If the state is unable to achieve the necessary savings in wages and pensions, it may need to seek higher insurance contributions for all state workers. That benefit is not protected by the state Constitution. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/opinion/06sun1.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp Unlike Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Governor Cuomo is not trying to break the unions. He is pressing... [more]
If the state is unable to achieve the necessary savings in wages and pensions, it may need to seek higher insurance contributions for all state workers. That benefit is not protected by the state Constitution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/opinion/06sun1.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp
Unlike Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Governor Cuomo is not trying to break the unions. He is pressing them to accept a salary freeze and a reduction in benefits for new workers. The unions need to negotiate seriously.
We are also urging the governor to rethink his pledge to cap property taxes and allow a tax surcharge on high incomes to expire at the end of this year. That would bring the state an additional $2 billion this fiscal year, and $4 billion the following year — not enough to solve the fiscal crisis, but a serious down payment.
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"He is pressing them to accept a salary freeze and a reduction in benefits for new workers" is not what the taxpayer needs. we need the best youngsters to join in, get rid of seniority and bring on merit. Same thing with city workers.
cutting health care benefits for those already retired (given that anyway they have Medicare adn it's not a benefit guaranteed by the Constitution) is a much better move for the future imho.
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Response by JRRTax
over 15 years ago
Posts: 14
Member since: Feb 2009
What a shock the NY Times calling for higher taxes. Who says it will bring in an additional 2 Billion this year and 4 Billion next year? Taxes go higher, behavior changes , projections go out the window. I have a good friend who retired this year as a NYC Police Officer after 20+ years on the job( at the ripe old age of 44) He will collect 90K for the rest of his life, plus medical, plus no NYS tax on his pension benefits. Great deal for him, but is this sort of deal really sustainable? My old autoshop teacher made the NY Times because he has one of the top teacher pensions at close to 120K per year. Again I'm happy for him, but where is the money going to come from? Even the NY times admits "not enough to solve the crisis". The day of reckoning for state pension plans according to this Northwestern Prof ...
The New York Times itself has raised its subscription price while the number of paid readers decline. Gross revenue has not been growing coincidentally....
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Response by Socialist
over 15 years ago
Posts: 2261
Member since: Feb 2010
"cutting health care benefits for those already retired (given that anyway they have Medicare"
Lots of state retirees are not eligible for Medicare. My father is one of them.
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Response by Socialist
over 15 years ago
Posts: 2261
Member since: Feb 2010
A CEO, a tea party member, and a union worker are all sitting at a table when a plate with a dozen cookies arrives. Before anyone else can make a move, the CEO reaches out to rake in eleven of the cookies. When the other two look at him in surprise, the CEO locks eyes with the tea party member. "You better watch him," the executive says with a nod toward the union worker. "He wants a piece of your cookie."
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Response by huntersburg
over 15 years ago
Posts: 11329
Member since: Nov 2010
Why was the CEO at the table with the other two to begin with?
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Response by lucillebluth
over 15 years ago
Posts: 2631
Member since: May 2010
a rabbi, an elephant and a fire hydrant walk into a bar. OUCH. that bar came out of nowhere!
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Response by generalogoun
over 15 years ago
Posts: 329
Member since: Jan 2009
*** A CEO, a tea party member, and a union worker are all sitting at a table when a plate with a dozen cookies arrives. Before anyone else can make a move, the CEO reaches out to rake in eleven of the cookies. When the other two look at him in surprise, the CEO locks eyes with the tea party member. "You better watch him," the executive says with a nod toward the union worker. "He wants a piece of your cookie." ***
Funny -- and so true.
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Response by jordyn
over 15 years ago
Posts: 820
Member since: Dec 2007
"What a shock the NY Times calling for higher taxes. Who says it will bring in an additional 2 Billion this year and 4 Billion next year"
Because the proposal is to extend taxes that are currently in place, so the amount of revenue they produce is already known.
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Response by huntersburg
over 15 years ago
Posts: 11329
Member since: Nov 2010
> plus no NYS tax on his pension benefits
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Response by hofo
over 15 years ago
Posts: 453
Member since: Sep 2008
how do we curb the pension and health benefits for elected officials?
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Response by notadmin
over 15 years ago
Posts: 3835
Member since: Jul 2008
> Lots of state retirees are not eligible for Medicare. My father is one of them.
what? 99% of those 65 an older qualify. if not ask him to work for the private sector for 10 years or pay yourself for his health care. there, problem solved.
