Monday, April 09, 2012

L.A. residents stunned to find out that solvency and 11% wage hikes for public unions may be mutually exclusive

I just want a Democrat to point me to one state, one municipality, one anything where their infernal policies of high regulation, high taxation, oppressive government and mirage-like Utopianism actually work.

But I won't hold my breath.

Offering a dire warning about potential bankruptcy, Los Angeles City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said Friday the city will need to raise taxes, clamp down on employee pay and consider layoffs in order to keep solvent...

...The report comes two weeks before Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa - who recently also warned of possible salary freezes and layoffs - releases his budget for the coming year...

..."The rise in the city's labor costs has not been as a result of increased employment levels, but rather increases in what the city spends on health care for employees, workers' compensation, employee compensation and retirement benefits," Santana said.

There is an agreement to provide cost-of-living adjustments of 11 percent for the next two years and 11.75 percent for deputy city attorneys.

"It is not sustainable without further reductions to the workforce and essential public services," Santana said. "In addition, these increases create substantial compensation inequity within the workforce. This will result in significant pressure from other unions."

But, whatever you do, don't outlaw public sector unions, or raise the retirement age, or require reasonable contributions to pension and health benefits, or actually pay workers market wages.

Heavens, no.

These are Democrats we're talking about. And Democrats are big government. They are public sector unions. And, together, they're dedicated to extracting every last cent from you, the taxpayer.


1 comment:

The_Bad said...

Ooooh!! Krugerrand challenge! C'mon, Doug! Media Mutters goes off the charts when you throw down that gauntlet.