Posted on 08/31/2016 3:37:38 AM PDT by AreaMan
Thank you for that.
Low pay? Who are you kidding.
Getting a government job is like winning the lottery. They make way more than they would in the private sector.
Low pay? What a joke.
“My only hope is that maybe they can rebuild after it all collapses.”.............
They will have to purge all the demodummies first.
States that cannot function economically need to revert to territorial status. Once they get their crap together, they can reapply for statehood.
Are HUD properties, projects and other federally owned buildings subject to property taxes? I honestly don’t know.
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I seriously doubt it. Church property is exempt also.
It will only disperse the riffraff to other parts of the state and the problem will start all over again but somewhere else.
Just be grateful the founders were wise enough to deny state governments the right to coin money.
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Oh my gosh, what a mess that would be. I can imagine the California or Illinois dollar would be worth about 10¢ in Texas money.
Are HUD properties, projects and other federally owned buildings subject to property taxes?
Federal and state properties do not pay property taxes. So may pay fees in lieu of taxes, mostly colleges and similar types of properties.
Housing Authorties would not pay taxes on older properties. I think most of them are structuring new developments in a way that makes them “for profit” entities and as a consequence they pay property tax on them. Financially it make sense for them to have the extra expense.
That provision of the constitution was the work of Connecticut's Roger Sherman who served as the very first Mayor of New Haven until his death. Connecticut in the years after the revolution refused to issue essentially worthless paper "money" known as "revolutionary war scrip" in response to demands by veterans of the revolutionary army to be paid pensions to relieve them of the distasteful necessity of, well, working to support themselves. These demands were by no means limited to those disabled by war but were demands that ALL veterans be generously supported for life just for being veterans.
Connecticut was surrounded by states or commonwealths that issued the worthless scrip: the State of New York, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and most particularly the Commonwealth of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Of these the most profligate was Rhode Island which, when merchants refused to accept scrip in payment of debts or for goods or services, passed ever more draconian "legal tender laws" by which, if the veteran offered scrip in payment and it was refused, the debt was deemed paid. The merchants and creditors fled Rhode Island to avoid their debtors (typically to Connecticut). Rhode Island then enacted laws allowing payment in scrip to be made to trust accounts held by court clerks and, if merchants or creditors refused to pick up the scrip from the courts by a deadline, the scrip would be returned to the veteran and the debt deemed paid in full. This is the origin of the disreputable "legal tender" language on our greenies.
Roger Sherman, as an honest man, was not amused by the Rhode Island fiscal follies and saw to it that Article I, Section 10 as to coining money resulted. What he could not do was keep future political scum honest.
Roger Sherman was also one of the five members of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence and a signer thereof, a signer of the Constitution and of the previous Articles of Confederation and Articles of Association. Roger Sherman, now somewhat forgotten, was a very consequential Founding Father.
Today, Illinois, Connecticut, New York and California (and perhaps other states like New Jersey?) are probably at a point where the federal bankrupting of their public employee pensions may be absolutely necessary. That will require substantial changes to federal bankruptcy law to allow state bankruptcies. The changes should be temporary and should require tight-fisted PERMANENT state constitutional pension reform as a condition of filing for state bankruptcy. This must NOT become a way of life for profligate state politicians.
The very idea of state employee pensions taking precedence over ALL other state expenditures is an unspeakable obscenity. No state troopers? Throw the destitute elderly out of nursing homes? Close the state courts? Close all gummint skewels abandoning increasingly feral yutes to idle in the streets, alley ways and mugging fields? Extrapolate as far as your imagination will carry you. Welcome to Clockwork Orange World.
At that point, armed revolution and a LOT of bloodshed would be the only way out. Most people are already quite pissed off at government policies. Wait until they lose their respective favorite programs AND see what they are expected to pay for public employee pensions.
Meanwhile, consider the utterly bloated federal debt and the absolute impossibility of EVER paying the creditors who hold the debt. Our state and national fiscal fairylands are rapidly approaching the necessary end. LOOK OUT BELOW!!!!
Optimist!
Some fellow had been hired a few decades earlier as a "sanitation engineer," a garbage collector in ordinary English. It was not a very nice job: dirty, smelly but someone had to do it.
This fellow retained his job title and paycheck (and perks and cost of living increases and step increases and seniority increases, etc.) BUT became an official of the Incredibly Glorious, Utterly Lucrative International Amalgamated Siblinghood of Garbage Collectors. No more hustling smelly, dirty garbage cans for him. Instead, he went to "work" every day in a posh suite of offices, enjoyed three martini lunches and hobnobbing with the powers that were, are, and be.
He also drew a paycheck from the taxpayers as a union official equal to his continuing garbage collector's salary (which he no longer stooped to earn. This also carried a taxpayer paid pension equal to his garbologist pension. BUT, he had influence (particularly in Illinois) with legislators who enacted legislation to allow him and other union bosses to double dip and collect BOTH pensions when the time came to retire. Pretty good deal, huh, folks?
BUT WAIT! He got his pal, the State Senate President to ram through a bill without much public scrutiny allowing the garbologist and others similarly situated to work a week or so as a substitute teacher in the gummint skewel system and then be credited with a teacher's pension (like being named president of Chase Manhattan only more lucrative) as though he had taught since the very first day, decades before, when he was hired to hustle garbage cans. Medical care at the highest level and expense for life (no Obozocare for him). The pensions for this one fellow total $360,000 + per year with automatic "cost of living" and other escalators.
This is only one example and there are many, many more.
You really need to update your facts about public employee compensation. Fifty or so years ago it was indeed true that public employees drew comparatively lower pay than in the private sector. With the advent of public employee unionization, compensation and benefits exploded for our “public servants”. Particularly in the deep blue states, where unions and their wholly-owned Democrat politicians are strongest, you’ll find millions of police, fire, administrative and supervisory employees drawing salaries well in excess of $100,000. Some firefighters and law enforcement employees can haul down $250-300,000 including overtime.
California has lifeguards drawing six figure pay.
On top of that these folks enjoy amazingly generous fringe benefits, Cadillac health insurance coverage, and get to retire at ridiculously young ages. Police and fire employees can often retire at 55 or even younger at close to full pay.
I know these things all too well. I’ve negotiated scores of labor agreements for client public agencies.
If the public truly knew how comprehensively they’re being raped by the plundering hordes of unionized civil serpents, who are supposed to serve them, there would be open rebellion in America.
CA has a 250 BILLION DOLLAR PENSION DEFICIT.
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