Angry Finest, Bravest say Mayor Bloomberg is out to rob city's heroes

[bad box 371]

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Gates counts himself a victim of the attempted robbery, along with his son, retired NYPD Lt. Robert Gates; his brother, retired FDNY Firefighter Thomas Gates, and thousands of other retirees of our uniformed services.

The crime involves a $12,000 annual retirement benefit the victims receive under two agreements the city initiated with the police and fire unions, in 1968 and in 1988.

The deals accorded the city and the unions a Vegas-style "skim" of the profits from investing the fire and police pension funds in the stock market rather than in safer, but much less lucrative bonds.

The union skim was a percentage of the profits until 1988, when the city proposed formalizing it into a definite benefit. It grew as agreed by both sides in $500 yearly increments from $2,500 to a perpetual maximum of $12,000, in 2007.

[efdcapt115 1,511]

I have an idea...all at once EVERY cop and firefighter in the city drop their tools, and walk out....a couple of days of anarchy, looting, arsonists lighting up the boroughs....that should wake up this third termer who bought his own re-election. Oh wait, we gave up the right to strike to ensure the constant protection of the people.

This is almost as sickening as the story that he wants rigs to use bike paths to pick up hydrants. Almost.

This is much worse.

UFA, PBA they'd better bring lawsuits and get this guy slapped down in court. He really is out of control.

[M' Ave 1,466]

At one time I thought Mayor Bloomberg would be good for New York. Then, shortly after, he started to make me nervous. Now I'm sure he's a lying politician scumbag of the worst kind. This assault on the VSF (Variable Supplement Fund) is a pack of lies and propaganda. Calling it a Christmas Bonus is just a way to get hard-up civilians to rally against us. The VSF is nothing of the sort. It is a dividend, a dividend for money the unions gave the city.

The city of New York was broke. The unions gave the city hundreds of millions of dollars and allowed them to manage it and use it as they deemed necessary. Payments to members of the unions was differed until that member retired, like a bond in a way. When you buy a bond, you give the gov't money and they have 14 years to make use of it, but then they owe you your money back plus 14 years of compounded interest which doubles the amount they owe you.

The VSF is OUR MONEY BACK WITH INTEREST! At some point the city made a deal to keep the amount at a set figure, not market variable. That deal left us receiving $12,000 annually upon a non-disability retirement. Believe me, if the city agreed to pay $12,000, it was because they were doing much better than that! They made untold gains on the original seed money we gave them decades ago, some say billions. Now the market hasn't kept them on top. Now WE'RE the ones making out on this deal they orchestrated and they want to take it away.

When you walk into a Casino, sit at a Blackjack table and place a bet. When you lose, just take your money back! Why not? You can do that right? This is exactly how Mayor Bloomberg is playing the game. The city made a deal and right now it isn't working in their favor, but for years and years it was.

[grumpyff 1,159]

The City of New York is estimated to have made almost 4 BILLION DOLLARS durinng the 1990's on our money. What did we get in return...told sorry we have no money for raises and 5 year contract of 0, 0, 3, 3 , and 6. Bloomburg is out of control wanting to eliminate the Variable Supplement, for everyone....guys already retired to guys currently working. He wants to eliminate it, and keep the money so he can waste it on projects like City Time, which is coming up on billion dollars in fess paid over ten years, originally projected to cost just 63 million. The payroll system does not work correctly, and is estimated now to cost 40 million a year to run. The money belongs to the union member, not the city. Want to eliminate the the City's involvement, fine , give the money back to were it came from, with interest, Union funds.

[FFLieu 70]

I knew that Bloomberg was bad news on January 1, 2002 when he started the "doing more with less" nonsense. As soon as that started, it was a slippery slope for New York City. The "less" aspect of that phrase gradually became lesser and lesser, until present day when we're faced with the realization that a snowstorm, of all things, can cripple the City relatively easily and quickly. Power is one of those funny little things that easily corrupts people who are not strong enough leaders, and even then, strong leaders can succumb to the vice. Unlimited power, which is what we have in New York City, is downright dangerous. He paid off the members of the City Council to allow him to circumvent a law that was voted on TWICE during the 1990s. (One of those City Council members is the currently sitting member from my old neighborhood in the Bronx. I asked him why he voted the way he did, and he told me that he did so because his mother, not his constituents, was "incensed" [his word] that she could not vote for "her mayor" [again, his words] a third time. When I followed up with the obvious question of why his mother's opinion is more important than that of the voters who put him in office, he had no answer; then he pretty much walked away when I asked if maybe a rich benefactor with a Napoleonic complex dropped a few extra shekels in his pocket.)

