Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktTaking advantage of the pension system
I’m quoting liberally here from the story:
Two lobbyists with no prior teaching experience were allowed to count their years as union employees toward a state teacher pension once they served a single day of subbing in 2007, a Tribune/WGN-TV investigation has found ….. The legislation enabled union officials to get into the state teachers pension fund and count their previous years as union employees after quickly obtaining teaching certificates and working in a classroom. They just had to do it before the bill was signed into law.
… His pay for one day as a substitute was $93, according to records of the Illinois Teachers Retirement System … based on his salary history so far, he could earn a pension of about $108,000 a year, more than double what the average teacher receives …. stand to receive more than a million dollars each from a state pension fund …. A spokesman for the Illinois Federation of Teachers emphasized that the lobbyists’ actions were legal and that they made “individual decisions.”
End quote.
Here are two guys who clearly took advantage of a situation. What I don’t get is the defense from the union. The tone-deafness of that quote is astounding to me.
Filed under: Uncategorized |
All Things in Moderation 
I'm pretty sure it's the Chicago way. What's interesting is that it wasn't thought of sooner.
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It will be interesting to see Rahm Emmanuel's reaction. I get the impression he's really trying to clean up the city.
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Also, Greg Sargent over at Plumline is wondering where the old regulars are:Someone please tell me about this site that Kevin set up
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Related:http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2011/10/23/rhode-island-athens-of-america/
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The NYT piece on Rhode Island from this weekend is a good read as well.
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One wonders why Greg is getting antsy about this site now. His tone over at PL sounded a tad pissed off that his 'content' isn't better appreciated.My response to him on that subject:"As to content, I get that it's challenging for one or two people to produce good content day after day. But with the shared responsibility at this site, it seems to work, at least for now. "The web is a big place. There's room for us all."
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Unlike some folks, I don't have any problem with Greg's content. I find some of the other folks not always my cup of tea. I sent him an email, given he could have just emailed me, if he'd wanted to (he has my email address). Glad to see you back around MsJS. Been too testosterone heavy the past few days. Me no likey.
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I enjoy Greg's "reported analysis." The nature of the site is that he is upfront about a lefty tilt (sometimes full tilt).And he's honest.It wasn't the content or tech stuff.Soooo, what's left? Hmmmmm….
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I have always liked the PlumLine. However, there is a group of commentators there whose stated objective is to drive out other commentators whom they disagree with. To the extent that they are succeeding, their interests and Greg's don't align.An ignore button on the Washington Post commenting software would have fixed a lot of problems.
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jncSome of the biggest arguments I had over there were with other liberals who had zero tolerance for differing views. Sure, I argued with conservatives but honestly some of the regulars, ostensibly on the same side as me in many instances, just embarrassed me. I found myself defending people I disagreed with all the time, which is downright weird. And then I had to defend myself as well. They've chased a lot of good people away, hence ATiM.
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"They have made a desert and call it victory"
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And since I never commented on NoVA's actual post I thought I'd just add that this sounds like cheating, not lobbying. A lot of things done by people may not be specifically against the rules or the law but it doesn't make them right. Most of us recognize gaming the system when we see it. What bothers me is that people who don't engage in these kinds of schemes also suffer the consequences because then people look askance at other teachers or public servants. We've had several instances of cities here in CA where the city council or city managers ripped off their taxpayers. Luckily some of them are in jail now so they weren't quite as smart as they thought they were. When times are good I think people get away with more because we just don't notice as much as when everyone's scrambling for a dime.
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"Also, Greg Sargent over at Plumline is wondering where the old regulars are"The comments at PL are at this point just a 24/7 hate. Let's face it, that's what it is."And he's honest."Tao, if you're around, I'm going to have to disagree with this. Sometimes he is honest. Many times, not so much. My first foray there was when he was fibbing for attention about Dick Cheney. When I called him out for denouncing the denoucers of James Hoffa, Jr., after calling for denunciation of hot rhetoric back in January, he called me a liar, and when I posed his own words, he had nothing more to say.That's an example of what is wrong. He encouraged the worst behavior by the worst commenters, quite literally. He now has a hate site completely dominated by the same 5 haters.
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