Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New media
New media comments
New resources
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Resources
Latest reviews
Search resources
Members
Current visitors
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Open Football Discussion
Green Bay Packers Fan Forum
Charles Woodson and Wis. Protesters
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="TJV" data-source="post: 357852" data-attributes="member: 4300"><p><span style="color: black">As a Wisconsin resident I find this an interesting and civil discussion - I very much appreciate that and I think it speaks highly of this forum. From the coverage of this story I think an important aspect of Walker’s plan is being under-reported. The reason Walker wants to eliminate collective bargaining with regard to pension benefits and health insurance premiums is in order to balance the budget he will have to make significant cuts in revenue sharing the state sends to counties and municipalities. He wants to give those local governments the ability to sustain those cuts without raising local taxes by reducing their pension and health insurance costs in a comparable way. </span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="color: black">But what about removing public employee unions’ ability to collectively bargain on everything except wages? Isn’t that a “right”? No, it isn’t: Approximately 24 states don’t allow collective bargaining by state employees. Although civil service protections were introduced in Wisconsin in 1901, collective bargaining was introduced in the 1940s. Even liberal icon FDR was against providing government employees with collective bargaining rights. </span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="color: black">As a Wisconsin taxpayer here is the point of view from which I look at this situation: Currently we taxpayers are paying both the employee and employer portion of state employees pension plan. That amounts to 11.6% of each employee’s compensation. (BTW, unlike some state pension plans, Wisconsin's is fully funded.) Walker is asking employees to pay one-half of that amount. Currently we taxpayers are paying about 93.7% of state employees’ health insurance premiums. Walker is proposing to decrease our contribution to 87.4%. </span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="color: black">I live in the stateline area of Rock county. I know two teachers in the public school system (their compensation is listed on a website I can't link because this is my first post here). One teaches high school and according to the website, his salary is about $57,500. His fringe benefits are worth $40,600. The other teaches grade school. Her salary is $51,900 and her fringe benefits are worth $35,000. Of course both have the summer off. Each is an outstanding person and I’ll bet each is an excellent teacher but I have no problem whatever in requiring each to pay more for their rich benefit packages. </span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="color: black">I chose decades ago to start my own business. (Yes, I'm old.) I pay 100% of my retirement fund contribution and 100% of my health insurance premium. I also have the privilege of paying self-employment tax so instead of having 6.75% deducted from my salary as an employee, I pay 13.5% in social security and medicare premiums (although part of that is tax-advantaged) in addition to Wisconsin and Federal income taxes.</span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="color: black">When I graduated high school I had a choice of pursuing public employment which provided almost absolute job security and good benefits or pursuing private employment which provided almost no job security (if non-union) but greater compensation. Today that situation is upside down. The average public employee enjoys great job security, great benefits and makes more money than the average private employee. We can’t correct this overnight but that situation has to change. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'"></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TJV, post: 357852, member: 4300"] [COLOR=black]As a Wisconsin resident I find this an interesting and civil discussion - I very much appreciate that and I think it speaks highly of this forum. From the coverage of this story I think an important aspect of Walker’s plan is being under-reported. The reason Walker wants to eliminate collective bargaining with regard to pension benefits and health insurance premiums is in order to balance the budget he will have to make significant cuts in revenue sharing the state sends to counties and municipalities. He wants to give those local governments the ability to sustain those cuts without raising local taxes by reducing their pension and health insurance costs in a comparable way. [/COLOR] [FONT=Century Gothic][FONT=Verdana][COLOR=black]But what about removing public employee unions’ ability to collectively bargain on everything except wages? Isn’t that a “right”? No, it isn’t: Approximately 24 states don’t allow collective bargaining by state employees. Although civil service protections were introduced in Wisconsin in 1901, collective bargaining was introduced in the 1940s. Even liberal icon FDR was against providing government employees with collective bargaining rights. [/COLOR][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana] [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][COLOR=black]As a Wisconsin taxpayer here is the point of view from which I look at this situation: Currently we taxpayers are paying both the employee and employer portion of state employees pension plan. That amounts to 11.6% of each employee’s compensation. (BTW, unlike some state pension plans, Wisconsin's is fully funded.) Walker is asking employees to pay one-half of that amount. Currently we taxpayers are paying about 93.7% of state employees’ health insurance premiums. Walker is proposing to decrease our contribution to 87.4%. [/COLOR][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana] [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][COLOR=black]I live in the stateline area of Rock county. I know two teachers in the public school system (their compensation is listed on a website I can't link because this is my first post here). One teaches high school and according to the website, his salary is about $57,500. His fringe benefits are worth $40,600. The other teaches grade school. Her salary is $51,900 and her fringe benefits are worth $35,000. Of course both have the summer off. Each is an outstanding person and I’ll bet each is an excellent teacher but I have no problem whatever in requiring each to pay more for their rich benefit packages. [/COLOR][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana] [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][COLOR=black]I chose decades ago to start my own business. (Yes, I'm old.) I pay 100% of my retirement fund contribution and 100% of my health insurance premium. I also have the privilege of paying self-employment tax so instead of having 6.75% deducted from my salary as an employee, I pay 13.5% in social security and medicare premiums (although part of that is tax-advantaged) in addition to Wisconsin and Federal income taxes.[/COLOR][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana] [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][COLOR=black]When I graduated high school I had a choice of pursuing public employment which provided almost absolute job security and good benefits or pursuing private employment which provided almost no job security (if non-union) but greater compensation. Today that situation is upside down. The average public employee enjoys great job security, great benefits and makes more money than the average private employee. We can’t correct this overnight but that situation has to change. [/COLOR][/FONT] [/FONT] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Members online
Emur
PackerDNA
Pkrjones
DoURant
PackerinSD
Latest posts
Not too soon 2024 roster prediction
Latest: Sanguine camper
15 minutes ago
Green Bay Packers Fan Forum
2024 Round 7, pick 245: Michael Pratt, QB
Latest: DoURant
23 minutes ago
Green Bay Packers Fan Forum
Assessing the Draft Class (2024)
Latest: Dantés
27 minutes ago
Draft Talk
2024 2nd Rd pick #58 Javon Bullard S
Latest: DoURant
Today at 2:00 PM
Green Bay Packers Fan Forum
2024 draft discussion thread
Latest: Pokerbrat2000
Today at 1:57 PM
Draft Talk
Forums
Open Football Discussion
Green Bay Packers Fan Forum
Charles Woodson and Wis. Protesters
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
Accept
Learn more…
Top