gamewell45

Walkers recall election has nothing to do with unions and the private sector, which is the topic of your thread.

The guy needs t change his dietary habits.

May the Sister Rest In Peace.

It'll never pass muster. It would be a violation of the First Amendment.

Should have brought his CPAP machine with him.

I highly doubt if you'll ever see the Taylor Law repealed; its a safety valve for the public's safety because a legal strike would have horrific consequenses for the public in general. Having spent 19 weeks on strike one year I can tell you it gets old pretty quick once your savings run out and the thought of being permanently replaced by striking (scabs) workers only adds to the stress of being on strike. Many of us in the private sector who are union would love to have binding arbitration as opposed to having the right to strike.

As with any group, they have their agenda; what needs to be done in this case is to scrutinize the data provided and other impirical evidence and be given due weight. Can we really trust what the government tells us? How many times has the public been burned before by the government? Whats a viable alternative? roll the dice and risk insolvency? This last week our Mayor's citizen's budget committee asked how do we convince older firefighters to retire? They stated that the cost of older firefighters both becuase they are at top pay and because they have more injuries and take longer to heal than younger ones. When we looked at the new Tier 6 we find a huge penalty for each year under 63 that a person retires. I think its speculation at best. Especially since its never been tried before. Its quite possible that Tier VI might need fine tuning down the road; eitherway to remain complacent and rely on the present method could be a road to ruin financially for all involved.

There is concern by the state in regards to New York's growing pension costs; concern's abound that it could become underfunded. http://www.empirecenter.org/Special-Reports/2010/12/pensionexplosion120710.cfm "The New York City Fire Pension Fund is financially the weakest of the eight public pension funds in New York State. Measured on an official actuarial basis, the Fire Pension Fund had only 56 percent of the assets needed to meet its liabilities as of June 30, 2008; using a market rate standard, its funded ratio was only 41 percent on the same date. Given the city funds’ investment losses, the fire fund’s condition has undoubtedly deteriorated in the past two years. As of their reporting dates in 2009 (March 31 for New York State ERS and PFRS, and June 30 for NYSTRS), each of the state systems reported an actuarial funding ratio of slightly more than 100 percent. But recalculating these figures on a market value basis shows a much worse funding situation: TRS was just 60 percent funded, PFRS 58 percent, and ERS 56 percent. The discrepancy has two sources: sharp stock market declines in late 2008 and early 2009 meant that the market value of these plans' assets was far below their actuarial value. And changing to a market value discount rate significantly increases the plans' measured liabilities."

Likewise it amazes me as well. If you want to discuss it with me further, PM me.

This could be true; some volunteer fd's have not properly funded LOSAP programs much like career fire departments whose pension funds might either be or become underfunded even tho' those members are no longer providing service as well. Its a two-way street when things aren't planned out properly.

Maybe your department; but mine is very open about record keeping and financial records. Try to be just a bit positive here

One of the true founders of Progressive Rock radio. May he rest in peace.

I concur with you 100% on this

Dick Clark, the worlds oldest living teenager has passed away at age 82 of a massive heart attack. For many of us who remember American Bandstand and New Years Eve in Times Square, NY, Dick was a regular. May he rest in peace http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/dick-clark-entertainment-icon-nicknamed-americas-oldest-teenager/story?id=16076252#.T48ZiJlSR5Y

I'm not sure what the tax laws are when it comes to municipalities; I do know that if you live in a town, village that has a fire district (with a few exceptions to the rule) they have a separate taxing and those monies are only for use of the fire district expenses.

May the Brother Rest-In-Peace.

You can do it just by watching what you eat and exercising; I lost over 60lbs in a 13 month period simply bye sticking to an easy diet (and there are plenty of them out there) and walking every day. You'll physically feel better and after a while you won't miss all the food you no longer eat. For me its nice being able to fit into clothes i haven't been able to wear in almost 20 years.

Or they could raise property taxes enough to make up the deficit. You want services, you have to pay for them.

I think the Chief ought to be worrying about doing his job and allow the police to do theirs.

Glad the officer is going to recover from the injuries sustained. People need to be a little bit more compassionate and not so cold hearted towards those who've sworn to protect them.

Even though both trucks are write-offs, fortunately no one was hurt.

Glad the Brothers were able to escape. Their Guardian Angels were definitely looking out for them!

RIP Bro'.

I agree with you that the issue needs to be addressed. The public as a rule has little sympathy for public sector workers since pensions are mostly a thing of the past for those fortunate enough to work in the private sector. The popular mindset being that they don't have them, why should you have them?? The argument that you didn't make much money really doesn't hold water anymore in their eyes. We can always point the finger at cities that they should have done this or done that with the money, but the long as short of it is that in many cases the pension funds in some cities are woefully underfunded and the cities have to address the immediate concern at the expense of staffing unfortunately. The cities are unwilling to add further tax burden on the public; the public will squawk about it and none of the politicians are willing to risk being voted out of office by angry taxpayers. I think the Tier VI will most likely go forward in some modified form. If too much resistance is put up and the voters get fed up enough, you could end up having the laws changed radically to the point where you end up with a 401.k as opposed to a pension or even worse, jobs reduced further or privatization of public services. Ideally both sides will be able to hammer out an agreement on this matter to the satisfaction of everyone involved.

Greenville used to have the coolest fire horn. Sounded like a tugboat whistle when it went off. Not sure if its still in service or not.