The really sad part is that we could afford to pay the actual teachers more if we eliminated all the extra bullshit administration that is so incredibly over redundant within the public school systems.
As for your post... people don't expect teachers to live like monks. that is simply nonsense. But we are getting rather tired of idiots like Mott telling us that teachers are actually 'workers' and implying the beloved nonsense of the left that white collar workers don't really 'work'. We are also sick and tired of hearing about retirement at 50-55 for public workers. We are also sick and tired of idiots like Mott ignoring the very basic concept that public unions bargain against the tax payer.
Note... in all these threads.... not ONCE has Mott addressed the FACT that there are only two ways for benefits and salaries to be increased for public unions.....
1) Higher taxes
2) Cuts in other government departments
Instead, he whines and complains about 'rights' being taken away. The bullshit we see today is exactly why FDR didn't think collective bargaining should be allowed for government workers.
And the FACT you keep ignoring is Walker's agenda is not about cutting the deficit. His agenda is about busting unions, but ONLY the unions who didn't back him in the election. If unions were REALLY the root cause of the deficit, WHY would he exempt some public unions?
Governor Walker enacted a rarely used 'emergency' repair bill provision to ram through legislation. If teacher benefit costs were really the cause of the problem, and reducing the deficit was really a dire problem and the state had a $137 million deficit, the WHY did Walker immediately spend $140 million in handouts to special interests, including $48 million for private health savings accounts, which primarily benefit the wealthy?
Walker Concocts 'Scoop and Toss' Borrowing Scheme to Pay for $140 Million in Special Interest Spending
Wall Street Bond Holders Win; Wisconsin's Long-Term Debt Rises
Madison-- Republican Gov. Scott Walker plans to pay for $140 million in new special interest spending signed into law in January by extending the state's long term debt in a "scoop and toss" refinancing scheme that will cost untold tens of millions of dollars in additional debt for Wisconsin.
"Scott Walker railed non-stop against budget gimmicks as a candidate and now as governor he's put together a scheme that would make a pay-day lender blush," said Scot Ross, One Wisconsin Now Executive Director. "Gov. Walker created this problem by handing out $140 million in special interest spending to his corporate pals and he's going to make our children pay for it by taking loans the state was ready to pay off and borrow more money on them."
Walker is refusing to provide full accounting of how much in additional costs his "scoop and toss" scheme would cost taxpayers down the road. Since his inauguration in early January, Walker has approved $140 million in new special interest spending that includes:
* $25 million for an economic development fund for job creation that still has $73 million due to a lack of job creation. Walker is creating a $25 million hole which will not create or retain jobs. [Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau, 1/7/11]
* $48 million for private health savings accounts, which primarily benefit the wealthy. A study from the federal Governmental Accountability Office showed the average adjusted gross income of HSA participants was $139,000 and nearly half of HSA participants reported withdrawing nothing from their HSA, evidence that it is serving as a tax shelter for wealthy participants. [Government Accountability Office, 4/1/08; Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau, 1/11/11]
* $67 million for a tax shift plan, so ill-conceived that at-best the benefit provided to job creators would be less than a dollar a day per new job, and may be as little as 30 cents a day. [Associated Press, 1/28/01]
Walker made numerous statements before and after his election as governor criticizing borrowing schemes as a means of balancing the state's budget.
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