Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Morally Bankrupt Society
Morally Bankrupt is too polite! What is on TV is sexual perversion with no limits! Also, I believe the perverse TV content and public school health curriculums are designed by people who are purposely pushing this perversion for monetary gain and for spreading the liberal feel good message. For these reasons, our country should return to independent small schools (public, private and parochial) which emphasize reading, writing, arithmetic and morality. In this model, there could be schools setup by liberal parents who want their children to follow the liberal curriculum. However, in this model, these liberal small schools would be in the minority since few parents would choose them for their children. This last sentence is proof that the majority of children and their parents are being held hostage by the liberal public school system in America.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Cuomo Must Lead - Binding Arbitration, Triborough
E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center Think Tank has written the following Oct.29, 2012 NY Post Op Ed piece.
E.J. McMahon
By capping property taxes, Gov. Cuomo has tapped the brakes on local government and school spending outside New York City. He’s also taken steps to limit the growth in the local share of Medicaid over the next few years, and to curb public pension expenses further down the road.
But the governor hasn’t provided the kind of mandate relief local officials want and need most — more flexibility to control their still-spiraling employee-compensation costs.
New York’s second-largest county, Nassau, is already a state-certified basket case, and several others might not far behind. Buffalo is just emerging from a state fiscal-control period, while the next three largest cities — Yonkers, Rochester and Syracuse — face big and growing problems of their own.
AP
It’s not that easy: Cuomo wants local governments to balance their budgets — but will he address the state laws that drive up local costs?
Asked about such problems, the governor last week pointed to his own success in closing the state’s $10 billion budget gap in his first year. "It’s very hard to do, I know it," he said. "But we did it . . . and the local governments have to do it, because raising local property taxes is not an option."
Yes, both the state and its local governments had raised spending to unsustainable levels before the financial crisis and recession hit in 2008. But there are some significant differences between the challenges Cuomo confronted and the budget gaps now facing counties, municipalities and school districts.
While two-thirds of the state budget consists of local aid, an even larger share of the typical municipal or school budget is spent directly on salaries and benefits — for teachers, cops, firefighters, sanitation workers and other employees who deliver basic services directly to the public.
Once they trim away the fat accumulated in flush economic times, local officials caught in a budget pinch ultimately face two choices: Cut services by laying off workers, or reduce the growth in salaries and benefits — which requires bargaining with entrenched public employee unions.
And there’s the rub: The collective-bargaining rules are set by Albany, mainly in the state Taylor Law, which tilts the bargaining table toward unions in at least two key respects.
The first problem for the locals is the Triborough amendment, which requires employers to continue giving "step" raises even after a contract has expired.
At this point, localities desperately need to break completely with the outmoded automatic pay-hike model, but that’d be nearly impossible without repeal of Triborough.
Another Taylor Law provision gives police and fire unions the right to seek compulsory binding arbitration of contract impasses. Enacted as a supposedly temporary experiment in the early 1970s, and renewed ever since, binding arbitration has been a bonanza for unions, driving average police pay well over $100,000 — plus lavish benefit packages — in many downstate departments.
Cuomo has dismissed Triborough reform as a "political nonstarter," since it requires changes to a permanent law— but he can’t dodge the arbitration issue, since that provision is due to expire in the middle of next year.
A straight extender of the law is virtually certain to end up on his desk within the next eight months. Will he bold enough to say no?
If he is, recent history suggests he can make it stick. The renewal of "temporary" laws benefitting unions was long treated as routine in Albany — until Gov. David Paterson broke with the pattern in 2009, refusing to rubber-stamp a continuation of the then-default pension plan for New York City police officers. The Legislature never tried to override Paterson’s veto, and the city can now look forward to significant pensions savings as a result.
Mulling his options on arbitration, Cuomo might also look to New Jersey, which has a similar law (and similarly high police and firefighter pay levels). In 2010, Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic majorities in his Legislature followed up on their own 2 percent property-tax cap by enacting arbitration reforms, including a 2 percent cap on arbitration pay awards. It’s far from perfect — but New York’s local officials would probably welcome it as better than nothing.