Our forefathers never wanted indeterminate-length power for any one section of the government or any one component thereof; it's the reason why there are checks and balances, and it's the reason why George Washington chose the word "President" and not "King." On a more local scale, we're seeing firsthand why governmental power and intrusion needs to be limited and checked by the electorate. All this man has done for the past several years is scheme ways to limit New Yorkers' civil liberties in the areas of what we eat, what we drink, how, when, and where we may or may not smoke, all in addition to finding new and unique ways of hitting us all in the pockets with increased ticket fees, taxes, and the ridiculous notion that we all should have to pay to enter Manhattan, regardless of whether or not we will contribute to the overall "congestion" in the area. (Speaking of, has anyone noticed all of the bike lanes that have popped up in the days after congestion pricing was voted down? Tell me that taking a perfectly fine travel lane and removing its vehicular use, thereby artificially creating congestion and getting the issue back on the table, wasn't in Emperor Nero-bloomberg's master plan.) On top of all that, people who put there lives on the line for the City day in and day out keep getting the shaft from this guy, all while he sits back, puts his feet up on his desk, and laughs in their faces. And he had the nerve to call a reporter a "disgrace?" No, sir, you are the disgrace. Until you put on a uniform and stand a fixed footpost in the 75th Precinct at 0200, or until you enter a burning building to search for people even though it has long been abandoned, or until you teach some of the animals that you have in your school system - which, incidentally, have not gotten any better under your so-called "mayoral control" - then you cannot speak for those who gracefully answer that call daily, without any recognition from those in charge.

I can recall that on December 4, 1992, there was a rally in front of City Hall in which protesters chanted the phrase "Dinkins must go" due to the condition of the City at that time. It is said that history repeats itself. Take a look at the City and compare it to the way it was back in the early '90s. High crime, drugs everywhere, rampant disregard for the public, and a mayor who was never around. Sound familiar? Present day, we have high crime despite the best efforts of the PC and the mayor into deluding the public that such is not the case, we have drugs everywhere, there is a rampant disregard for the public by both the mayor, his staff, and the City Council, and we have a mayor who more or less phones it in from Bermuda. Maybe it's time for us as a City to reach back to the "bad old days" and finally say enough is enough. Bloomberg must go.

[gamewell45 258]

Interestingly enough, I understand both the Police and Fire Unions supported Bloomberg in his last re-election bid. Talk about treachery.

[ny10570 745]

Interestingly enough, I understand both the Police and Fire Unions supported Bloomberg in his last re-election bid. Talk about treachery.

I wouldn't call it treachery. Bloomy has been after FD reductions since he got into office. Even when the economy was good he was trying to close houses. I never understood why the FD backed him.

[M' Ave 1,466]

Interestingly enough, I understand both the Police and Fire Unions supported Bloomberg in his last re-election bid. Talk about treachery.

I don't know about the PBA, but the UFA did not support Bloomberg in his 3rd term bid. We supported.....what was his name again? Thompson, that's it! Thompson. He was an empty seat, sadly. It was vote for Bloomberg or vote for no one. I voted for Thompson, but it was in vain.

[CBX4627 114]

I don't know about the PBA, but the UFA did not support Bloomberg in his 3rd term bid. We supported.....what was his name again? Thompson, that's it! Thompson. He was an empty seat, sadly. It was vote for Bloomberg or vote for no one. I voted for Thompson, but it was in vain.

I wouldn't say it was "In vain"....................the election was a HELL of a lot closer than Bloomburg ever expected!

[CFD320 35]

Bloomberg is a slimy LIAR...