Quote:
If only the mortgage lenders of the last decade would have followed this philosophy our economy wouldn't be so messed up ~ UNLVRebel
Just another tidbit from California . . . that was in my InBox today . . .
There were those that tried to get Congress to listen . .. but NOOOOOO, Pelosi and Gay Barney knew what was "Best for America" I am thinking that UNIONS and those that cater to them are also very very responsible . . . and Barry PROMISED that he would do everything they wanted
So who is going to help them now when they are being beseiged in the street . . . will the Liberals / Progressives change their way of thinking? OR . . . will they just keep on blaming those that tried to stop the craziness?
Quote:
. Oakland Police: No Money to Respond to Crime
The city of Oakland, Calif., has laid off over 10 percent of its police force after failing to negotiate a settlement with the police union — whose members earn an average compensation of $162,000 a year.
“What’s going on in Oakland is an example of a phenomenon being seen across the country: states and cities choosing between providing services to the public or maintaining luxury compensation for public employees,” Josh Barro, the Walter B. Wriston Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, writes for the Real Clear Markets website.
“More often than not, public employee unions have been winning this fight.
As the result of the loss of 80 police officers, Oakland’s police chief says cops will no longer respond to 44 categories of crimes, including grand theft.
“At current levels of compensation, Oakland cannot afford to maintain a police department with 776 employees,” Barro observes. “That’s because total compensation for an OPD employee averages an astounding $162,000 per year. But at a more reasonable level of pay and benefits, Oakland could afford to maintain its force, or even grow it.”
OPD officers finishing training receive a starting salary of up to $90,459, before overtime, plus a health plan worth $15,859 last year — compared to California’s private sector mean of about $9,100 — and a pension contribution equal to 9 percent of their salary and overtime pay.
The generous wage and benefit package was negotiated with the police union two years ago. When layoffs were threatened, the union agreed that officers would begin making contributions to their retirement benefits if the city agreed that there would be no layoffs for three years. The city offered only a one-year pledge, and the union declined the offer.
So police staffing “will be cut in one of California’s most crime-ridden cities,” Barro notes.
“The trouble is that localities have been boxed in by unwise contracts and rigid labor laws,” and no city should have to “say it can’t afford a large enough police force because it has to pay each officer $162,000 per year.”