So far, Cuomo hasn’t said what he’ll do about arbitration, although he’ll no doubt keep pointing to his own example. "I had to go back and balance my budget myself . . . that’s called life," he said last week.
But as New York’s chief executive, Cuomo also has a responsibility to recognize when the state’s collective-bargaining laws are working against the public interest — and to do something about it. That’s called leadership.
E.J. McMahon is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute’s Empire Center for New York State Policy.
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Empire Center for New York State Policy | PO Box 7113 | Albany | NY | 12224
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Andrew’s next test
Local governments need help
- By E.J. McMAHON
- Last Updated: 9:51 AM, October 29, 2012
- Posted: 10:37 PM, October 28, 2012
E.J. McMahon
By capping property taxes, Gov. Cuomo has tapped the brakes on local government and school spending outside New York City. He’s also taken steps to limit the growth in the local share of Medicaid over the next few years, and to curb public pension expenses further down the road.
But the governor hasn’t provided the kind of mandate relief local officials want and need most — more flexibility to control their still-spiraling employee-compensation costs.
New York’s second-largest county, Nassau, is already a state-certified basket case, and several others might not far behind. Buffalo is just emerging from a state fiscal-control period, while the next three largest cities — Yonkers, Rochester and Syracuse — face big and growing problems of their own.
AP
It’s not that easy: Cuomo wants local governments to balance their budgets — but will he address the state laws that drive up local costs?
Asked about such problems, the governor last week pointed to his own success in closing the state’s $10 billion budget gap in his first year. "It’s very hard to do, I know it," he said. "But we did it . . . and the local governments have to do it, because raising local property taxes is not an option."
Yes, both the state and its local governments had raised spending to unsustainable levels before the financial crisis and recession hit in 2008. But there are some significant differences between the challenges Cuomo confronted and the budget gaps now facing counties, municipalities and school districts.
While two-thirds of the state budget consists of local aid, an even larger share of the typical municipal or school budget is spent directly on salaries and benefits — for teachers, cops, firefighters, sanitation workers and other employees who deliver basic services directly to the public.
Once they trim away the fat accumulated in flush economic times, local officials caught in a budget pinch ultimately face two choices: Cut services by laying off workers, or reduce the growth in salaries and benefits — which requires bargaining with entrenched public employee unions.
And there’s the rub: The collective-bargaining rules are set by Albany, mainly in the state Taylor Law, which tilts the bargaining table toward unions in at least two key respects.
The first problem for the locals is the Triborough amendment, which requires employers to continue giving "step" raises even after a contract has expired.
At this point, localities desperately need to break completely with the outmoded automatic pay-hike model, but that’d be nearly impossible without repeal of Triborough.
Another Taylor Law provision gives police and fire unions the right to seek compulsory binding arbitration of contract impasses. Enacted as a supposedly temporary experiment in the early 1970s, and renewed ever since, binding arbitration has been a bonanza for unions, driving average police pay well over $100,000 — plus lavish benefit packages — in many downstate departments.
Cuomo has dismissed Triborough reform as a "political nonstarter," since it requires changes to a permanent law— but he can’t dodge the arbitration issue, since that provision is due to expire in the middle of next year.
A straight extender of the law is virtually certain to end up on his desk within the next eight months. Will he bold enough to say no?
If he is, recent history suggests he can make it stick. The renewal of "temporary" laws benefitting unions was long treated as routine in Albany — until Gov. David Paterson broke with the pattern in 2009, refusing to rubber-stamp a continuation of the then-default pension plan for New York City police officers. The Legislature never tried to override Paterson’s veto, and the city can now look forward to significant pensions savings as a result.
Mulling his options on arbitration, Cuomo might also look to New Jersey, which has a similar law (and similarly high police and firefighter pay levels). In 2010, Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic majorities in his Legislature followed up on their own 2 percent property-tax cap by enacting arbitration reforms, including a 2 percent cap on arbitration pay awards. It’s far from perfect — but New York’s local officials would probably welcome it as better than nothing.
