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Originally Posted by TheSpecialist
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Here is what I mean by plenty of blame to go around. You had people, managers, Mayors, Selectmen giving everything under the sun to public employees for years. Times were prosperous, no one saw what the future held. Now thirty or more years later, these things like pensions, exorbitant medical costs, pension calculation formulas are catching up to them, it's understandable that things need to change. But it's not fair that someone that has 15 or 20 years of service, has his or her benefits ripped out from under them, or because the municipality was run poorly they shouldn't get raises.
If you worked for a company for 20 years, non union, and you came into work one day and the boss said, "Jim I am sorry your pension is being frozen, we are making you pay 10% more for your healthcare, cutting back holidays from 7 to 5, and by the way no raise this year" What would you do? I know I would quietly start looking for another job. I see this happening now a days. Many of my college educated friends, have about 5-9 year longevity at jobs before they change to a different company or job type.
In the private sector there are many big profitable companies that stick it to their employees, union, and non union. They started using the Bank collapse as an excuse, even though they were still profitable. Unions, still have a place in society, to make peoples live better. It's how municipalities deal with public sector unions that needs to change. Instead of taking from tenured employees, change all of the benefits that need changing for new hires, and scale back the benefits of tenured employees over time..
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You make many, MANY good points. Here is one i disagree with...
" Times were prosperous, no one saw what the future held"
Actuaries have been saying, for 50 years, that the entitlement programs cannot survive the Baby Boomer generation. They have been saying that for 50 years. Union officials ignore that because they want to get rich off union dues. Politicians ignore that because they like to get re-elected, and need union campaign donations.
Just last year, Paul Ryan had a proposal to modify Medicare. How did the liberals respond? By making comercials that showed Ryan pushing a wheelchair-bound old lady off a cliff.