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Response by LICComment
over 15 years ago
Posts: 3610
Member since: Dec 2007
Socialist- thanks for that dumb analogy. How about:
An entrepeneur invests money in ovens, tools and materials to bake cookies. He gives a union worker a job to make the cookies, and when it is done he sells cookies to cover his costs, gives the workers cookies equal to the value of the work provided, measured by how many cookies that worker could get by doing the same work at a different place, and the business owner then gets to keep some cookies himself as profit for the risk he took to start the business and create a job. Then of course, the government comes and takes so many of those profit cookies to redistribute to the bunch of union workers that don't work as hard to redistribute the cookies, that the business owner decides it is not worth it anymore and shuts down, so the union worker doesn't have a job anymore.
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Response by jordyn
over 15 years ago
Posts: 820
Member since: Dec 2007
I guess LICComment can't take a joke.
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Response by columbiacounty
over 15 years ago
Posts: 12708
Member since: Jan 2009
but what happens to the business owner who decided it wasn't worth it? that is the big question that LIC and his ilk always avoid.
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Response by Socialist
over 15 years ago
Posts: 2261
Member since: Feb 2010
"what? 99% of those 65 an older qualify."
He is not 65. He retired at 50.
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Response by Socialist
over 15 years ago
Posts: 2261
Member since: Feb 2010
"pay yourself for his health care."
Why should I pay for his healthcare when the taxpayers of NY are paying for it? You think I really give a sh*t whether corporations and rich people have to pay higher taxes to pay retiree healthcare costs?
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Response by LICComment
over 15 years ago
Posts: 3610
Member since: Dec 2007
Instead of paying for something that you receive, Socialist believes in demanding handouts.
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Response by 007
over 15 years ago
Posts: 195
Member since: Nov 2008
The more exposure we get on the benefits for the unions and the state and city employees, the more outrage I feel.The city employes 230K people and the state about 300K people(not sure). We, the tax payers, pay for it from our hard work. I am not working for cookies and when I work to produce the cookies my work week is 60-70 hours. I do not believe the union should get even one cookie until they start to work and retire like all of us at age 80...
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Response by Sunday
over 15 years ago
Posts: 1607
Member since: Sep 2009
Socialist: "He is not 65. He retired at 50."
Good job making your case Socialist!!!
"Why should I pay for his healthcare when the taxpayers of NY are paying for it? You think I really give a sh*t whether corporations and rich people have to pay higher taxes to pay retiree healthcare costs?"
I'm sure you don't give a sh*t about the middle class from the private sectors either who also pay taxes to support those benefits.
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Response by notadmin
over 15 years ago
Posts: 3835
Member since: Jul 2008
> Socialist: "He is not 65. He retired at 50."
lol, let's face it. he didn't "retire" but went into a sabbatical fed by the dream the current budget crisis is waking us from. time to sit down with daddy and have the talk, those that read the writing on the wall tend to survive.
generous health care benefits for current retirees are the 1st thing to go imho. those states that ask retirees to pay for 100% of their premiums have 0 unfunded liabilities. besides, this benefit is NOT guaranteed by any constitution and changes according to the budget reality of the times, which is not rosy imho.
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Response by Socialist
over 15 years ago
Posts: 2261
Member since: Feb 2010
"The more exposure we get on the benefits for the unions and the state and city employees, the more outrage I feel.The city employes 230K people and the state about 300K people(not sure). We, the tax payers, pay for it from our hard work. I am not working for cookies and when I work to produce the cookies my work week is 60-70 hours. I do not believe the union should get even one cookie until they start to work and retire like all of us at age 80..."
WAH WAH WAH! Baby want a cookie? Oh wait, you can't have a cookie because your not in a union.
If working for the govt. si so good, how come you don't leave your job and get a govt. job?
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Response by Socialist
over 15 years ago
Posts: 2261
Member since: Feb 2010
50 is an old age to retire at. We should pass a Constitutional Amendment giving govt. workers the right to retire at 35.
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Response by notadmin
over 15 years ago
Posts: 3835
Member since: Jul 2008
sure, retire at 15 if you want to. just don't be a burden on others imho.
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Response by realtime
over 15 years ago
Posts: 108
Member since: Feb 2011
StreetEasy- the site has been hijacked by "socialist" or its like. Not sure what is the strategic value for the type of discussion you allow.
What a shock the NY Times calling for higher taxes. Who says it will bring in an additional 2 Billion this year and 4 Billion next year? Taxes go higher, behavior changes , projections go out the window. I have a good friend who retired this year as a NYC Police Officer after 20+ years on the job( at the ripe old age of 44) He will collect 90K for the rest of his life, plus medical, plus no NYS tax on his pension benefits. Great deal for him, but is this sort of deal really sustainable? My old autoshop teacher made the NY Times because he has one of the top teacher pensions at close to 120K per year. Again I'm happy for him, but where is the money going to come from? Even the NY times admits "not enough to solve the crisis". The day of reckoning for state pension plans according to this Northwestern Prof ...
http://kelloggfinance.wordpress.com/2010/03/22/the-day-of-reckoning-for-state-pension-plans/
The New York Times itself has raised its subscription price while the number of paid readers decline. Gross revenue has not been growing coincidentally....