So far, Cuomo hasn’t said what he’ll do about arbitration, although he’ll no doubt keep pointing to his own example. "I had to go back and balance my budget myself . . . that’s called life," he said last week.
But as New York’s chief executive, Cuomo also has a responsibility to recognize when the state’s collective-bargaining laws are working against the public interest — and to do something about it. That’s called leadership.
E.J. McMahon is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute’s Empire Center for New York State Policy.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
NYS Mandate Relief - Support Castelli Assembly bill
Mandate Relief. Let's be specific. What needs to be repealed to give school districts and municipalities the most mandate relief? The answer is the Repeal of the Triborough Amendment. Support the Repeal of the Triborough Amendment, which allows Automatic Step Raises and all expired contract clauses to continue after a contract is expired and the parties are still negotiating a new contract. Triborough makes it impossible for school boards and municipal leaders to negotiate more reasonable contracts that we taxpayers can afford. The Triborough Amendment law is causing the destruction of our NYS school districts and municipal budgets right before our eyes. Tell your NY State Assembly and Senate candidates to support the Robert Castelli bill, which would Repeal the Triborough Amendment in the NY State Assembly. Let's start talking specifically about supporting the Robert Castelli bill. Otherwise, just saying "mandate relief" falls on deaf ears.
Monday, October 1, 2012
To Kingston Council - Fix Budget, not Climate
Keep Climate Change Out of Kingston. We do not want Kingston Council people to join the Federal Government and Mayor Bloomberg in NYC in Over-regulating our lives. The Kingston proposal talks about limiting single occupancy cars. Stay out of this area. To the Kingston Council, I have something for you to work on.........Let's hear some serious debate about solving Kingston's degrading budget problems by cutting the Kingston Fire Dept. $8 Million budget in HALF to $4 Million by transitioning to a Fire Dept. which uses PAID fireman firetruck drivers and VOLUNTEER firefighters. Come on Kingston Council, start talking about financial "Game Changers" to save the City of Kingston from further decay.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
School Competition Breeds Success
Let's push Repeal of Triborough Amendment, push Charter Schools &
Parent Vouchers for choosing schools. The current government monopoly with
teacher union control is unsustainable. Financing with income tax instead of
property tax is not the answer, since the same open-checkbook mentality will
rule.
We need many elementary schools and high schools in an area including
public, private, and parochial schools to compete with each other as there is
competition among public and private colleges. At the college level, parents
and students have access to loans and Pell grants to allow students to choose
competitively where they want to go for education.
Competition promotes Excellence.
Monopolies promote Decay (Remember old AT&T phone monopoly with very
little innovation in phone technology for years.........now with phone
competition, ie. Apple, Blackberry, AT&T, Verizon, Samsung, we have
marvelous new phone technology.
We should stop holding back our children with a monopolistic public school
system.....Open up education with vouchers and charter schools.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Kingston Schools - A touch of the Soviet Union
We Kingston citizens do feel like we are living in the former Soviet Union. Albany politicians will not move School Board elections to November's election day, but insist on keeping the elections in May when only teachers' Friends and Family can easily vote. This May school board election day keeps most good candidates from considering a run for school board. Also, Albany politicians refuse to repeal the Triborough Amendment which allows Automatic Step Pay Raises for Teachers to continue to accumulated EVEN after the teachers' contract has expired. Also, in Kingston, it is unthinkable to let a principal to sit home for 2.5 years for a quarter of a million dollars. Do you agree with my Soviet Union analogy?
Sunday, September 23, 2012
City of Kingston has problems. Here is one solution.
Let's be specific. Cut the Kingston Fire Dept. budget in half from $8 Million to $4 Million over 3 years by using paid Firemen to drive the fire trucks and volunteers to ride the trucks. Look at what a wonderful Volunteer Fire Dept. the Town of Ulster has in Ulster Hose. There is no shortage of volunteer firemen and women at Ulster Hose, because these volunteers are welcomed and appreciated by the Town of Ulster. To the Kingston Common Council, Let's get to work on this idea.
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