read. The article is well-researched, fair, and nicely written.
I can hardly believe it is from the MSNBC site.
While I am sure many public service employees are good people, the unions they belong to are not and have been doing a great disservice to this country for decades because of greed and arrogance.
Too bad public service is no longer service oriented rather than money oriented.
Unfortunately, there is no denying the fact some public employee unions have tainted the waters with corruption and greed. If unions and politicians work together to transfer wealth from taxpayer to government to union to politician who gains the funds and votes of union members, what is the effective recourse for the non-union citizen? Public employee unions are an inherent danger to our civil society.
These bad actors are ruining your reputation by association. What are you going to do about it?
If FR had a like button, I would use it on your post. We do paint with a broad brush at times.
A city's most valuable asset is its citizens.
Unions deserve their bad reputations. In fact, they’re proud of it.
Here in MI, outgoing liberal guv Granholm and the unions used a slight-of-hand trick to conscript day care providers into paying union dues. 1.5% is stripped off the top of the state subsidy checks and sent to union coffers.
Outrageous? Yes. It raised a huge stink but I’ve no doubt foster parents -who also are paid by the state - are their next targets.
I would like to see equal (negative) passion directed at both public unions and illegal aliens. Both are sucking us dry.
I think it is there for both. It is just not reported by the MSM.
I'd like to have their income and bennies.
If they had to live on what the rest of us do - they'd know what 'hard times' really are.
The old mantra of the poor struggling teacher is worn out.
Since unionizing, the emphasis is on new buildings and teachers pay ans benefits, NOT THE STUDENTS and education - which is different than indoctrination.
You do more than one person's work load and get paid like the rest of us.
Union workers average 2 people to do the work of one and get paid many times more than, and with better benefits than, non-union workers.
Oh, and let's not refer to teachers as ‘workers’ - THEY are “Professionals”, they'll have you know.
Well, so are YOU. And many of us.
NEA spent close to $11 million more than it took in — $50 million of which NEA leaders poured into “political activities and lobbying” for exclusively left-wing and Democratic partisan causes and candidates.
NEA's primary mission? No, not educational excellence. Not “the children.” Political self-preservation.
Obama's “Edujobs” bill passed by Congress will essentially redistribute our tax dollars to teachers unions to the tune of $36 million for the National Education Association and $14 million for the American Federation of Teachers, according to the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press.
School officials said they have no idea what strings would be attached to the money, whether state legislatures would approve the cash as part of special supplemental budgets, how long the money would last, and how they would pay for stop-gap measures while waiting for the taxpayer funds to flow.
===============================================
Can the NEA prove where they spent federal grants......and tax-exempt dues money? Oh, never mind, the FBI, SEC, IRS, GAO can find out (/snix).
Did the NEA transfer million of dollars in government money to subcommittes that have political missions? That might constitute collusion and conspiracy to facilitate money-laundering -----if teachers' unions redistributed govt grants back to politicans as campaign contributions.
===============================================
REPORT POSSIBLE CRIMINAL ACTIVITY Conspiracy, collusion, government fraud; mishandling public funds, falsifying official records, tax fraud, computer trespass, US Postal and electronic fraud.
IRS TOLL-FREE 1-800-829-0433----you may remain anonymous.
EMAIL DOJ TAX FRAUD OFFICE .......OAAG.Tax@tax.USDOJ.gov
FBI TIP PAGE http://tips.fbi.gov/ (you may remain anonymous)
Report US Postal Fraud: using the mails to commit govt fraud. EMAIL PAGE https://postalinspectors.USPIS.gov
=============================================
Darrell Issa Plans Hundreds of Oversight Hearings (Seven a week for 40 weeks)
CBS News.com | 11/09/10 | Lucy Madison
FR Posted by Libloather
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Cali) plans to greatly expand the scope of federal oversight upon his election to chair the oversight committee in the new Congress, he told Politico. "I want seven hearings a week, times 40 weeks," Issa said.
Issa's election to chair the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform would herald a significant increase in the committee's activity, and not just from the past two years.
Politico reports that Issa is looking to create new subcommittees, and has plans to investigate controversial Obama-era initiatives like the federal stimulus package and possibly health care reform, as well as the $700 billion bank bailout passed under President Bush. He also intends to coordinate oversight inquiries among other House panels.
Agreed, but for everyone that works there are ten that don’t. Just watch the Virginia dot, aways has six watching and one working.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.