"cutting health care benefits for those already retired (given that anyway they have Medicare"
Lots of state retirees are not eligible for Medicare. My father is one of them.
A CEO, a tea party member, and a union worker are all sitting at a table when a plate with a dozen cookies arrives. Before anyone else can make a move, the CEO reaches out to rake in eleven of the cookies. When the other two look at him in surprise, the CEO locks eyes with the tea party member. "You better watch him," the executive says with a nod toward the union worker. "He wants a piece of your cookie."
Why was the CEO at the table with the other two to begin with?
a rabbi, an elephant and a fire hydrant walk into a bar. OUCH. that bar came out of nowhere!
*** A CEO, a tea party member, and a union worker are all sitting at a table when a plate with a dozen cookies arrives. Before anyone else can make a move, the CEO reaches out to rake in eleven of the cookies. When the other two look at him in surprise, the CEO locks eyes with the tea party member. "You better watch him," the executive says with a nod toward the union worker. "He wants a piece of your cookie." ***
Funny -- and so true.
"What a shock the NY Times calling for higher taxes. Who says it will bring in an additional 2 Billion this year and 4 Billion next year"
Because the proposal is to extend taxes that are currently in place, so the amount of revenue they produce is already known.
> plus no NYS tax on his pension benefits
how do we curb the pension and health benefits for elected officials?
> Lots of state retirees are not eligible for Medicare. My father is one of them.
what? 99% of those 65 an older qualify. if not ask him to work for the private sector for 10 years or pay yourself for his health care. there, problem solved.
Socialist- thanks for that dumb analogy. How about:
An entrepeneur invests money in ovens, tools and materials to bake cookies. He gives a union worker a job to make the cookies, and when it is done he sells cookies to cover his costs, gives the workers cookies equal to the value of the work provided, measured by how many cookies that worker could get by doing the same work at a different place, and the business owner then gets to keep some cookies himself as profit for the risk he took to start the business and create a job. Then of course, the government comes and takes so many of those profit cookies to redistribute to the bunch of union workers that don't work as hard to redistribute the cookies, that the business owner decides it is not worth it anymore and shuts down, so the union worker doesn't have a job anymore.
I guess LICComment can't take a joke.
but what happens to the business owner who decided it wasn't worth it? that is the big question that LIC and his ilk always avoid.
"what? 99% of those 65 an older qualify."
He is not 65. He retired at 50.
"pay yourself for his health care."
Why should I pay for his healthcare when the taxpayers of NY are paying for it? You think I really give a sh*t whether corporations and rich people have to pay higher taxes to pay retiree healthcare costs?
Instead of paying for something that you receive, Socialist believes in demanding handouts.
The more exposure we get on the benefits for the unions and the state and city employees, the more outrage I feel.The city employes 230K people and the state about 300K people(not sure). We, the tax payers, pay for it from our hard work. I am not working for cookies and when I work to produce the cookies my work week is 60-70 hours. I do not believe the union should get even one cookie until they start to work and retire like all of us at age 80...
Socialist: "He is not 65. He retired at 50."
Good job making your case Socialist!!!
"Why should I pay for his healthcare when the taxpayers of NY are paying for it? You think I really give a sh*t whether corporations and rich people have to pay higher taxes to pay retiree healthcare costs?"
I'm sure you don't give a sh*t about the middle class from the private sectors either who also pay taxes to support those benefits.
> Socialist: "He is not 65. He retired at 50."
lol, let's face it. he didn't "retire" but went into a sabbatical fed by the dream the current budget crisis is waking us from. time to sit down with daddy and have the talk, those that read the writing on the wall tend to survive.
generous health care benefits for current retirees are the 1st thing to go imho. those states that ask retirees to pay for 100% of their premiums have 0 unfunded liabilities. besides, this benefit is NOT guaranteed by any constitution and changes according to the budget reality of the times, which is not rosy imho.
"The more exposure we get on the benefits for the unions and the state and city employees, the more outrage I feel.The city employes 230K people and the state about 300K people(not sure). We, the tax payers, pay for it from our hard work. I am not working for cookies and when I work to produce the cookies my work week is 60-70 hours. I do not believe the union should get even one cookie until they start to work and retire like all of us at age 80..."
WAH WAH WAH! Baby want a cookie? Oh wait, you can't have a cookie because your not in a union.
If working for the govt. si so good, how come you don't leave your job and get a govt. job?
50 is an old age to retire at. We should pass a Constitutional Amendment giving govt. workers the right to retire at 35.
sure, retire at 15 if you want to. just don't be a burden on others imho.
StreetEasy- the site has been hijacked by "socialist" or its like. Not sure what is the strategic value for the type of discussion you allow.