Re: The one piece on what's happening in WI you must read

On Mar 1, 2011 4:45 PM, "Johne Cook" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/24/AR2011022406520_pf.html

I've a couple of nitpicks.

> They were contributing a fifth of a penny on a dollar of wages to their
pensions and one-fourth what private-sector workers pay for health
insurance.

This is very misleading.  The simple fact is that 100% of an employee's
negotiated compensation is 'contributed' by the employee.   What percentage
'comes out' of the base salary is mostly irrelevant accounting details
primarily motivated by tax law or marketing spin.  Comparing this minor
detail in one compensation package vs another rather than comparing the
complete packages is deceitful and harmful to understanding.

This isn't 'bringing it in line with the private sector', it's a simple
paycut and possibly a breach of contract.

>> In the private sector, the capitalist knows that when he negotiates with
the union, if he gives away the store, he loses his shirt.

In the private sector, the employer who treats his employees with respect
and honesty from the beginning usually has little need to deal with unions.

> desperately trying to hang on to the gains of their glory years - from
unsustainable federal entitlements for the elderly enacted when life
expectancy was 62 to the massive promissory notes issued to government
unions when state coffers were full and no one was looking

No one was looking?  This is dishonest.  They are legally required to keep
'looking' and regularly report exactly how full the pension fund is.  The
life expectancy didn't jump up overnight.

What the politicians and bureaucrats don't want to admit is that they
mismanaged the fund during the boom years, effectively stealing from the
employees.  Now that the bubble's popped they can't hide behind unreasonably
optimistic projections anymore.  They underpayed the fund when times were
good and now that times are bad they are diverting attention from their
earlier incompetence.

Insurance and annuities and pensions are some of the most wonderful and
useful financial tools.  But I'd never trust them to be managed by
politicians.

>> Amazingly, the answer is: now. Led by famously progressive Wisconsin -
Scott Walker at the state level and Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan at
the congressional level - a new generation of Republicans has looked at the
debt and is crossing the Rubicon. Recklessly principled, they are putting
the question to the nation: Are we a serious people?

This framing of Walker, et al. as heroes leaves me a little bit nauseous.
My belief is that the whole union smashing bit is just sleight of hand along
traditional partisan arguments to distract us from the more dastardly bits
of the bill: e.g. the no-bid energy asset firesales.  Corruption and crony
capitalism at its finest.

-- 
Nick

-- 
dadl-ot mailing list
http://mail.thehood.us/mailman/listinfo/dadl-ot_thehood.us
http://news.gmane.org/gmane.music.dadl.ot