Chris Christie and Oscar Goodman: Holding the Line Against The Parasites

(h/t) Mish's Global Economic Analysis and The Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Just like my fellow blogger Mish, every time I see New
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie take on New Jersey's
parasitic teacher and public employee unions, I
want to stand up and salute.

As "The Great Recession" drags on into its twentieth
month, with continuing private sector job losses,
it's time to tell the truth about Unionized Public Sector
Employees - the third group of villains of this piece, along
with the banksters and their corrupt enablers in the
Congress.

In a time when private sector employees have been
battered by layoffs, outsourcing, job exportation, and
the "in-sourcing" of illegal immigrant labor, the unionized
public sector has only one answer - More.

More pay. More benefits. A more lavish retirement program.

There's only one problem. An eviscerated and
impoverished private sector, which pays the taxes that
fund all this generosity, has literally no more to give.

And unlike most elected leaders, Gov. Christie understands
this. That's why he's campaigning all across the state not
only for givebacks in wages and benefit contributions, but
also for caps on property and income taxes to prevent
further grabs by the greed-inspired public sector.

Here's Gov. Christie laying it on the line for everyone:



And in the question-and-answer session that followed a loutish,
overweight, overpaid parasite of a teacher has the gall to
complain:

Here's a partial transcript:

Overpaid, overweight loutish teacher: " You are not compensating
me for my education and experience". (Note: this parasitic lout
is paid $ 86,389 a year plus $20,000 a year in medical benefits
and $20,000 a year in retirement benefits).

Gov. Christie: "Well, you know what, you don't have to do it."
(Huge Applause).

Lout: " Teachers do it because they love it"

Gov. Christie: " Teachers go into it knowing what the pay scale is"
(More Applause).

And out west, here in Las Vegas, we are facing the same problem.

Next to Michigan, Nevada is Ground Zero not only for foreclosures
but for skyrocketing unemployment as well.

Nevada's overall unemployment rate is 13.7% - second highest
in the nation. And in Clark County (Las Vegas), the
unemployment rate is a Detroit-like 14.1%.

And Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, normally
an ebullient salesman for all things Las Vegas with an
ever-present martini in hand and a showgirl on his
arm, has been turned stone-cold sober by the economic
facts of life.

He has proposed the following to the Las Vegas
City Employees Association (the union representing
all non-uniformed city employees):

1) An 8% pay cut in all classifications, through a
giveback of the last two cost-of-living increases;

2) A freeze at this reduced pay level;

3) Suspension of all step increases, longevity pay,
and further cost-of-living increases;

4) Furloughs and a four-day work week;

5) A split between the city and the employee
of PERS (Public Employee Retirement System)
increases;

6) Abolition of right-of-restoration from layoff
lists and an allocation method for placing re-hired
employees at lower wages and job classifications;

7) An increase in the employee share of health
benefit costs and a reduction in the city contribution.

When you consider that the average non-uniformed
city employee makes from 25-30% more than his
private-sector counterpart and the city is facing a
$40 million budget deficit in the fiscal year beginning
July 1, Mayor Goodman has no choice.

Employee wages and benefits make up an astounding
80% of the city budget - it's the only place that can be cut.

The alternative - drastic permanent layoffs. And if you're
a laid-off city employee, I wouldn't want to be you trying
to get a private-sector job, trying to convince a skeptical
private employer how "efficient" you were in your last
position.

The image of the fat, lazy, overpaid and inefficient
government employee isn't just a stereotype - it's
an altogether accurate portrayal as anyone who has
ever had to deal with government at any level
can attest.

The private sector has already "restructured" by
wage cuts, firing its most highly paid and experienced
employees, placing its few new hires on drastically
lower wage and benefit scales, outsourcing and exporting
jobs to the Third World, and in certain industries hiring
illegal aliens "under the table" wherever possible.

The government has no choice but to follow suit -
because the private sector 's changes have left
nothing more to tax to feed an over-entitled public
sector.

There's nothing left to share but the poverty. And
the sooner public employees are subjected to the
same sort of wage and benefit competition that
happens every day in the private sector, the better
off we'll all be.

So Governor Christie and Mayor Goodman, here's a toast
to you.

I'd raise my martini glass, but as gin and vermouth
are "off-budget" for me for the foreseeable future,
a glass of ice water will have to do.

Cheers.